The upcoming Google Nexus 10 tablet has leaked online, allegedly making a brief appearance on the Google Play store.

If this whole scenario sounds a little bit familiar, it's because the Google Nexus 5 smartphone coincidentally found itself in a similar situation, appearing briefly on the Play Store before being abruptly pulled.

While some may believe in pure coincidences and accidental leaks, this particular context seems rather staged. If Google didn't intentionally give a sneak peak at its upcoming devices and this isn't fake, then the company should seriously reconsider how it chooses to hire the people in charge of the Play Store listings.

According to a new Phone Arena report, one of the publication's readers has spotted the yet-to-be-announced Nexus 10 on Google Play, before Google rushed to pull the listing.

The purported Nexus 10 can be seen in the image above, just as it allegedly appeared on Google Play. Moreover, the brief listing reportedly came with some specs for the next-generation 10-inch slate that aims to challenge the iPad Air.

The new Nexus 10 will purportedly pack a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, 3GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 2.1-megapixel front shooter. The 10-inch display will reportedly sport a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels and the battery is expected to be more powerful. In terms of design, the new-generation tablet seems to be slimmer and lighter than its predecessors.

What the leaked image doesn't show, however, is any branding that could confirm which company is building the slate. If specs and images have already leaked, the manufacturer remains a mystery at this point.

It's very important to note, however, that Phone Arena does not vouch for the authenticity of this image. In an update on its original report, the publication notes that a thorough research raised some red flags.

"After a more extensive research, we believe that these are likely fake," writes Phone Arena. "This is not simply because the icons of the Nexus 10 2013 were obviously added later - this could have been done for illustrative purposes anyway. It's because, after delving deep into our tips database, we concluded that this particular tipster had a track record of sending content of dubious authenticity."

In other words, the authenticity of this leak is quite circumspect. This doesn't mean that it's necessarily bogus, but there's a good chance that it was just a hoax. As advisable in all cases where leaks, rumors and speculations are involved, take this one with a big grain of salt.