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Posted on 04-02-2010

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Google seems to be developing a rival to the Apple iPad. It has shown mockups of a tablet device running its own Chrome operating system. A video and some pictures showing a mock-up of the Google Chrome OS running on a tablet device have been posted on the search company’s Chromium Website. 

Glen Murphy, Google Chrome’s UI lead designer has designed the concept himself.

The mockups show a possible tablet device with an on-Screen keyboard and a touch interface. It also depicts an outstanding thing that the Apple iPad seems to lack - the ability to multi-task. This Google Chrome Tablet device will be able to launch multiple browsers at the same time and might also prove to be a fantastic e-book reader, with Google’s access to millions of books via its Google Books service.

The possible tablet’s screen’s format will be 4:3 and it will also offer 10-finger multi-touch navigation that will enable a user to use all his 10 fingers simultaneously. The 11.6-inch screen will be capable of displaying 1920x1080, which is full HD so it might be the first company to introduce such a high resolution on a small screen. According to some sources, HTC, the same company that built the Nexus One, might also build the Google Chrome Tablet.

Interestingly, the prototype came only a few days after the launch of Apple’s iPad and one can not help but notice a number of similarities as well, from the screen format to the thick bezel and the round edges. Many think that Google’s decision to wait until after the launch of the Apple iPad might have been voluntary.

At the end of the day, the internet-connected tablet market is getting hot and not only Apple and Google but many other companies are fighting to get to the top. The question is, whether Google’s tablet will be different enough to survive the increasing competition.