Recently we have been hearing news about the Nexus 8. While the Nexus 7 first and second gen batches have been successful it seems that Google are going to be stopping the program and turn their attention to the 8 inch tablet. Reports say that Google want to move into the 8 inch tablet market as there are fewer competitors. Google could also be looking to stop the Transformer Book line so that they can focus on the production of the slate.
Asus showed off a new hybrid device at the CES 2014. This wasn’t the usual device which functioned as a tablet and a laptop. The Transformer Book Duet offered users something new. The issue with it was that it runs Android and Microsoft, but Google and Microsoft are competitors.
They don’t seem to be pleased about the fact that they are side by side and it has been said that Google could pressure Asus to stop making the device. Google would perhaps prefer it if Asus concentrated on offering devices that just had Android on them.
This could affect the Nexus 8 as Asus were behind both of the Nexus 7 tablets, so Google could choose them again as they have been reliable in the past and the two tablets went down well with consumers.
Asus haven’t made a comment on the matter, but an insider at Google said that the Nexus 7 with Android 4.5 should come out in July. The new Android OS will not be revealed during the developer conference which is to be held on June 35 and 26.
So even though both Asus and Google have not made a comment, this would not be the first time that Google has bullied another company when it comes to products. It is thought that they stopped Samsung from making tweaks to Android as much as they would have liked. Google wants to create an ecosystem that is robust and they have been plagued with fragmentation problems.
