With the Google Chrome operating system due for launch later this year naturally people are wondering when the first Chrome tablet will come on the scene and the rumour mill is grinding out word that HTC is on the case.
According to Downloadsquad.com this will be a Google tablet in the same way that the Nexus One was the Google phone because HTC is apparently building the tablet, which will sell on the Verizon network in the US.
Further to this it has been given a 26 November launch date – that’s Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year in the US – and it will most likely have a lower price point than the Apple iPad.
Aside from the fact that Android handsets now outsell iPhones in the US, there are two issues here: first of all despite the success of its Android mobile operating system Google’s own Nexus One phone did not seem to make waves and was shelved recently so it is interesting that the company has chosen to build its own tablet computing device so soon after this.
Secondly, Google is essentially competing with itself by launching the Chrome OS. The Samsung Tab tablet device is due to launch next month and this will run on Android so it will be one Google OS sitting alongside another as tablet devices become more mainstream and manufacturers have the choice of the two.
Expect to see a number of other Chrome OS device on the market soon, most likely including netbooks, as other manufacturers including Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and Toshiba.
