The Android community has been wondering for some time if Google was going to release an official Nexus tablet and Eric Schimdt hinted at such a tablet in a recent interview. He was quoted as saying “In the next six months we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality”, which can be interpreted in a couple of ways. Either a Nexus tablet is in the works to bring a pure Google tablet experience, or we can expect the next generation of Android tablets to be held to a much higher standard than the current options.
When speaking about the “brutal competition” between Google and Apple in the mobile space he did give Steve Jobs credit stating, “[he] realized the revolutionary potential of the tablet and has created an amazing product like the iPad.” Which he followed by saying, “our companies compete…Its capitalism.” While mentioning that Google will be updating Android’s voice recognition abilities to batter take on Apple’s Siri.
Official details about the tablet have yet to be released including which manufacturer will me making the hardware. It will either be an official Nexus tablet or a situation similar to the Xoom where a tablet will be offered with a pure experience but not given the official branding. Whichever case turns out, we can be sure to expect an even greater tablet effort on Google’s part with more tablet oriented apps and the improvements of Ice Cream Sandwich and beyond.