Telecom Lead Europe: Google has priced entry-level Nexus 10 tablets at $399.
Google is aiming to compete with the original iPad.
The price of entry-level Nexus 10 will be about $100 less than the least expensive iPad.
The Google tablet will be available from November 13 in the US, Britain, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Canada and Japan.
Nexus 7, which was launched earlier this year, is available in the same countries, and the version with mobile data will go on sale November 13 in those countries except for Japan.
Nexus 4 will be offered in the US through T-Mobile and unlocked in Britain, Australia, France, Germany, Spain and Canada.
Google needs to compete with South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, the biggest maker of phones using Android around the world. Google’s China strategy is not known to telecom analysts at present. Chinese market is dominated by domestic companies, including Huawei Technologies, ZTE and Lenovo Group.
It is strange that Google is not launching its tablet and smartphones in China. In fact, China will overtake the United States as the world’s biggest smartphone market this year, according to IDC, which expects demand to grow for lower-priced smartphones based on Google’s Android software.
IDC forecast that China’s share of the smartphone market will increase to 26.5 percent this year from 18.3 percent last year, while U.S. market share declines to 17.8 percent from 21.3 percent.
The revamped line of its Nexus devices called Nexus 10 will be a rival to the market-leading iPad.
The Nexus 10 appeared to be the firm’s entry into the 10-inch (26 centimeter) screen tablet market pioneered by Apple.
Last week, Apple unveiled a smaller seven-inch iPad mini to be sold alongside its 10-inch original iPad.
Google will also be selling its Nexus 7, which has a seven-inch screen, with mobile access for GSM networks worldwide.
Google’s Nexus 4, a smartphone with a 4.7-inch screen, has been manufactured with South Korea’s LG.
Google said the music offerings on Google Play, the firm’s online store, would be launched in Europe on November 13, with a new feature to allow music in a customer’s online collection to be automatically uploaded to the cloud.
It will be offered in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
“We’ll scan your music collection and any song we match against the Google Play catalog will be automatically added to your online library without needing to upload it, saving you time,” Google said.
This will be available in Europe at launch on November 13 and is coming to the US soon after. This will all be for free — free storage of your music, free matching, free syncing across your devices and free listening.
