Google is on a roll when it comes to mobile hardware.  Unlike Apple, Google doesn't design its own hardware -- rather it sticks to what it knows best, software.  Android recently passed the iPhone in U.S. market share according to market research firm NPD.  

Now Google is looking forward to a new mobile assault on a piece of Apple's mobile empire that just recently launched.  According to Verizon Wireless Chief Executive Lowell McAdam, Google is teaming up with his company to launch a tablet which will compete with the iPad.

Apple's iPad has moved over a million units already and some analysts speculate that the tablet market could displace the netbook market as the next great computing craze.

McAdam comments, "We're looking at all the things Google has in its archives that we could put on a tablet to make it a great experience."

Verizon Wireless declined to add further details, namely who Google's hardware partner might be.  HTC seems one likely candidate, based on the company's intimate involvement with the Android project.  However, a mid-sized tablet would be new ground for HTC, which specializes in more diminutive cell phones.  

Dell, another Android partner, is another possibility.  HP is less likely, given the word that it's working on a webOS tablet, drawing on the expertise of new acquisition Palm.

The OS of the Google tablet(s) also remain unknown.  Google is reportedly prepping its Chrome OS for tablets, and has shown off new designs.  Android is perhaps equally likely, as it has been shown to be easily portable to tablet designs.  Either way, the recent required 3D OS skin-maker BumpTop will likely add enough polish to the OS to make it an attractive alternative to the iPad.

There's no word on how soon Google's design might land.