Google’s Nexus 7 tablet has been a big success, thanks primarily to its rock-bottom price and attractive hardware specification, so it makes sense for the company to be thinking about adding more tablets to the range.

According to an industry analyst, Google is working on just such a device, and it will be aimed at the upper end of the market. Google hasn’t returned to Asus though, nor has it chosen Motorola – its own company that also built the Xoom, the first Android Honeycomb tablet – but has partnered with Samsung, the manufacturer that has produced the last two Nexus smartphones.

The report says the screen size will increase to 10-inches and it’s claimed that the new tablet will have the iPad’s Retina display beaten with a screen resolution of 2560 x 1600, while the iPad has 2048 x 1536. This would result in a slight higher pixel density, with the Nexus effort reaching 299ppi, trumping the iPad’s 264ppi.

However, Google will surely want to keep its aggressive pricing model for any new tablet – the Nexus 7 is cheap because Google expects to make money on its services – so its primary competitor may not be Apple’s slab, but the new Kindle Fire HD 8.9instead. Amazon’s range-topper isn’t out until November in the USA, and won’t be coming to the UK at all, but it does have an 8.9-inch screen with a 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution. It starts at $299.

Of course, any talk about tablets these days means invoking the spectre of the iPad Mini, which depending on the specification, could steal both device’s thunder. If it exists and really is coming soon.

All this speculation about a new 10-inch Nexus tablet didn’t include details on a release date or a price, but Google will surely want to capitalise on Christmas sales if it does have a new tablet in the works.