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An employee answers phone calls at the switchboard of the Google office in Zurich in this file photo from August 18, 2009. Google Inc's consolidated revenue beat Wall Street's target in the fourth quarter even as pricing for its online ads weakened during the holiday season, the company reported January 30, 2014. Reuters/Christian Hartmann/Files

Google will reportedly release its Nexus 8 product this coming year. Likewise, the device will reportedly feature the new Android 4.5 Lollipop operating system. The last Nexus release from Google was the Nexus 5. Following its introduction, interest over other Nexus devices built up. More importantly, sources say that the Nexus 8 may give the iPad Mini Retina a run for its money. What can people expect?

According to a report by The Next Digit, the Nexus 8 will be a contender against the iPad Mini Retina especially with its Android 4.5 OS and 64-Bit processor. The shift over to the Nexus 8 may be due to Google's move to focus more on the 8-inch tablet group than in the 7-inch section. According to analysts, the 7-inch sector has been extremely saturated, Google wanted to capitalize more on a less exploited section.

The Next Digit also reported that a Google employee based in Dublin hinted that the release date of the device will not be during the Google I/O conference in June. Instead, the tech giant plans on releasing or announcing the device around July. Instead, the company will stick to the announcement of the Android 4.5 update in the conference. The event will also highlight other Google services.

Google released the first and second generation Nexus 7 in July 2012 and July 2013 respectively. People should expect the Nexus 8 to come out around the same time this year. PC Advisor, on the other hand, noted that the Google Nexus 8 may start around £299. The device will be slightly more expensive than the Nexus 7 because of improved features and larger screen.

As Google will no longer release a 7-inch slate, the question now boils down to who will produce the tablet for the internet giant. Digitimes reported that Google may be partnering up with Asus although the site updated its report saying Google will switch to HTC.