Google has reportedly nixed plans for a Nexus 10 2 release date, opting instead for an 8.9-inch Nexus 8 that Taiwan's HTC will manufacture.

The upcoming vanilla Android slate is likely the first of two tablets that Google has lined up for 2014, CNET said in a report, the other one being the 7-inch Nexus 7 3. According to IHS Technology, the smaller tab, which is Google's answer to the iPad Mini, will see its third edition later in the year.

"We still expect to see a 3rd generation of the Nexus 7 product at some point in 2014," IHS Technology told CNET.

Yet the focus right now is on the mid-sized Nexus 8, its realisation points to the abandonment of the full-size Nexus 10. As early as July last year, Google has hinted that it will rollout a second iteration of the iPad Air rival but 2013 ended and the tablet remained unavailable.

It appears now that Google has a change of plan - it is aiming to challenge the iPad Air supremacy by offering a competitor that is a bit downsized in order to achieve better portability

While shaving off the device's dimension, IHS has predicted that the Nexus 8 will deliver high-end specifications, characterising the upcoming tablet as a 'high performance' gadget. It is also understood that as the Nexus is packed with top-notch specifications, a significant price bump up would be inevitable.

IHS said on its report that starting price of the Nexus 8 "is higher than $299."

"The expectation is that this will be a lower volume product, carrying a premium price tag to support the specifications," Rhoda Alexander of IHS was reported by CNET as saying.

Launch of the tablet is forecasted to happen in late Q3 2014 as IHS noted on its report that full-scale production is set to start between July and August or a few weeks following the gadget's anticipated preview at the annual I/O Developers Conference in June 24.

Even as the CNET report was silent on what the Nexus 8 is capable of, recent rumours suggested that Google is mulling the use of a 64-bit eight-core Intel chip codenamed Moorefield with the device. This paves the way too for a PowerVR GPU and the specs so far suit well with the contention by IHS that the next Nexus is a premium tablet in the making.

The Nexus 8 release date is likely to take place between August and September 2014 and the device is touted as the first to showcase Android 4.5 or 5.0.