Google are releasing a cheap $199 tablet, co branded with Asustek Computer Inc. They will showcase the new tablet at their developers conference this week and it is aimed at taking market share from Apple. Bloomberg spoke to sources close to the matter.

The new Google tablet will be 7 inches and will run the Android mobile operating system. The people Bloomberg spoke with asked not to be identified due to the plans not being public. The latest version of the software is called Jellybean.

Google have been hard at work behind the scenes to get into the tablet sector, as sales predictions may double this year to 118.9 million units, according to Gartner Inc.

Android has grabbed more than half of the smartphone market, but tablets using the operating system have snagged less than half the percentage of the iPad. With Microsoft due to release their Surface tablet, the market is set to heat up later this year.

Android tablets are available already from Samsung Electronics and Motorola Mobility Holdings, which Google bought last month for $12.5 billion. Google want a device on the market with their own brand name however to raise their profile outside the search engine sector.

Kitguru says: According to the Bloomberg sources, the processor in the new tablet will be an Nvidia design. It will be the first tablet to get the Google Nexus designation.

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