One of the more persistent rumors coming out of the tech world these days is that Google will be announcing its own foray into the tablet market during Google I/O. The all things Google conference will be taking place from June 27-29 and would be a prime location for such an announcement.
The recent rumors coming out of sources speaking to DigiTimes, Asustek and Google will make a joint announcement at I/O regarding the device. The Nexus tablet will be 7 inches with support for only Wi-Fi. It will not feature a back-side webcam, but will feature a front-facing webcam for video conferencing. The best part is that the tablet will only cost $200.
All this information matches up with sources that spoke to TechnoBuffalo back in May. The May leak had some additional information in the form of the tablet being powered by a Tegra 3 processor. It seems unlikely that such a device could only cost $200, but Google may be heavily subsidizing the cost with its own money to drive sales through affordability.
The DigiTimes report also says that the tablet is ready to go and already shipping to retailers for a July release. The Nexus tablet is expected to reach three million units in total shipments in the second half of the year. It’s a modest start that will hopefully expand as Google captures the market looking for an inexpensive entry-level tablet.
It’s looking pretty much like Google is going to unveil their tablet at Google I/O, but they’re now playing in an entirely different ballpark. Until yesterday, the Nexus tablet was releasing to the market with only the iPad and other Android tablets to contend with. The announcement of Surface and it’s admittedly amazing keyboard cover can only steal away from any Nexus tablet announcement. It’s unfortunate because a cheap tablet that’s better than the Kindle Fire is really needed, but after Surface a cheap tablet is just that, a cheap tablet.
I like to give company’s like Google the benefit of the doubt though. They could have some big surprises in store for us during Google I/O. We’ll have to wait and see.
[Lead image is of Asus’ current 7-inch tablet and is not representative of whatever form the Nexus may take]