Google introduces Nexus tablet

Google Inc unveiled a handheld computer called the Nexus 7 that features a 7-inch screen and is designed to help the company vie with Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp in the surging market for tablets.

The Nexus 7 will feature Google’s Android operating system, according to a video posted on the YouTube website. The company will probably unveil other information about the product at an event on Wednesday in San Francisco. Google has been planning a $199 tablet co-branded with Taiwan’s Asustek at its Google I/O developers conference this week, people familiar with the matter have said.

Google is on the hunt for ways to fuel sales of tablets, a market that may almost double this year to 118.9 million units, according to Gartner Inc.

Though Android has grabbed more than half of the smartphone market, tablets with the software have won less than half the iPad’s share, and will face new pressure from Microsoft, which unveiled its own tablet last week.