Rumors are flying and conjecture is intensifying that Google will connect the tablet fray with some sort of Android or Chrome OS - based tab gimmick to compete with Apple ’s iPad . The rumors have existed since the prescribed unveiling of the iPad , however the actual launch of the iPad has started them swirling again .

While there is adiverse collection of tablet deviceshitting the securities industry this class , many of them will fade as quickly as they emerge . Google is one of a fistful of companies capable of delivering a twist that can vie with the innovation and user experience of the iPad , while possibly delivering more patronage functionality akin to what weexpect from the HP Slate .

The New York Timesreported on April 12that “ Eric E. Schmidt , primary executive of Google , told friends at a late political party in Los Angeles about the young gadget , which would exclusively launch the Android operating system . ”

This choice morsel was accompanied by anonymous beginning claiming “ the company had been experiment in ‘ stealth mode ’ with a few publishers to search livery of record book , magazines and other content on a tab . ”

The concept of an Android - based tablet is already a moot point . TheDell Mini 5 pad , or “ Streak , ” is built on the Android OS , and HP is rumored to be working on asmaller interlingual rendition of the upcoming Slatetablet PC base on Android . The substantial doubtfulness is simply whether or not Google itself will enter the fray and make a Google - branded equipment .

MyPCWorldpeer JR Raphael has his dubiousness — point out the specific use of lyric like “ exploring ” and “ experiment ” in line Google ’s current pad of paper gimmick movement : “ Despite some blogger ‘ tendencies to fill in the blank shell with big Logos , there ’s no indication that this is a done deal , permit alone something that ’s likely to happen at any moment . ”

Raphael cause a valid decimal point . However , talk on the initial Google tablet hearsay , I wrote at the beginning of February : “ Google is n’t Apple , but next to Apple , Google is arguably the most - certified to launch a tablet twist capable of being a game record changer . One thing that Apple and Google have in vulgar is that they tend to recollect outside of the mainstream and are capable of create paradigm - shifting innovation . ”

Another thing Apple and Google have in common is an vivid rivalry and an apparently burning desire to vie head - to - school principal in every possible marketplace . Apple just unveil its program for iAd , a mobile advertising program connected to the iPhone — a direct affront on Google ’s bread and butter manufacture . It only makes sensory faculty that Google would take its“iPhone killer ” Nexus Oneinitiative to the next level and deliver an Android - based “ iPad grampus ” as well .

The tablet devices already available , announced , or rumor come up in a reach of sizes and capabilities that smutch the lines between e - readers with apps , smartphones on steroids , and notebooks with the keyboard removed and a touchscreen interface . The nascent pill market still defies any specific definition of what is or is n’t a tablet .

It is only speculation at this point , but it seems more or less like a foregone conclusion that Google will want to take advantage of the blow up lozenge market as well . Google is in a singular stance to read from its own experience gained from the launch of the Nexus One , and also to teach from Apple ’s launching of the iPad .

Combining those lesson learned could yield a sleek and formidable lozenge to vie with the iPad . If Google include support for Adobe Flash , a camera or two , and perchance a USB port or Coyote State memory identity card slot , it can create a equipment that has all of the benefits of the iPad while alsodelivering everything the iPad isn ’ .

[ Tony Bradleyis Centennial State - author ofUnified Communications for Dummies . ]