Google to debut new Android tablet to rival Apple iPad

London (ANI): Google Chairman Eric Schmidt has revealed that the company is planning to bring its flagship Android tablet to the market in the next six months to rival Apple’s iPad. “In the next six months we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality,” Schmidt told an Italian newspaper.

Android’s recent sales surge has been driven by cheaper tablets such as Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes and Noble’s Nook. Google’s Nexus devices, though, are hi-tech flagship devices that often include technologies that even Apple can take years to catch up with, The Daily Mail reports.

According to the paper, it is not clear whether Schmidt’s comments specifically refer to an own-brand tablet, but tech insiders have interpreted Schmidt’s comments as meaning Google will bring out a tablet equivalent to its own-branded Nexus Android phones.

Nexus phones were the first phones to incorporate an NFC chip, used for wireless payments, a technology that other phone makers have since added, and which the current iPhone 4S still lacks. According to the report, the new tablet is already in production at Apple’s Chinese suppliers.

The screen resolution, reportedly equal to the sharp Retina display in iPhone, but much larger, could be a huge selling point for the tablet in a market crowded with similar screens.