Google’s first foray into the tablet market with a co-branded Android device won't be with us until July at the earliest. The current design was ready to go for May, but Google pushed back the planned release so it could tweak the device, sources close to the project said on Friday.
The Mountain View team plans to make some design changes and hopes to lower the price from the current $249. The tablet, made in partnership with Taiwan’s Asustek Computer, currently comes with a 7-inch screen, an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor, and is Wi-Fi-only. It runs Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich. The $249 price tag on the current Google-Asustek tablet is higher than previous reports of a $149-$199 device. Amazon’s Kindle Fire, another 7-inch tablet that retails for $199, is the obvious competitor that Google will be taking on in that size and price range.
There are also reports that Apple is planning a smaller tablet with a 7.85-inch screen, called the iPad mini, which Google may be trying to preempt. Some reports have suggested Google wants to delay its tablet until after June so it can install the next version of Android, codenamed Jelly Bean, but that’s unlikely, the sources said. The current product is designed for Android 4.0, and new software could cause a much longer delay. Asustek is working with Google the way the US internet giant partnered with companies on Android Nexus smartphones, to make better phones and to jumpstart the market. Manufacturers say the co-branding was a huge boost, since Google is a household name. The co-branding strategy in Android tablets opens the door for a number of other companies to work with Google in the future, including Samsung Electronics, Acer and others.
Rumors on Google’s own tablet still continue to pour in, but nothing is certain for the moment. Lots of reports are citing “sources close to the matter” when revealing info regarding the price, availability and specs of the slate.
Today, we have a new set of details that are coming from another “source close to the project.” The Verge claims that Google decided to push the launch of the tablet to July “due to effort to cut price.”
Keep in mind that the Google tablet was initially rumored to be released in May, but the search giant took into consideration the fact that the slate is not yet competitive enough when it comes to price.
It appears that the tablet is currently priced at $249 (190 EUR), which is way higher than prices suggested by earlier reports, which indicated that Google aimed for a price in the range of $149 (115 EUR) to $199 (150 EUR) for its device.
In addition, Google would have more time to further tweak the tablet and make some design changes, in order to be able to lower its price, thus making it more competitive in comparison with Amazon’s Kindle Fire 7-inch tablet.
Google is reportedly working with Asus to build this tablet, but the former might ink new partnerships for other tablets with important brands, including Samsung, HTC or LG.
According to the latest hearsay, the Google tablet features a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen display, an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor and Wi-Fi support. Reports claim that the tablet would not come with 3G support, though the information is not confirmed yet.
Software-wise, there’s a large debate on whether or not the tablet will be powered by the upcoming Android 5.0 Jelly Bean operating system.
We doubt that this would be possible, given the fact that the 7-inch tablet has been entirely designed to work with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich platform
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