Google Nexus tablet to be unveiled at Google I/O 2012

We know that Google plans to finally launch its Nexus tablet sometime in June, following a delay from the initial May launch, due to design and cost issues. Their goal was to launch a powerful 7-inch tablet under the $200 mark and now that everything has fallen into place, they will be unveiling it at this year’s Google I/O conference for developers on June 27. TechnoBuffalo have also managed to secure some additional information about the tablet. According to their trusted source, it’s now confirmed that the Nexus tablet will be made by Asus and will have a 7-inch form factor. One would have initially come to expect that either Samsung or Motorola would manufacture Google’s first tablet.

The Nexus tablet will be unveiled sometime during the three day conference and developers attending the conference will walk away with one. This is not confirmed, but there is talk that the Nexus tablet will come with Android 5.0 or Jelly Bean pre-loaded, which make sense, since developers have had access to the Motorola XOOM, since a long time now and it was the first tablet to receive ICS update as well so handing out this new tablet with ICS doesn’t really serve any purpose. This also fits in with the rumour that Google would announce Jelly Bean sometime in June or July.

Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun with the Asus ME370T

The second piece of news that has been confirmed is that the Nexus tablet will be powered by Nvidia’s Tegra 3 SoC. Looking back a bit, Nvidia recently talked about how “Project Kai” will change the way we think about cheap Android tablets. They talked about Kai being a platform, more than a piece of hardware and along with Tegra 3 and a mix of low-cost components; it’s very much possible to deliver a sub-$200 tablet, without having to compromise on performance. And what better way to launch this than with Google’s Nexus tablet. We also hope to hear about the next Nexus smartphone at Google I/O. This time around, Google will be going with multiple manufacturers for their reference phone and if rumours are to be believed, then we could see as many as five Nexus branded phones, possibly in different price segments when they launch in November. We can count Samsung and Motorola to be among the manufacturers, while the others are yet to be announced. So, who’s excited about the Nexus tablet?