Google unveiled its own Nexus tablet, the Nexus 7, at the Google I/O conference Wednesday in San Francisco. The 7-inch tablet running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean will have a 1.3GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor as well as a 1280x800 IPS display with a 178-degree viewing angle.
The tablet, which Google says is "built specifically for Google Play," will have a 1.2-megapixel camera, 1GB of RAM, and a 4235mAh battery that will get it 8 hours of battery life "during active use" or 9 hours of video playback. The tablet weighs 340 grams, just shy of 12 ounces, and is 10.45mm thick (2.6 ounces lighter and just under a millimeter thinner than the Kindle Fire). Both 8GB and 16GB configurations will be available. Bluetooth, WiFi, and NFC all come standard, and there is no version of the tablet that can connect to a cell network.
When Google showed the device, it made special note of the fact that the user's content collection is front and center, much like on the Kindle Fire. When demonstrating the magazine viewing experience, a Google employee was able to swipe through a pile of magazines, and a "view text" link would reflow a visible article into a formation that is "optimized for reading." The tablet will also have a "new recommendation engine" for content that will show users content tailored to their tastes.
As for apps, the Nexus 7 will ship with Google's Android version of Chrome as the standard browser. The Maps app has been beefed up to allow Street-View-like capability inside buildings, with the gyroscope detecting the direction of view. Maps can now be downloaded for offline viewing. Google also touted the capabilities of the Nexus 7 as a gaming device, showing off the quad-core processor's 3D graphics prowess with a game called Horn.
The Nexus tablet hits the same $199 price point as the moderately successful Kindle Fire. Buyers will receive $25 of credit in the Google Play store "for a limited time," according to the product page, and the device will ship in July.
Google's manufacturing partner for the Nexus 7 is Asus, which showed off a $249 quad-core Tegra 3 tablet at CES this past January.
Reader Comments
Just kidding!
Looks like 2013 is gonna be an interesting year in the tablet space.
What pray tell, would last that long anyhow???
What pray tell, would last that long anyhow???
You're kidding right? In my experience iPads get a solid 10 hours. That said, the supposed 7-8 hours of the Google replicant would be enough for East Coast-London transatlantic.
Word. And is it rootable, being there's no phone companies/OEMs to insist on lock in?
Last edited by uninventiveheart on Wed Jun 27, 2012 11:36 am
Battery life isn't long enough for a trip to Mars. DOA for me.
(And, yes, the market is predominantly made up of Martian travelers.)
What about transformer or transformer prime?
Uninformed customers get totally lost in the Android tablet market due to competing hardware makers' naming convention. Android tablet has been dead to me. I am a bit intrigued with this product, but what does it mean? I hate to use F word, but fragmentation in Android market doesn't help some of wonderful hardware.
That's a pretty high standard to meet. Not sure if the ipad does, but in one of my flights to hawaii I could not charge my older ipod off of their provided USB power port, my android phones would be able to. So battery life is irrelevant when you don't need it.
Last edited by Chris R. on Wed Jun 27, 2012 11:40 am
What pray tell, would last that long anyhow???
You're kidding right? In my experience iPads get a solid 10 hours. That said, the supposed 7-8 hours of the Google replicant would be enough for East Coast-London transatlantic.
I think he's referring to the fact that why would you use a tablet that long in a single stretch? 5 hours on battery is fine for west-east coast flight, considering in-air snacks, changeovers, and the occasional nap, NTM maybe you'll get bored using it without the internet.
Honestly I had an iPad for a while and I did love the thing, but I mostly used it for a quick email/internet check, using some apps like dictionaries etc. This would be just as good for that usecase with a much more compelling price point. If you do not have a Laptop the iPad would be much better I suppose but if all you want is a very convenient device for the quick web check than this provides the same for 40% of the price. I would assume that they take away a significant amount of lower-end iPad customers.
And I would assume that this thing can really hurt the Kindle, you can get most of the content of Amazon on this as well and you do not get the mutilated Android version of Amazon.
Oh my - really? You watch 8+ hours of video every time on your daily transcontinental jaunts?
Instead we get Google's answer to the Fire. Which is interesting, I guess, but hardly essential. Amazon's success with the Fire only helps the ecosystem, why attempt to bifurcate that?
Between this and the Media Sphere Of Doom™, I'm not sure what Google is thinking.
Last edited by cateye on Wed Jun 27, 2012 11:44 am
Interesting battle heating up, at least between Google and Amazon. I do wonder if Apple will join the seven inch market as has been rumored.
Oh wait-
Argh. Come on Google. Show some love to us Canucks!
As a side note, patience is not my strong suit.
UPDATE: AHA! It's up. Cart is a bit buggy, but I don't blame it. It's probably getting bombarded.
Last edited by FlareHeart on Wed Jun 27, 2012 11:53 am
Disappointing. With this tablet market, it's go big or go home.
Disappointing. With this tablet market, it's go big or go home.
Other than screen size being less than 10" these are not low-end specs.
What about transformer or transformer prime?
Uninformed customers get totally lost in the Android tablet market due to competing hardware makers' naming convention. Android tablet has been dead to me. I am a bit intrigued with this product, but what does it mean? I hate to use F word, but fragmentation in Android market doesn't help some of wonderful hardware.
What about them? Android tablets do exist with names, I know. I said I'm tired of models referring to their size. (If you're just alluding to me just STFU, that's fine. I said my piece.)
Uninformed customers get lost in the Android tablet market because there's little differentiation. What does an brand new Android 4.1 tablet that's 7 inches big do that the Motorola Xoom doesn't? Voice typing? Chinese algebra? Spline reticulation?
iPad and Android differentiation is easy to make. The selling points between an Acer Iconia and a ASUS Transformer Prime is less important to the mainstream public if they don't care what the differences are in the first place (this one has 4.0, the other has a dual core processor). This might have a shot for two reasons: the price, and the fact that Amazon hasn't locked down the UI.
Last edited by uninventiveheart on Wed Jun 27, 2012 11:55 am
Normally the only reason is easy money for the company ("charges $100 more for 16GB that costs me $10 BOM") but they're not even selling any model with more than 16GB ...
It is so close to "done right" otherwise.
Last edited by ssiu on Wed Jun 27, 2012 12:00 pm
I expect that tablets will see hardware continue to get better with prices continuing to fall. Popular perception has been that the tablet war is over and the iPad won. I think that perception is wrong. This segment is still in its infancy. The tablet war isn't over. It's just beginning.
yeah because all those 500$ Android tablets that tried to go head to head with the iPad were such resounding successes. Android just cannot yet compete on the high-end. Apple has a big headstart in the software, hardware, manufacturing etc. Just pushing in the same hardware components as the iPad doesn't make it a more compelling device.
On the other hand I am pretty sure that a lot of people will choose a good 200$ tablet over a great 500$ one. Sounds like a good approach to me.
yeah but Apple has economies of scale like no other company so their profit margin will always be a bit bigger. And Amazon can sell at a loss because they lock you into the Amazon marketplace and want to make money with you buying content. And while Google has some content it is definitely not on par with Amazon. You would still have Prime on it but its not google who makes the money.
Selling a device at a loss without the corresponding razor blade model is simply idiotic.
yeah because all those 500$ Android tablets that tried to go head to head with the iPad were such resounding successes. Android just cannot yet compete on the high-end. Apple has a big headstart in the software, hardware, manufacturing etc. Just pushing in the same hardware components as the iPad doesn't make it a more compelling device.
On the other hand I am pretty sure that a lot of people will choose a good 200$ tablet over a great 500$ one. Sounds like a good approach to me.
yeah but Apple has economies of scale like no other company so their profit margin will always be a bit bigger. And Amazon can sell at a loss because they lock you into the Amazon marketplace and want to make money with you buying content. And while Google has some content it is definitely not on par with Amazon. You would still have Prime on it but its not google who makes the money.
Selling a device at a loss without the corresponding razor blade model is simply idiotic.
Pretty sure Google is selling this at a loss: ASUS is getting their cut of the price or they wouldn't make it at all. Unlike Amazon, I don't think they care to do anything than break even on it being that any app sales is boosting their profit. Lowering the cost of entry into tablet computing seems to be more important to Android having any kind of chance at being profitable than beating the iPad at what it does or how it does it. Apple is good, but this is easily attainable.