ASUS Will Build Google Nexus Tablet to Rival Amazon Kindle Fire

The ASUS MeMo 370T was a hot product at the CES show which took place in January 2012 in Las Vegas. The smaller 7inch tablet running Android 4.0 ICS was possibly overlooked however, as many turned their heads to the ASUS Transformer Prime and the news of the PadFone dropping a few weeks after at MWC 2012.

Around the same time, rumors started spilling over the internet that Google was in fact looking to partner with a current Android manufacturer who would build a Google branded ‘Nexus’ tablet. Google has recognized that they have a similar ecosystem to what Amazon has for consumer services such as Google Play, Google Music, YouTube, Google Apps and Google Books. They also have one more thing than Amazon…they own Android, which holds the highest percentage of mobile subscribers worldwide.

Google saw that what Amazon did with the Kindle Fire with their ecosystem deeply integrated and priced at a spot that people see as value, is money in the bank. So, they are releasing a Google Nexus tablet, and have chosen ASUS to build it given their successful launch of Android tablets as of the last few months.

The main goal here is to launch a speedy 7inch tablet while keeping the price down under $250. The Nook Tablet runs for $249, while the Amazon Kindle Fire is $199. Apple just recently dropped the price of their older inventory as well, with the iPad at $299 for a 16GB Wi-Fi, and the iPad 2 16GB Wi-Fi model for $349 (both refurbished models).

ASUS has gone on record stating that they have a close relationship with Google, and as such will be one of the first to launch the next major Android version 5.0 “Jelly Bean”. Digitimes is going on record stating that the ASUS MeMo 370T will be the tablet rebranded as the Google Nexus tablet and we’ll see it in May. Google launched a somewhat ‘branded’ Samsung 10inch Galaxy Tab at last years’ Google I/O event, which takes place in June 2012.

With these stories circulating, there’s no doubt that we’ll see ASUS making the ‘Google Nexus Tab’./ When we’ll see it is another story, but the pricing will be cheap.

Source – Digitimes, androidandme

Article first published as ASUS Will Build Google Nexus Tablet to Rival Amazon Kindle Fire on Technorati.

Tags: $250, 7inch, amazonkindle, android, android3.2, android4.0, asus, asusnexus, ces2012, google, googletablet, honeycomb, icecreamsandwich, ics, kindlefire, memo, memo370T, memoslate, nexus, nexustablet, nooktablet, quad-core, tablet, tegra2

Category: Tech We Love