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Josh Miller/CNET
The tech industry expects Google to debut two new Nexus smartphones on Tuesday, but the company may also unveil a tablet called the Pixel C.
Google is set to announce a 10.2-inch Android tablet alongside several other products and begin selling it in November, according to Google-focused blog Android Police, citing an unnamed source. The all-metal tablet will use an Nvidia X1 quad-core processor with 3GB of RAM and come with a choice of aluminum and leather keyboard accessories, the report said.
The tablet will run the latest version of Google’s mobile operating system, Android 6.0, also known as Marshmallow , which is set to debut today.
The Pixel C would show that Google, despite selling its Motorola smartphone division to Lenovo, is still interested in retaining a foothold in mobile device manufacturing. Mountain View, California-based Google is better known for software and for services, leaving the design and manufacturing of hardware to partners. Apple has shown the advantages of tightly linking hardware and software design teams with its successful and profitable iPhone products, though, and software powerhouse Microsoft continues to dabble with hardware designs.
Google declined to comment.
The Internet giant will also show off two Nexus smartphones Tuesday, expected to be the 5X and 6P , which will serve to showcase the Android Marshmallow operating system. Google historically launches Nexus products alongside the latest version of the Android operating system, but don’t expect the Pixel C tablet to fall under the Nexus brand. Nexus devices are not made by Google itself, but by third-party phone manufacturers — in the case of the 5X and 6P these are expected to be LG and Huawei, respectively. Instead the Pixel C will be entirely Google-made, the report said.
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The Pixel C will be accompanied by a keyboard, suggesting that like Apple’s iPad Pro, Google has office work in mind, not just playing games, reading books, surfing the Net and skimming Facebook.
Google’s first two Pixel-branded devices were high-end touchscreen laptops that, instead of using mainstream operating systems such as Microsoft Windows or Apple’s OS X, used Google’s simple, online-focused Chrome operating system. However, the Pixel C is expected to use the Android operating system, Android Police said. The device will also include the light bar that flashes in Google’s signature primary colors on the Pixel laptops, according to Android Police.
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