Google to launch tablet to take on the iPad in 6 months

Google will release a flagship Android tablet in the next six months to challenge Apple's iPad, its chairman Eric Schmidt has revealed.

In an echo of the firm's smartphone strategy, whereby its own Nexus range forms the vanguard of the Android attack on the iPhone, Mr Schmidt said Google is developing a tablet.

"In the next six months we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality," he told an Italian newspaper.

Google has already had a hand in the development of the Motorola Xoom but, like other Android tablets, it suffered disappointing sales in a market dominated by the iPad.

Since then, however, Google has itself become a major hardware manufacturer via its US$12.5-billion (S$16.2-billion) acquisition of Motorola's devices division, which is currently under consideration by competition authorities. The deal would give it much more control over Android tablet development.

Amazon's Kindle Fire has presented the strongest challenge to Apple so far, mostly based on its relatively low price, but has faced criticism over the usability of its software.

Mr Schmidt paid tribute to Steve Jobs' role in kickstarting the tablet market: "Steve realised the revolutionary potential of the tablet and created an amazing product like the iPad," he said. THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

Source: www.todayonline.com/TechandDigital/Digital/EDC111222-0000020/Google-to-launch-tablet-to-take-on-the-iPad-in-6-months