7-inch Google tablet said imminent

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TAIPEI, Taiwan, May 24 (UPI) -- A 7-inch tablet computer is coming from Google and could hit the market in July, DigiTimes, a tech Web site based in Taiwan reports.

An initial shipment of about 600,000 units, manufactured for Google by Asus, based in Taipei, is set to begin in June, the site said.

Details of the tablet's specifications are not known yet but there has been speculation about a quad-core processor running version 4.0 of Android, CNET.com reported Wednesday.

If the tablet does appear, and a rumored 7-inch "iPad Mini" from Apple also surfaces, competition in the 7-inch tablet arena will increase, as Amazon is already a major force in the 7-inch market segment and Samsung has recently begun selling its 7-inch Galaxy Tab 2, CNET.com said.

DigiTimes said plans call for production of 2 million units of the Google tablet for 2012.