Google Tablet with Android 4.1 Launching in 2012?

Internet search engine giant Google might launch its very own tablet with Android 4.1 within the next six months, Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said recently in an interview with an Italian media.

The tablet, dubbed Google Nexus, might become a serious threat to the tablets launched by the company's partners such as ASUS, Acer and Lenovo. All these companies plan to release Ice Cream Sandwich-powered tablets in the first half of 2012, DigiTimes reported, citing the sources at the PC industry in Taiwan.

According to the report, the PC industry in Taiwan is worried that the Google Nexus will run on Android 4.1, which may offer many features unavailable to Android 4.0 users. If that's true, tablet users will be drawn to the Google tablet, rather than the ones made by the Taiwanese manufacturers.

Asustek launched Android 4.0-powered tablet this year, and Acer and Lenovo will release their tablets with Ice Cream Sandwich next year, the sources told DigiTimes. And, when the new update (4.1) will be available, those Android 4.0-powered devices will be upgraded.

In the current tablet race, iPad is ahead of the pack but affordable tablets, including Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet, are threatening its dominance. It has also made other PC companies rethink their strategies about their tablet PC lines, according to the Taiwanese sources.

It's not the first time for Google to launch its own tablet. Earlier this year, the company joined hands with Samsung to release the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which is powered by Android 3.0 (Honeycomb). However, the new tablet may be made by Motorola, which Google acquired earlier this year for $12.5 billion.