The Wall Street Journal has scooped what could be one of the biggest mobile stories of the year. According to a source close to the paper, Google is set to release, and heavily subsidize, a “Google Experience” tablet, sold through its own online store a la Nexus One.
But what about the abject failure that was Google’s first Nexus device? Sure, it was beautiful and powerful, but it didn’t sell well. Except that device was $529 unlocked, whereas this rumoured tab, manufactured by either Samsung or Asus, is expected to go for between $199 and $249 (or perhaps both depending on storage size).
This bodes well for the future of Android tablets, for which Eric Schmidt claimed there would be some serious work done to equalize the playing field this year. We told you previously that Google loved, and wanted to emulate, Asus’ MeMo Tablet when they saw it during CES this year. It’s thought that they could rework the 7-inch device, which is expected to come with a Tegra 3 processor, to be as good or better than most tablets double the price.
If Google does accomplish this, it will likely annoy many of the other Android manufacturers fighting for market share, since until now the Nexus series has never competed for price. With a sizeable subsidy, plenty of marketing push and a compelling version of Android with decent app selection — not to mention Google Play’s new movies/books/music/apps focus — this could be the first must-have Android tablet that isn’t called Fire.
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