New reports have recently emerged saying that Google (News - Alert) will finally get a metaphorical horse in the tablet stakes as a Google-branded tablet, likely the long-awaited Nexus tablet, is set to be announced by the end of this month, its first Android (News - Alert) tablet.

The current reports say that the tablet is to be announced June 27 during Google's i/o developers conference, and is likely to be sold through Google's online shopping systems. Prices for the small tablet are expected to be low as well, selling for as little as $150. Perhaps the biggest part of this particular tip-off is that the tablet will offer magazine subscriptions to major publications the same way that Apple (News - Alert) and Amazon offer them for their tablets, and considering that Google recently started an in-app subscription capability for Android apps, which makes that report a safe bet.

While reports don't provide much insight into the specs on the Google tablet, some have projected that it will be a Tegra 3-powered tablet running on a seven inch screen built by Asus, making it an entrant against the successful Kindle Fire from Amazon and the somewhat less successful Nook Tablet from Barnes & Noble. With previous reports suggesting that a smaller tablet is in the works at Apple, possibly to be unveiled soon, it's not surprising that Google would want an entry in that particular race as well.

Bringing it out during the i/o developers conference is also a smart idea, as Google will need exciting entries during the conference to get it access to the news cycles in the same way that Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference will starting this Monday. Google's conference won't come for another two and a half weeks, so they'll have less competition there, but they'll still need the necessary big news items to fuel interest for news sources. A Google-branded Android tablet, especially one that's been as widely-rumored and long-awaited as the Nexus tablet, should do the job nicely.

The success of the Kindle Fire has shown that small tablets priced inexpensively that still deliver a quality experience, can in fact get somewhere in the market. The only question left: will Google's tablet be able to deliver that experience that users so clearly want?