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Could Google Be Focusing on an Android Tablet Again?

By Laura Tucker
Google Android Tablet Featured

Whether or not you belong to the Apple ecosystem, when you think of tablets, you most likely think of Apple’s iPad series. Not that there haven’t been Android tablets, as there have been, but they have never had anywhere near the success of the iPad. Google appears to want to change that and is developing a new Android tablet, if you take into consideration some recent job listings.

Trying to Beat the iPad

There have been many, many Android tablets – even Google tablets. Google has had the Nexus 7, Nexus 9, and Nexus 10 tablets. There was even a prior Pixel tablet: the Pixel C.

Google Android Tablet Drawing

But there is no one who considers those models when thinking of tablets. They just couldn’t make a dent in the space with iPads, despite being the more economical choice.

Apple has released so many successful iPads that the numerical naming convention had to give way to sizes and other logical names. There is only one seller in Apple, compared to multiple Android sellers, making it even more impressive.

Google’s Initiative

Google appears to want to make a change to all that. There have been a couple of job listings that make it obvious Google has tablet aspirations.

A job listing advertising for a “senior engineering manager, Android tablet app experience” says, “We believe that the future of computing is shifting towards more powerful and capable tablets. We are working to deliver the next chapter of computing and input by launching seamless support across our platforms and hero experiences that unlock new and better ways of being productive and creative.”

Google Android Tablet Apps

Clearly, Google fears it will be left in Apple’s dust. There are also ads for a vice president and director of project management for Android tablets. The listings mention a “long-term strategy.”

Additionally, Rich Miner, an Android co-founder, has rejoined Google. He spent some time with GV, Google parent Alphabet’s venture capital firm, and a Google education project. He moved to Android tablets in March 2021. Since then, he has developed the “Entertainment Space” and “Kids Space” tablets.

A version of the mobile OS, Android 12L, has also been developed for large-screen devices. It’s due to be released next month, and Google is suggesting that developers update their apps for 12L as well.

Rebooting Android tablets isn’t Google’s only aspiration, however. The company is also reportedly working on a gaming Chromebook.

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Laura Tucker Avatar
Laura Tucker
Laura has spent more than 20 years writing news, reviews, and op-eds, with the majority of those years as an editor as well. She has exclusively used Apple products for the past 35 years. In addition to writing and editing at MTE, she also runs the site’s sponsored review program.

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