By Even if this supposed Google Tablet is said to run Google’s SSD-only Chrome operating system, we always feel the need to report on it as it’s a very important fork in Android’s side: Google’s not done much to help the growing tablet market surrounding Android (not yet, anyway), but a ChromeOS-enabled tablet would help fill that gap Google’s probably been wanting to fill to compete against the rest of Apple’s mobile computing stronghold (if we’re excluding their laptops, of course).
It’s said that Google and HTC are partnering up to design this tablet. HTC previously stated they didn’t have interest in introducing a tablet into the already-flooded Android pool (even if most of those tablets have yet to be released), but they didn’t say anything about ChromeOS. According to Download Squad‘s unnamed source, the tablet would be 3G-enabled and headed straight for Verizon with the following specs:
Tegra 2 Chipset
1280×720 (720p HD) MultiTouch display
2GB of RAM
32GB SSD
WiFi, Bluetooth, and 3G for connectivity
Front-facing webcam
All of this would be making its way to shelves on Black Friday (November 26th this year) – the biggest shopping event of the year for Americans – to draw in the crowd that loves to splurge, according to the source. We’re wondering if Google ever has any intention on “showing ’em how it’s done” on the tablet side of things for Android, if this rumor turns out true. They accelerated their smartphone market forward with the introduction of their self-coined “superphone” Nexus One, but when there’s an obvious desire for Android tablets (with many manufacturers – including the big smartphone players like Samsung and Motorola looking to bring their own slabs for Big Red – drumming up to a flood of releases by the beginning of 2011) why not take that market with the same approach?
I’m certainly not mad about Google wanting to introduce a Chrome-equipped tablet – anything to push technology forward is highly appreciated on my end – but many manufacturers have struggled with trying to adapt Android for tablets and this just seemed like the perfect opportunity for Google to inject some of that awesome Nexus-like elixir to further spur development. Is this to say that there will never be an Android-based, Google-contracted tablet? Absolutely not: we can’t even confirm this particular rumor as it stands, but consider this a hopeful plea for Google to remember that they can do the same for Android-based tablets as they did for Android-based smartphones, and that would put one hell of a swing into things for a lot of different parties involved.
Is Google going to bridge the gap from Android to Chrome OS in terms of the market? Maybe Gingerbread will bring changes to move the OS’s close so Chrome OS can use Android apps. I get the impression that Google doesn’t think that Android in it’s current form is good on a tablet.
Excited to see this and Google TV coming this fall.
Cmon Google, show some t-mobile love. I’m 100% google but if we don’t get a tablet soon I may have to get a crappy no flash supported iPad.
cant wait for more concrete details, Q4 is gonna be fun!
Make that a pixel qi screen & I’m a buyer (sorry Adam).
@turbo
Android & Chrome are different approaches.. imagine opening a web browser on your phone.. and everything that you do on your phone has to be done in the browser.. that is what Chrome OS is about. I am not saying this is bad, it’s different. A lot can be done in browsers, and even more is being done every day.. but Market is not all web apps. Market could be used to distribute things that will run on Chrome, but nobody should expect that you will have all those Android apps available to run on the Chrome platform.. It can probably be done.. I think there would be a performance toll to be paid to do it though.
It’s certainly a good idea to bring a Chrome OS to market. Chrome OS is ahead of its time on PC and laptops, because it’s about the web taking over.
However, the mobile devices are also killing PC’s and laptops in the same time, so it’s a bit awkward to have a forward thinking OS in a dying computing paradigm.
Btw, Notion Ink has just announced that the Genesis SDK for Adam is coming soon:
http://nextparadigms.com/2010/08/18/the-genesis-sdk-for-adam-is-almost-here/
something here doesn’t add up.
What’s the point of a 32g SSD on a system running a 100% cloud based OS?
Probably for storing files? Even if it’s a cloud based OS, you can have you own files in a hard drive (which the device will be able to open). It just won’t initialize when it starts up to reduce boot time.
the future has arrived. Semantic web, social web, internet of things combined with a browser only device with powerful cloud capabilities. The permutation and combinations ha ha, change is accelerating. Singularity is near. Web is changing faster than ever. Web really is the most important platform ever, Tim Berners Lee was so damn right.
I’m gonna put my money on that this will be a Chrome OS based tablet. Why waste time on another Android Tablet? There will be plenty of Android Tablets from one manufacturer or another with Google helping no doubt, but with Google Docs and trying to compete with Microsoft, they may as well start trying to make a robust operating system to help push whatever their desktop OS may be.
@Dennis
Agreed. I recently tried Chrome OS, and while I am a fan of Google, Chrome OS isn’t for me personally. It felt dumbed down. It’s literally just Chrome browser and the internet. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great idea and there’s definitely a market for it, like internet cafes, air ports, pretty much anywhere a dead simple public terminal for internet access is wanted. Also it’d be great for the technology challenged people like grandparents wanting to keep in touch with their family.
Source for Chrome OS to try yourself
http://chromeos.hexxeh.net/vanilla.php
Im all for a non-Apple based tablet, but this will be horrible if its actually on ChromeOS. This will only hurt android and its developers.
Didn’t HTC come out not even a month ago and say that they had no immediate plans to develop a tablet? Does immediate plans mean, only a month?
I’m excited, Out of all the tablets coming to market in Q4 2010 into 2011, HTC was the one I was looking forward to until they announced they wouldn’t be doing one.
This changes a lot.
Nevermind, just re-read it. Android based, not Chrome based, Tricky.
This concerns me because the first Google tablet will have barely any apps and be a very very limited device. This should have dual boot android on it. Hopefully some smart hackers will be able to do that.
I think the Chrome OS will focus on the HTML5 app store they are planning to open. In fact I think they said they are opening it later this year although it would seem to me that they should have something out there to build a dev community around it. They’d be best off doing some sort of windowed mode to run the Android apps that aren’t ready to scale up to that size. Of course that assuming that they will run Android apps. But knowing Google and their failures when it comes to integrating some of their products I’m not holding my breath for Android apps.
cloud only=FAIL
Sorry, but people want native apps
Why will it require a 3G plan. Wifi only is more than okay. I have Wifi at home and I can tether to my phone. I don’t want to pay more monthly. I want a tablet to use instead of a laptop around the house.
It’s been said already that this tablet will be porting android, not chrome OS
ari-free,
chrome webapp store will come 2 months in advance. Should give an idea about whether webapp only approach will fly.
The WeTab is an example of a non-Android device (Linux) that is supposed to also run Android apps via an emulator. Perhaps if Chrome OS can do the same, there would be a nice base of apps for the tablet.
webapps and the cloud are good. I just don’t want to be locked in to that approach. A tablet should have more functionality than a phone.
We dont need more Android tablets. We already have Android superphones. There’s nothing you can do on an android tablet that you cant do on an android phone, so basically it would be pointless for google to do that (just as pointless as Apple producing iPads that’s just bigger iPods). We dont need native apps, with the adoption of HTML5 the browser has become the most powerful, diverse native app we need. It can do everything from Photoshop, to video editing, to games, and even making native apps (Google app inventor). The apps are going to come because its a million times easier making a web app than it is to make a native app and their capable of achieving the same outcome. Google is giving us a completely new/different use for tablets and i think that should be celebrated. just wait and see, you guys will appreciate it in the long run
This is complete B.S.
Verizon already confirmed the tablet that Google is working on will be Android based:
“The tablet will run on Google’s Android operating system, Marquett Smith, a spokesman for Verizon, said today in a phone interview.” unless you think Bloomberg is not solid reporting and would believe some random blog with a random unknown source.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-05-11/verizon-wireless-is-in-talks-with-google-about-developing-tablet-computer.html
Also, if Google was to pull this crap and come up with a Chrome OS tablet after all of its partners are releasing Android based tablets and looking to Google to help them adopt Android for tablets, there would be a lot of pissed off manufacturers.
There is ABSOLUTELY no way they should bring this to market without it being LTE capable. They will sell far more if people are under the impression that it won’t be outdated before the end of the year. If they are planning to launch, publicly announce, and market their “4G” technology, it would be completely stupid for them not to include “4G” on a Google tablet launching the same month. I will not buy a tablet unless it’s “4G”. This isn’t something I plan to upgrade yearly, like a smartphone.
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/06/29/verizon-to-launch-lte-network-on-november-15th-handsets-on-black-friday/comment-page-2/#comments
Maybe they’ll launch the tablet and handsets as it was reported a long time ago…hmm…
@ari-free 99% of people do not know the difference. They think “The Facebook” is an application.
I want an android pad, but i don’t want to have to get it from verizon! I could careless about 3g or 4g connectivity. All i want one for is to use on wifi networks at home an around town.
They will know the difference when they try to use it in the subway.
LOL, from Engadget:
Update: The author of the Download Squad post, Lee Matthews, apparently fabricated all these specs — in comments, he confirms that they’re “pure speculation,” and this his source only provided the launch date and Verizon partnership. That part certainly seems plausible, but we wouldn’t necessarily believe any of this — it’s pretty suspect to just make things up.
You’ve all been had.
I thought this was a an Android forum not a Chrome OS forum. I now realise this is forum is run by Google employees pushing Google junk. Live on Android and screw Chrome OS.
I’ll wait for a tablet that isn’t tainted by HTC. Everything they produce is complete garbage.
@ N 74…what is so bad about HTC?
Chrome OS tablet? then it will named as Gablet? or ciblet?
I like Google’s Chrome browser, but I really hope Google and Adriod would do some innovation and can bring surprise for users, not follow behind like iPad, iPad now is really a big win, it have many market share, and the iOS have been around with the iPhone, ipad, it’s yet fantastic and remarkable, and so many app developers are living on iOS like iFunia, a MAC media converter developer, Apple always can provides for a large number of infestor.
here is my guess, the android tablet is going to have chrome browser on it
I was hoping for an Android browser, specifically I was hoping that Android 3 (Gingerbread) would be Android with a full Chrome browser. ChromeOS is great though, we will see. Hope Google are not going to forget about the UK this time ala Google TV.
@n0cturne74 You’re out of your mind. I’ve had 4 HTC smartphones (Harrier, Apache, Titan, Rhodium) since 2004, and have had almost no problems with any of them. You might want to backup opinions like that.