Speculations suggest that a new Nexus 7 refresh is in the works, to be released before the year ends.

According to noted tipster Evan Blass, the new Google slate will be built by Huawei, with a 7-inch display. This means that it will come out as a direct follow-up of the popular Nexus 7 tablet. It will reportedly come out before the end of the year, so it is possible that Google is placing it to be launched just in time for the holidays.

However, Blass only noted it as "Google's Huawei-built" tablet, so it is likely that instead of the Nexus lineup addition, the new slate will become part of the rumored Pixel series. Google has reportedly already started it with the previously-expected 2016 Nexus smartphones, which are supposedly rebranded as the Pixel and Pixel XL. Should this come true, it is possible that the new slate will become a "Pixel 7," or a follow-up to the Pixel C.

There are also rumors that should it retain its Nexus status, the new slate may be branded as the Nexus 7P. Previously, its maker, Huawei, has applied a trademark for the "7P' tag. However, it remains unconfirmed if Huawei will use it for the slate, since the China-based manufacturer is also the maker of the current-gen Nexus 6P flagship, so the "Nexus 7P" tag may also be a smartphone follow-up.

Meanwhile, the supposed leak also mentioned that the upcoming Google slate will carry 4GB of RAM, so it can be expected that the new tablet will also come out with top-tier specs. This means that it is likely that the rest of the specs include either an above-average or premium Snapdragon processor (625 or 820), and Android Nougat 7.1, the same platform that will reportedly be featured in the Pixel smartphones.