The nearing appearance of the Nexus 7 2, Google's answer to Apple's upcoming iPad Mini 2, gathers more steam as reports emerged that accessories for the first Nexus small tablet are nowhere to be found.

The more noticeable vanishing act is that of the official Nexus dock, also made by Nexus 7 assembler Asus. According to Gotta Be Mobile, the charging and multi-function tablet holder was silently withdrawn after its reappearance to Google Play just some weeks ago.

Google and Asus were mum on the development though speculations are rife that the companion product for the Nexus 7 is not selling in the way expected by the tech giant, thus prompting its abrupt pull out.

Yet the stronger whisper is Google's apparent preparation for the Nexus 7 2 landing. After skipping the I/O Developers Conference in May, analysts pegged the small tablet's release date on Q3 2013, likely between August and September.

According to DigiTimes, the stock Android tablet will showcase significant upgrades from its predecessor, particularly on CPU and display screen.

The new tablet is rumoured to show off the powerful Snapdragon 800 chip, likely the quad-core build, which latest reports said was also picked by Samsung for deployment with future shipments of the Galaxy S4 and the Galaxy Note 3.

The Qualcomm CPU was an attraction for device makers due to its incredible power and efficient energy usage, plus the bonus of having an on-board LTE chip.

Also, it is believed that Google and Asus will upgrade the Nexus 7 2 resolution to 1920 x 1200. And the best part is, it will retain the solid price tag of $US199, which was first seen when the first-gen Nexus 7 was pushed out last year.

A few months after its release date, the Nexus 7 2 will slug it out with the next iPad Mini, which reports said will not be the Retina-laced version. It will be a cheaper version bearing a $US249 price.