The deal would give it much more control over Android tablet development. Mr Schmidt paid tribute to Steve Jobs' role in kickstarting the tablet market, describing the iPad as "amazing". "Steve realised the revolutionary potential of the tablet and created an amazing product like the iPad," he said. In the smartphone market, Google designs the Nexus range as both a testing ground for new versions of Android and to show off cutting-edge hardware. Google is bringing its own tablet computer to market within six months. That’s the word from Google chair Eric Schmidt, according to a feature interview published Monday in Italy’s Corriere della sera newspaper.
“Steve understood the revolutionary potential of the tablet, and created an extraordinary product like the iPad,” Schmidt continued. Given the success of Amazon’s Kindle line of mobile devices, Google may believe it can safely enter the tablet market for the first time. Android-powered tablets exploded in popularity in 2011, taking 20 per cent of the market away from Apple’s iPad, ABI Research observed in August. “In mobile communications … you will see brutal competition between Apple and Google Android. Schmidt was at pains to praise Apple co-founder Steve Jobs for his work in transitioning the tablet from vertical and enterprise markets to a consumer-centric product.
Now, of course, Google is partway through the process of acquiring Motorola Mobility, and could well use its closer ties with the company to develop a true Google Nexus tablet. Whatever the manufacturer, the slate will likely use Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of Android; the tablet UI for ICS was discovered accessible in the Galaxy Nexus late last week. Android tablets have generally struggled to compete with Apple’s iPad, and even the HP TouchPad managed to squeeze ahead of Android-based models in 2011 sales thanks to its cut-price discounting.
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