Google & Asus are rumoured to have partnered up to release the first Google Play tablet into the marketplace. HTC and Samsung have both had bites of the Google cherry with their Nexus devices and it looks like Google wants to share the love. With regulatory authorities holding up the acquisition of Motorola, Google appears to be chasing a suitable manufacturer with high manufacturing & product quality standards as a dance partner for this one.

Google sought Taiwan-based co-brand partners at the end of 2011, the sources noted. Among potential partners, HTC had strong design capability but insisted on directing development of the co-brand model and was unwilling to develop a low-price model to impair its brand image, while Acer did not have in-house R&D capability, the sources indicated. Google finally selected Asustek because of its ODM capability and good product quality

Source: Digitimes