A new picture seems to be going viral on the Internet, and it is supposedly a leaked image of the much-anticipated Nexus Tablet. On Tuesday, April 3, PocketNow has posted a photo it received, picturing a tablet, "with absolutely no context whatsoever."

The leaked photo shows an extremely generic tablet from all angles but the back, with only official Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) and Google apps featured on the stock launcher. The photo also shows the standard tablet buttons, an ASUS/Samsung-style tablet port, a standard USB port, a microUSB port, a SIM card slot and what seems to be a full-sized SD card slot.

Could It Be?

Based on visual clues, the folks down at PocketNow believe there is a good chance the leaked photo features the rumored Galaxy Nexus tablet. "First of all, the only visible on-screen icons are for Google products - none of the third party apps or widgets that you'd expect to see on a Samsung, Motorola, or even Viewsonic tablet. It's about as naked of an Android experience as you could hope to find on a modern tablet. Secondly - and this seems to be the most compelling evidence - the Ice Cream Sandwich soft keys and pictured time of 4:00AM are a dead match for the classic Samsung Galaxy Nexus render with muted rainbow wallpaper," writes PocketNow.

Inconsistencies

On the other hand, some of the details in the photo seem rather suspicious. The rumored Asus-made Nexus tablet was expected to be a 7-inch slate, but the leaked image looks more like a 10-inch tablet. Many claim that the image could have been easily Photoshopped, with a few spare shots of Android tablets, a copy of Photoshop and some photo editing skills. The folks down at Android Community are equally suspicious:

"Let's be frank, shall we? With an hour of free time and a few press shots from a Galaxy Tab and a smattering of other Android tablets, I could remake this image in Photoshop with pixel-perfect accuracy," writes Android Community's Michael Crider. "That and a lack of a source in PocketNow's story lead me to be highly suspicious of this render. That doesn't mean that it's a fake, it just doesn't present any compelling evidence that it's real. There are a few inconsistencies in the image: it uses the odd combination of power and volume buttons on the top (portrait) with a docking port and camera on either side (landscape). Also note that Android Market icon is still present, despite the Google Play Store replacing it a month ago."

The Nexus Tablet has been rumored and anticipated for some time now. However there is no solid evidence to support the rumors, not from Asus, not from Google or anyone else. Perhaps Google's I/O conference in June will bring the much-anticipated unveiling. With no word on price, specs or release date, the Google-branded tablet remains a mystery, but hopefully not for long.

(reported by Alexandra Burlacu, edited by Surojit Chatterjee)