Report points to Google tablet from LG

Google is reportedly at work with hardware vendor LG on a tablet system that will run an unmodified version of Android 3.0 Honeycomb.

A translated report from Russian news site Mobile Review said that the companies are collaborating for a Nexus tablet design.

The system will reportedly run an unmodified version of Honeycomb, containing strictly Android code without additional bundled material or applications.

According to the report, the Nexus tablet could hit the markets in the middle to later part of this year.

Google declined to comment when contacted about the report by V3.co.uk, citing company policy.

Google has previously offered unmodified Android devices in the form of its Nexus One handset. The device failed to take off in the consumer space, but has become a favourite among developers who use it as a test platform for Android software.

IDC analyst Bob O'Donnell told V3.co.uk that a Nexus tablet could appeal to developers, consumers and enterprise users who don't want added-on software beyond the basic Android platform.

"Every single Android tablet developer is looking for an angle, and one angle might be that we have the clean tablet," O'Donnell explained.

"Some buyers are going to want something that is the clean version, and a number of the smaller vendors might do that."

Additional reporting by Khidr Suleman.