Japan's top mobile operator, NTT DoCoMo, is looking to launch a tablet computer that will be produced by LG Electronics and run on software developed by Google, the Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday.

The device, which is scheduled to be released in Japan by the end of March, is expected to have a smaller than 9-inch screen, but other details have yet to be determined, the newspaper said without identifying the source of its information.

DoCoMo officials were not immediately able to comment on the report.

The tablet PC would compete with a slew of models from the likes of Dell, Samsung Electronics and Sharp to challenge Apple's iPad in the new gadget segment.

(Reporting by James Topham in TOKYO and the Bangalore Equities Newsroom)

Japan LG electronics Launch