Google to launch branded tablet store

Sources across the web are claiming that Google is posed to launch a new online store aimed at bumping up Android tablet sales.

Allegedly the tablets on offer will be manufactured by Google partners, including Asus, Samsung and the like, but all the branding, logos and presentation will be Google's own.

The Wall Street Journal reports that these devices are going to be sold directly by Google to customers via a web-based shop but there's no official word on when it might go live.

Apparently the move is Google's attempt to bolster Android tablet sales against Apple's iPad and according to some reports Google may subsidise the costs to get its prices down to around the $199 mark, which could mean around £130 for UK buyers.

All this does correlate to some extent with reports that Google was co-operating with Asus to bring a branded Nexus tablet to market at a low-cost price. It's a trend which looks set to continue as Apple's iPad dominates the market, Nvidia also mentioned it would attempt to bring Tegra 3 quad core powered tablets at the $199 price bracket.