Google has been rumored to release its own branded tablet for quite awhile now. The company, which isn’t seeing the tablet sales it’d like, has been rumored to partner with either Samsung or Asus to manufacture the tablet and have a “pure” Android experience on it — much like the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S. Today, a purported image of what could be Google’s Nexus tablet has made its way on to the internet. Here’s why it could be legit..

PocketNow posted the image from its tipster, and points out some pretty solid reasons on why this image might be in fact the Nexus tablet. For one, the apps loaded on the tablet are purely from Google, and don’t include any third-party apps from the Play Store or an OEM like Samsung or Asus (whoever is developing this tablet). Furthermore, the 4:00 time on the clock matches the time on the Galaxy Nexus. Coincidence? Perhaps..perhaps not.

The Nexus tablet has been rumored to be a 7-inch variant to compete with the Kindle Fire, among others. However, the tablet photographed above, looks to be a 10-inch version. Also, there isn’t a Play Store icon, rather just a Market icon which is something that could obviously be fixed. If Google has decided to take the 10-inch route is not clear.

There’s no word on specs from the tablet, but expect it to be priced at around $199 or $250. As AndroidCommunity points out, the image above does look close to a 7.7-inch prototype Toshiba showed off at CES — though has some differences. This in fact could just be another prototype of Toshiba’s.

What do you guys think? We should be hearing more from Google soon, perhaps at Google I/O.

• SourcePocketNow