Google-branded 7-inch Android tablet to woo customers Phone

Considering the amount of tablets flooding onto the market from numerous manufacturers it seems rather strange that up until now Google hasn’t got in on the act with a branded tablet of its own. However that could be set to change and it seems that a Google-branded 7-inch tablet is on its way to woo customers.

The 7-inch display of this Google tablet would have a resolution of 1280?800 and that would certainly go down well with prospective buyers, many of whom would love to get their hands on a Google tablet device. The tablet would run on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and the price would be around $199 to make it a viable choice against the 7-inch Kindle Fire from Amazon. It’s also reported that an initial production run will begin in April and produce between 1.5 and 2 million units.

This news comes from DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim who spoke to Cnet about Google’s tablet plans. Google’s marketing tactics for the tablet are not yet clear though with Shim saying, “I don’t know how they plan on marketing it. If it’s going to be a premium device, or if it’s going to be a Kindle Fire type competitor.” It’s worth pointing out that rumors of an iPad Mini with an 8-inch screen are also circulating so the Google tablet might also find itself up against major competition if this actually appears.

Google is currently in the process of acquiring Motorola and on completion would then have three tablets under its umbrella, the Motorola Xoom (10.1-inches), the Xyboard (10.1-inches) and the Xyboard (8.2-inches) so it sort of makes sense for its first own brand tablet to be a different size from these. On top of that of course, the success of the 7-inch Kindle Fire has certainly proved that there’s a real market for a smaller tablet, something that hasn’t escaped Google’s notice.

It’s not thought that the iPad 3, due in March, will be a smaller version so if Apple really is developing a smaller iPad it’s not likely to be out until much later in the year, maybe just in time for the holiday season. We’d say it makes sense for Google to release it’s 7-inch tablet as soon as possible in that case, in order to gain a foothold in the smaller-sized tablet market before an iPad Mini appears.

Would you be interested in a Google branded tablet device? If so, would you prefer a larger tablet or would you be happy with a 7-inch version? Let us know with your comments.

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Anonymous
If the display is 1280?800 I’m not interested in anything bigger than 5-5.5?.  Displays that size belong in phones not tablets.  To be impressive, tablets now should be shooting for much more resolution – at least 1920?1200 (a nice resolution for 7?) or 2560?1600 (a nice resolution for 10?)

I bought a htc for my 12 year old cousin and she loves the size better than an ipad.
Anonymous
couldn’t have said it better … their 10?-er will be higher, maybe in time for Christmas ?

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Google tablet - 7-inch device in the works?

Google will jump into the tablet market this year with its own 7-inch device, according to a DisplaySearch analyst.

The tablet market has experienced rapid growth over the past couple of years thanks to devices such as the iPad 2, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Kindle Fire and it looks as though Google wants in on that cake, with its Ice Cream Sandwich operating system providing it with a good starting point.

Speaking to Cnet, analyst Richard Shim suggested that a self-branded, 7-inch (1280x800) Google tablet running Ice Cream Sandwich would start production in April.

Shim went to say that he predicts initial production will be between 1.5 million and 2 million units, but was unable to say if Google would market the tablet as a premium device or a low-end Kindle Fire rival.

It's thought the Google tablet may look to directly compete with Amazon's Kindle Fire 7-inch tablet which has seen strong sales since its launch last year, mainly due to its low price.

Google has recently inherited three tablets after its purchase of Motorola Mobility saw it take control of the Xoom, Xoom 2 and Xyboard tabs and Google chairman Eric Schmidt did hint in December that the company was preparing "a tablet of the highest quality".

Could the tablet Schmidt muses about be this rumoured 7-inch device, or is he referring to a tablet made by a third party manufacture (Motorola perhaps?) which Google will back, a la the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

We were expecting to see a host of new tablets announced at MWC 2012, but it now looks like that will not be the case.

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