Asus rumoured to be building Google tablet

06 March 2012

7-inch quad-core device likely to price match Kindle Fire

It all sounds too good to be true, but if the rumours are right, the Google tablet will price match the Amazon Kindle Fire, selling for $199, which is just under £130.

We have already heard similar rumblings about the Google tablet, but the Android and Me site claims to have more background detail on the device. It claims Google has partnered with Asus to produce the tablet, which is certainly no stranger to the tablet market. But there isn't expected to be much of Asus here, as it's described as a pure 'Google Experience Device', free of any company add-ons. It's also said to be packing a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, and will ship with Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

All of that comes from 'industry sources' cornered at the recent Mobile World Congress, both of whom have  provided 'reliable information in the past'. As for the price, with Amazon shipping around five million units in the last quarter of last year, it seems that Google has realised that the tablet market is very price sensitive.

With that in mind, it needs to match Amazon if it wants a good chunk of the market, throwing in all those Google mobile services as added temptation. Storage could be limited to keep the price down, with the rumoured Google Drive being promoted to access media files in the 'cloud'.

As for a release date, Android 4.0 rather than 5.0 indicates a launch might be sooner than you imagine, although that same source indicates June more likely, with an event on 27 June already being talked about as the grand unveil. There might even be two launches, with a 10-inch tablet for an additional $100. In a few months time, we should know for sure. As for the name, nothing definite, but Google Play has been mentioned.

Source: Android and Me