[Update 1 on March 6, 2012:. Google Play isn’t the name of Google’s upcoming tablet. The company announced that starting today, Android Market, Google Music and the Google eBookstore will become part of Google Play.]
Original story on March 2, 2012:. Rumors have been swirling since late February that Google may launch a Google-branded 7-inch tablet later this year. So, what might it be called? How about the ‘Google Play’?
I like to speculate on new domain name registrations and this past week it appears Google registered a slew of domain names like Googleplayapps.com, Googleplaygames.com and Googleplaybooks.com, hinting at a new product or device that sure sounds a lot like a Google-tablet.
On February 29, well over a dozen domain names were registered through the brand protection company MarkMonitor.
The full list of names includes:
appsonplay.com
booksonplay.com
gamesonplay.com
googleplayapps.com
googleplaybooks.com
googleplaydownloads.com
googleplaygames.com
googleplaymagazines.com
googleplaymovies.com
googleplaymusic.com
googleplaynewspapers.com
googleplaynewsstand.com
googleplaytv.com
googleplayvideos.com
magazinesonplay.com
moviesonplay.com
newspapersonplay.com
tvonplay.com
Of course, Google hasn’t officially been confirmed as the buyer of the Google Play domains since the registrant is hidden behind Whois privacy, but Google regularly uses MarkMonitor to acquire domain names. Its own Google.com (Whois) is registered with MarkMonitor.
At the time of this posting, none of the names resolve to a web page.
This is all speculation at this point, but with the tablet expected to arrive in April, I’m guessing whatever the name is, we’ll see more news soon.
As of today, Google does not own GoogleTablet.com or GooglePlay.com.
Discussion: The Next Web, Neowin.net, Geek, RootzWiki, androidandme.com, Tom’s Guide, Ubergizmo, WebProNews, phoneArena.com, MobileSyrup.com, Pocket Gamer, Electronista, Phones Review, Geeky Gadgets, Games.com, Marketing Land, Tablet Community, WinFuture, AndroidOS.in, TechCrunch and SlashGear
(Image of Google tablet concept via Chromium)