Asus Google tablet to be launched in May?

The Google tablet manufactured by Asus could be launched in May, according to Digitimes.

There is still no official information about the first tablet supervised by Google, in the same way as the Nexus smartphones, but rumours continue to circulate after Eric Schmidt, president of Google’s board of directors, made some comments in late 2011.

Since then, rumours out of Taiwan and their component suppliers suggest that this will be a 7" tablet which could possibly come with the next version of Android, called Android Jelly Bean, with its price positioned around 200 dollars to compete note against Apple’s iPad but rather Amazon’s Kindle Fire and their "almost-Android" system.

More recently, it seems that the Taiwanese group Asus has been assigned the task of developing/manufacturing the tablet, with the company making their Transformer tablets stand out by indicating that they are working closely with Google on the development of Android Jelly Bean.


Interesting Synergies
Digitimes, who is never short of rumours, confirms that the Google tablet manufacturers by Asus could be launched in May 2010, in a price range of 199 to 249 dollars.

The site indicates that the project was initially offered to HTC, who had already developed the Nexus smartphone, but the company didn’t want to compromise their own brand through the release of an entry level tablet.

HTC has always been clear in their intentions of not going down market to maintain their user experience and specific functions and dedicated services which can be added via a tactile layer.

Acer was also contacted but in the end it was Asus who presented the best opportunities as an ODM manufacturer with the Taiwanese group looking to develop closer ties with Google to reinforce their presence in the US market.

The future tablet should therefore carry both the Google and Asus names, while being the first to benefit from the full Google Play experience, the new single content platform (audio, video, eBooks, applications) that Google wanted.