Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt has revealed the search-giant's intentions to begin marketing “a tablet of the highest quality” within the next six months, a move that sees the “brutal competition between Apple and Google Android” rage as fiercely as it has for quite some time.

Speaking with Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, Schmidt had nothing but reverence for the late Steve Jobs - “[He] was the Michelangelo of our time. A friend of mine and a unique character, able to combine creativity and visionary genius with an extraordinary engineering ability” - though it did little to disguise the fact that Google is planning a full-frontal assault to overthrow the predominant tablet manufacturer, Apple. The ex-CEO of Google also addressed the need for Google to further develop, manage and promote its own voice recognition software in light of the the popularity of the iPhone 4S' Siri.

Whether the company will choose to develop a true iPad rival, or an Amazon Kindle cut-price competitor remains to be seen (as is whether Google will stick with the Nexus branding) - concrete details of Google's tablet are unlikely to see the light of day for a fair few months and will most likely follow the rumoured reveal and subsequent launch of the iPad 3. 

Translated using Google Translate