Recent reports have suggested that the tablet stakes are about to get one tablet thicker in the next several days, as Google (News - Alert) may be readying an announcement about a 10-inch Nexus tablet for October 29. This is going to put them in the thick of an increasingly growing tablet stakes, but what else will Google's new tablet have on tap?

Google's newest Nexus tablet, according to the reports that put an announcement on it for the end of the month, is set to offer not only an unusual resolution--2560 x 1600--and Android (News - Alert) 4.2, formerly known as Key Lime Pie, but now being called Jelly Bean like Android 4.1. The tablet itself is said to be a co-production of Google and Samsung (News - Alert), code named "Manta", and is geared to compete with the bigger names either currently in play--like the iPad and the Kindle Fire HD--or imminently arriving, like the Microsoft (News - Alert) Surface. Indeed, the new Nexus' projected resolution is actually a slightly higher pixel density than the iPad line, even with the Retina Display, and that's going to give it a nice edge, assuming everything goes as planned.


Image via www.google.com

With the holiday shopping season already somewhat in gear--and its apex to hit in just over a month with Black Friday--there will be plenty of new tablets from which to choose. Apple's (News - Alert) still expected to show its iPad Mini hand at an event tomorrow, and not too long after that, the Microsoft Surface is expected. Bringing out a new tablet, especially if all goes as planned and Google can hawk the improved pixel density, they might have an edge. However, it might not be enough of an edge, especially given that no one's quite sure just what features Android 4.2 will offer up, or if there will be enough of them to make this any more than a kind of "same tablet, now with better display" announcement.

Given the success of the Nexus 7, though, it's a fair bet that there will be at least some interest in the 10-inch model. But with the likely variety of tablets out there--not to mention the cannibalization of sales that will likely happen with people buying the Nexus 7 over the Nexus 10, if that's what it's finally called--this may be a tough slog for the potential new Nexus tablet. How this relates to earlier reports about a $99 Nexus tablet is also somewhat unclear, since a larger tablet with better resolution is unlikely to be lower-priced as well. It's going to take the announcement itself to more readily show just what's on tap, but this could either be a huge success or a dismal failure, but most likely, somewhere in the middle.