Finally, Gold said an online store would help Google get "major numbers of tablets sold to compete head-on with iPads ... this [online store] could stimulate market interest and get more devices sold from all the Android vendors."

Gold concluded: "Think of Google in the tablet market with its own device as a way to stimulate the market and consolidate the wide diversity/fragmentation."

Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at or subscribe to . His email address is .

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