Rumours of a Google Nexus tablet have gathered pace and it's almost certainly going to be a 7-incher from Asus.

A benchmark test run using Basemark has revealed some interesting facts. Going by the codename “Grouper” - Google has a history of codenaming its Nexus devices after fish - the tablet is said to have the model number “Nexus 7” which hints heavily at two important details.

First, despite earlier reports that the Nexus brand was finished, the tablet will be a Google-branded product rather than go by the Asus name, and second, the device is likely to house a 7-inch display.

But more exciting is that the test results seem to reveal that the tablet will run the next version of Android, Jelly Bean - although that will actually be version 4.1 rather than the expected 5.0.

The line of the test that gives away such a tasty nugget is, "display":  "XXXXXX-userdebug  4.1  JRN51B  3XXXXX  dev-keys". According to Android Police, the 4.1 stands for the OS version, while the J of JRN51B stands for Jelly Bean.

It’s also looking likely to run on a 1.3GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor, while the display will have a resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels.

If this information does indeed prove to be credible, it’s the first indication that Google remains true to its word that its recent acquisition of Motorola won’t affect relationships with other manufacturers.

On the contrary, it will enhance them, as an Asus-manufactured first Jelly Bean tablet would suggest.

Pic: Asus' last superthin tablet, the Transformer Prime

Do you think this could be the first Google Android Jelly Bean tablet? Let us know in the comments below...