Skeptic Rumor – Google Tablet Rival the iSlate, iPad Mini

Google is working on a tablet computer with HTC, the company that built the hardware for the Nexus One "Google Phone", Comparing Apple's iPad Mini according to a report.

The report claims that HTC has "been working closely with Google for the past 18 months" on "several working models of a touch tablet."

Are Google and HTC about to challenge both the iPhone and the Apple tablet, rumored to be called iSlate.

Australian news site Smart House, who first published the story, identifies the Google/HTC offering as a direct rival to Apple's tablet ambitions. But the device might equally prove a threat to Microsoft: Getting Google Chrome OS into consumer's hands is key to the operating system's success.

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Skeptics might argue that Google will never promote a tablet computer of its own Comparing to iPad Mini. That would endanger its relationships with other hardware makers. And yet the Nexus One proves that Google very much will tread on toes if the move makes strategic sense.

What do you think: could a Google Tablet rival the iSlate? Or will this rumored device never see the light of day?