The slate-like computer will run Android, and anonymous sources say that Google has already been working with publishers to put books and magazines on the device.

The choice of Android seems odd, given that Google is committed to the Chrome OS on the netbook platform. But Chrome will be an almost non-existent operating system, offering just enough software to load a browser and access Google’s online services. Android, on the other hand, is already well-developed and full-featured enough to offer all that you get from Apple’s iPad. It is also designed to be used on a touchscreen device, something that can’t be said for a skinned desktop OS like Windows 7.

A Google tablet could be the only tablet capable of actually challenging the iPad, avoiding the iPod whitewash in which Apple thrashed everyone, even Sony. It would also have some advantages. Google’s services, for one. Apple still doesn’t get the cloud, and getting data on and off the iPad is still largely done over a USB cable. Android is also the only other real player in apps with the Android Marketplace. It is way behind the iTunes App Store in numbers, but is at least in second place.

More ... http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/04/nyt-google-android-tablet-imminent/