Google Needs a Nexus Tablet

Is it possible to sell hundreds of thousands of tablet computers -- devices that were considered frivolous not long ago -- and be considered a failure? Ask Samsung.

According to reporting by the Korean Herald, the company sold 600,000 of its Galaxy tablets in the first month of availability. There's just one problem: Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL  ) sold more than 1 million iPads in its first month on sale.

In coming up short of Apple's sales record, the Galaxy has been cast as an also-ran.

Isn't this just a little harsh? Any honest review of the Galaxy shows it to be a highly functional device with features the iPad lacks: built-in telephony, a front and rear camera, and the ability to play video coded in Adobe's (Nasdaq: ADBE  ) controversial Flash format.

If there's a problem with the Galaxy and competing tablets from Dell (Nasdaq: DELL  ) and Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM  ) , it's that they're small compared with the iPad, and that counts for a lot when you're watching video or typing email.

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG  ) can't afford to watch Dell, Samsung, and its other partners fail to meet consumer demand for a comparative Android tablet. The Big G needs to establish a benchmark for others to exceed. It needs to create a tablet version of its Nexus One smartphone. And it needs to do it today.

Sound crazy? Consider history. Ever since the debuts of Nexus One and Motorola's (NYSE: MOT  ) well-received Droid smartphones, Android's share of the market has been on the rise. Lately, it has been outselling the hot-selling iPhone.

By setting a high bar for Android smartphones, the Big G challenged partners to do better, and they did. They'll rise to the occasion again, Google, but only if you show them how to make an Android tablet that dazzles.

Now it's your turn to weigh in. Do you think Google should create a Nexus tablet? Please vote in the poll below and then leave a comment to explain your thinking.

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