As Google ramps up for its large I / O group discussion in San Francisco this calendar week , analyst say the company must go on to prove the value of its Android operating system to developers .

Google necessitate to make Android more sympathetic to developer and stickier for consumer , analysts said . As part of that challenge , it will have to exhibit that the OS can be successful on pad of paper , which it has not been to date .

industriousness watchers expect Google to announce a tablet with its own brand this week . A Google pad of paper has long beenrumored , but the timing remain uncertain .

“ Let ’s put it this way , I ’m 100 pct certain they will launch a lozenge before midyear , and as far as I know , I / O is their freehanded splash , ” saidTom Mainelli , an analyst at IDC .

agree to Mainelli , the tablet will be made by Asustek Computer . It will have a 7 - column inch screen and deal for $ 199 , he say .

He added one caution on the timing : Microsoft wait until a few weeks after its recent TechEdconferenceto unveil itsSurfacetablet , he note .

But Microsoft ’s proclamation put that much more pressure on Google to release a pad showcasing its Android package , harmonize to Rob Enderle , principal psychoanalyst at theEnderle Group .

“ In a lot of ways it has the same strategical purpose as Microsoft ’s tab : It wants to guarantee that Google is a histrion in the tablet operating - organization market place , ” said Ezra Gottheil , a senior analyst with Technology Business Research .

Android has done very well on phones but has gained less traction on tablets , where the iPad is rife . Being a strong competition in the tablet market place should help Google continue developer for Android , Gottheil enunciate .

( A GizmodoreportMonday claims to have more item on the tablet . )

Currently , developers make more than doubly as many apps for Apple ’s iOS as they do for Android , accordingto fluid analytics house Flurry . With Apple , developers can target their apps at two different and highly successful devices , Flurry notes . With Android , developers must cut their apps for a range of equipment , mostly phone . Apps running in iOS also generate importantly morerevenue per userthan Android apps .

Carolina Milanesi , a research vice president at Gartner , sees Google ’s independent challenge at the league as make Android more appealing economically to developers .

serious apps will also help Google shew loyalty to Android among consumer , Gottheil said . Because Android phones are generally cheaper than other smartphones , many are used as glorified feature phones with a Web internet browser , he say , get out user little reason to pose with the political program .

“ Some of those phones are really , really squeamish , but there ’s nothing that would make a user say , ‘ I need to hold on to this picky weapons platform rather than that other shiny object , ’ ” he said .

Analysts also want to see Google integrate Android with its screen background OS , Chrome — or , tell Enderle , to get free of Chrome altogether .

“ There were a lot of questions [ from developers ] at last year ’s I / O about the merging of Chrome OS and Android , and those interrogation went unanswered , ” said Brian Blau , a Gartner analyst .

Milanesi saw advantages in both operating systems and thought Google should not force consumer to choose . Instead , they should have the “ aha ” second of recognition across devices that they increasingly get from Apple ’s Mac OS and iOS .

Analysts read they will also be on the lookout this week for possible unexampled features on Google+ , upgrade to Google Maps and improvements to Android security .

This year ’s Google I / O , whichsold out in just 20 mo , will be the first to fill up three days of programming . In reaction to the demand , Google plans to double the number of sessions it will livestream from San Francisco and put on 350 I / O Extended events , or group discussion consider parties that sometimes host a keynote of their own .