Google's Schmidt plays down Larry Page's health scare

Google chairman Eric Schmidt said that chief executive Larry Page is returning to work following an unspecified illness.

Speaking at a conference in Idaho, the former Google said that the company's current chief executive and co-founder is still recovering from an unspecified illness which had caused Page to lose his voice.

"He's still recovering. Larry is doing much better. He was in the office on Monday," Schmidt was quoted as saying by Reuters.

"Larry ran the meeting. He is talking, but talking softly."

The illness, which was not specified and has not been reported to be serious or life threatening in nature, had caused Page to miss the company's shareholder meeting.

Page's recovery comes as good news to Google as the company moves forward with the release of its Nexus 7 tablet. Unveiled late last month, the tablet is slated to arrive in the coming weeks and will look to take on Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet.

Recent teardown reports suggest that while Google will see a slim profit on the low-end model, the 16GB Nexus 7 model will offer Google a much better margin.

The Nexus 7 could soon face stiff competition in the market. Multiple reports suggest that Apple is working on a 7in iPad model which could hit shelves in the autumn.