Google Tablets to soon be sold directly online

Google should make it possible to purchase their future tablets online, with these being developed in close collaboration with manufacturers.

There is still a lot of mystery surrounding the Google tablet conceived by the search giant and developed in collaboration with a handset manufacturer (most likely Asus), but it would appear that it will be sold directly online like the Nexus One in 2010, even though this plan was abandoned a few months later.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is preparing a series of tablets manufacturers by third parties using Google’s designs and under the search engines watchful eye, in the same way as the Nexus smartphones were.


The newspaper confirms that the launch will take place this year with an initial tablet being conceived in collaboration with Asus, at the same time as the release of the future Android version (Jelly Bean) towards mid-2012. After this, Google will become their own manufacturer of tactile tablets via the acquisition of Motorola Mobility once all approvals have been granted (the Chinese are so far not easy to please).

Google is looking to make a strong statement in Android tablets, taking inspiration from Apple’s model (with the iPad) and Amazon (with the Kindle Fire) with the idea being to expand Android’s presence to benefit from additional advertising revenue.

The mixed experience of direct selling the Nexus One doesn’t seem to have put Google off, with it looking probable that they will subsidise their offer so that the starting price is around 199 dollars – making their tablet competitive with Amazon, while also running a large marketing campaign to increase the visibility of the device – something which was previously lacking.

The project of an audio and video streaming system designed by Google appears to still be under development and could be launched later in the year.