Will there be a Google tablet?
The tablet computer mania does not end with Apple, even though they seem to be in the driver’s seat for now. Another big name in Silicon Valley, Google, is showing a lot of interest in the newest computer niche.
Google has been showing tablet computer design concepts around, featuring virtual hardware that looks a lot like the iPad but running it’s own Chrome operating system. Chrome started life as an experimental netbook or laptop operating system, so the jump to a tablet OS is not a big stretch. That the Chrome OS is yet to power anything commercially available does not seem to keep Google from throwing it at more conceptual devices. The actual operating system is not set to debut on any actual hardware until the middle of this year, according to a CNN story, and a best guess at a possible release date for a Google tablet is in 2011.
A Google spokesperson said last week, “Google Chrome OS is still in development and we are constantly experimenting with various user interfaces to determine what designs would produce the best user experience.” That experimentation has translated this week into several possible looks for a Google tablet, all of them similar to the Apple appearance, hardware-wise, but with an expectedly different feel, software-wise. The product wars between Google and Apple show every sign of heating up and staying hot, especially if a tablet computer from each is added to the mix.
Google’s foray into the smartphone business, from both a hardware and a software standpoint, has been promising but has yet has not given Apple any reason to quake in its boots. There is no particular reason that Google should not be able to give Apple competition in either the smartphone or the tablet computer markets, but they cannot be expected to do it overnight. Apple has a large head start in the smartphone arena, as well as in hardware ans software generally, so any large gains by Google can be expected to take time. Still, where there is a will, there is a way and Google has always had a strong corporate will.
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