The arrival of the rumored Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android tablet appears to be imminent. According to the New York Times, Google chief executive Eric Schmidt told friends at a recent social function about the new device. Even more interesting perhaps, is the revelation by anonymous sources who say that Google is already working with publishers to put books and magazines on the as yet unreleased device.

Wired noted that the choice of Android as the operating system "seems odd," given that Google has publicly committed to the Chrome OS as the platform of choice for netbooks. However, it is true that only Android offers the kind of functionality that will allow the Google tablet to compete with the features found in the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad.

However, it is unclear at the moment whether such efforts will do much to help it take off. Perhaps Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, the chief executive of Nokia sums it up best when he was quoted as saying. "It's quite challenging to define what industry we are in because everything is changing."

For more on this story:
- check out this article at eWeek
- check out this article at Wired 

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