Rumour-mill: Google to launch a US$149 Nexus Tablet

Google CEO Eric Schmidt leaked it. A senior employee at an anonymous supply chain has all but confirmed it and now it seems that a 7-inch Nexus tablet gearing up for arrival. For a possible US$149, users may soon get their grubby hands on a low-priced Asus Nexus tablet.

The rumours begun to swirl around some time last year when Schmidt spoke to an Italian newspaper regarding new Android technology. At that point, things were still hazy regarding who would develop the hardware for the budget Android tablet.

Asus pretty much confirms it as well. The Asus MeMO 370T, a Tegra 3, 7-inch tablet announced at this year’s CES is now just another piece of vapourware. Google contacted Asus, asking them to begin production on a Nexus Tablet. The MeMO quickly fell by the side-lines.

The senior supply chain employee was quoted as saying “it’s a done deal.” The juiciest part of this ordeal is the price. For US$149, this Nexus tablet might as well crown itself king of the 7-inchers. The rumours also suggest that it’s going to be a Tegra-3 powered device. With the Kindle Fire rocking a Texas Instruments CPU and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus running a Cortex-A8 chipset, a Tegra-3 device would dominate, specs-wise. Or can the Nexus tablet match the 1GB RAM and 16GB internal memory of the ultra-powerful Samsung Galaxy Nexus?

At this price though, and knowing Asus, the materials will have to be fairly cheap. We’re not talking about the iPad’s brushed metallic finishes, no sir. It’s going to have to be an all plastic device with a possible 512MB ram and 8GB if it follows the trend the other 7-inchers set. It’s the stuff of pure fantasy really, a 7-inch, Ice Cream Sandwich tablet officially endorsed by Google, all for the price of ten Happy Meals. It really can’t get much better than that.