Report: Google Working on Own Tablet, 6-inch HP Android Slate in Works

Just in case you thought the Nexus One phone was a one-shot deal, it looks like Google is getting into the tablet game, too. And we’re not talking about just handing over its Android software to third parties. According to The New York Times, CEO Eric Schmidt recently showed off a Google-made tablet at a party and the company is “experimenting in ‘stealth mode’ with a few publishers to explore delivery of books, magazines and other content.”

If you’re wondering whether other Android tablet makers will sour on the platform, the same article says that HP is working on a 6-inch Android tablet nicknamed “the half-pint.” More important, the Times reports that Google “hopes to make its own apps marketplace available for new slate-like devices.” That’s an about-face compared to what the company apparently told the makers of the Entourage Edge, namely that Android is a phone OS and that Google works with phone companies.

Hoping the rumored Microsoft Courier will be a bona fide iPad alternative? Looks like you’ll have to wait until 2011.

The piece says that there are concerns within Microsoft about how long the dual-screen device can last on a charge, and that the company has shifted gears from targeting the pen-enabled tablet at architects and designers to reaching mass market consumers. Good idea. As for Nokia, the Times reports that it’s working on an eReader device.

What remains to be seen is when the Google tablet will come to market and how long it will take before the Android Market opens up to larger screen devices. The sooner developers can get cracking on apps optimized for beefier hardware and higher-res displays, the better. The iPad already has more than 3,000 apps.

Where does all this leave Chrome OS? Maybe as the software of choice for clamshell devices, while Android will become the de facto choice for tablets.