If for some reason you've got an aversion to ordering online, you'll soon be able to pick up the Google Nexus 7 tablet -- be sure to read our full Nexus 7 review -- in another brick-and-mortar store. Staples today announced that it'll carry both versions of the Nexus 7 (that'd be the 8- and 16-gigabyte versions) later this month, for the same price as Google Play -- $199 and $249 respectively. 

Google Play is still showing a 2- to 3-week shipping time for the Nexus 7, which had preview versions distributed to attendees of the Google I/O developer conference earlier this month in San Francisco. The Nexus 7 is one of the first devices -- and is the first tablet -- to run the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean version of the Android OS.

Source: Press release

Apple has been defeated in a court case against Samsung in the UK, which sought to determine whether the Korean manufacturer's Galaxy Tabs were infringing upon Apple's registered community designs for the iPad. The British High Court today ruled that Samsung's designs for the Galaxy Tab 7.7, 8.9 and 10.1 are sufficiently different to Apple's, and cited examples of prior art in the area of tablet design dating back well before the advent of Apple's 9.7-inch slate.

Samsung's victory means it is free to continue selling its range of Android-powered tablets in the UK. Naturally the decision is a major blow for Apple, which has previously been successful in having Android tablets removed from the marketplace on account of design features like rounded corners and a thin chassis.

In a statement to UK tech site Pocket-Lint, Samsung said --

"Samsung had requested this voluntary trial in September 2011, in order to oppose Apple’s ongoing efforts to reduce consumer choice and innovation in the tablet market through their excessive legal claims and arguments. Apple has insisted that the three Samsung tablet products infringe several features of Apple’s design right, such as 'slightly rounded corners,' 'a flat transparent surface without any ornamentation,' and 'a thin profile.'

"However, the High Court dismissed Apple’s arguments by referring to approximately 50 examples of prior art, or designs that were previously created or patented, from before 2004. These include the Knight Ridder (1994), the Ozolin (2004), and HP’s TC1000 (2003). The court found numerous Apple design features to lack originality, and numerous identical design features to have been visible in a wide range of earlier tablet designs from before 2004."

The news follows HTC's high-profile victory over Apple at the High Court last week, in which it was ruled that the former's Android phones did not infringe upon the latter's patents. Samsung hasn't been so lucky in the U.S., where the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is currently banned from sale, and it's had some success in blocking sales of the Galaxy Nexus.

Source: Pocket-Lint; More: iMore

Clad in blacks and grays, the Nexus 7 itself may be an unassuming beast, but it seems manufacturer ASUS is looking to spice things up a bit with its range of covers. The Nexus 7 maker teased a first look at its official accessories for the soon-to-be-released tablet on Twitter, showing some more colorful versions of the grey case that's listed -- though not yet available -- on Google Play. There's no info on pricing or availability just yet, but we're sure Nexus 7 early adopters will be looking to protect their investment with something like this following the tablet's release.

More: Nexus 7 review

Source: @ASUS

At this point, it's no secret that retailers across various regions will be adding the Nexus 7 to  their tablet offerings but now Best Buy, Staples and Future Shop Canada have gone ahead and set up their pre-orders for the first Android 4.1 Jelly Bean tablet. Oddly, it seems retailers are opting to not offer the lower priced 8GB version and instead jumping to the higher priced 16GB version. Whether or not the 8GB version will make an appearance later isn't known but either way, the $259.99 asking price isn't all that bad no matter how you slice it for what you're putting yourself into.

Of course, Google Play ordering is still the better option here considering you can get an additional $25 in apps when ordering direct but when these devices it hit stores, it should help those waiting to get a hands-on before diving in help decide if it's everything they are expecting. Speaking of dates, Best Buy and Future Shops says they'll be arriving in the warehouse on August 10th (bit late?) while Staples says July 14th. We'll be keeping our eye on whom, exactly ends up with them first. In the meantime, have you read our Nexus 7 review yet? If not, what are you waiting for?

Sources: Staples, Best Buy, Future Shop

Some of you might be wondering what ever happened to our review of Acer’s new Iconia Tab A700, and rightfully so.  We promise we didn’t forget, and we’re definitely not keeping you all on pins and needs for the fun of it. Everyone here at Android Central strives to provide the most fair, balanced, and thorough product reviews possible, and sometimes a speed bump or two along the way is just inevitable.

The A700 review unit we’ve been testing seems to be giving us a bit of a hard time; inconsistent performance, slow-downs, and freeze-ups have rendered our tablet all but unusable (though despite it all, that HD screen still looks great). Before we unfairly write off the A700, we’ve requested a replacement unit to make sure the problems we’ve seen aren’t consistent across the board. Bum units happen sometimes, especially in the technology world, and that’s something to always keep in mind as both a consumer and a reviewer. So sit tight, stay patient and know that we’re hard at work making sure you have all the facts before you plop down $450 on Acer’s latest tablet.

That's a question many folks have been asking since Jelly Bean was announced at Google I/O 2012 and there really hasn't been a definitive answer to point people to. Now though, we're getting a better look at where the CyanogenMod team will be headed as they've now had some time to sit down, work some stuff out and look at the bigger picture.

As highlighted on the CyanogenMod Google+ page, there was a lot to consider when looking at where to take CyanogenMod. While some stuff will make and easy transition, other things will take a bit more time and as always, ETA's will not be given out. All things noted are subject to change considering the source code for Android 4.1 is not yet available:

• On Jelly Bean - Unless you have been internet deprived lately, you are aware that Android 4.1 aka Jelly Bean (JB) is due out in the coming weeks. Which inevitably leads to the question: How does this affect me CyanogenMod? Now, to preface this, we do not have our hands on the source code, and things in this post may change dependent on analysis of the code first hand and the impacts. That said, we do have a general understanding of the changes and what we can expect, and this post serves to highlight the key changes.
• CyanogenMod Next - Many have asked whether JB will be CM9.1 or CM10. Keeping with the pattern thus far, every newly named AOSP update results in a bump to the CM major version. This has the added benefit of fitting into the pattern of [insert codename position in the english alphabet] = CM version. Examples being: G is the 7th letter thus CM7, I is the 9th letter thus CM9 and J = 10.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. No matter how you look at it, all recent versions CyanogenMod will continue to be maintained and improved upon for quite some time. Those looking for a Jelly Bean based version however, now have something to look forward to as time goes on. For now though, the obvious focus is to get stable builds of CM9 out there for folks to enjoy and make use.

Source: CyanogenMod

Following its total re-vamp in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, Google has spent the past six months fine-tuning the stock Android launcher in version 4.1, Jelly Bean. A couple of changes to the way icons and widgets are added and managed, in addition to some serious speed improvements, make for a much more usable launcher in the new version of Android.

Firstly, home screen elements now intelligently move and resize each other to fit into the allocated space on the home screen. For example, if there's a stray icon in the way of a large widget you want to place down, you're no longer required to move or delete it before doing so. Instead, the Jelly Bean launcher lets you bump existing elements out of the way as you drag new stuff onto the screen.  (You'll know if something's about to be moved, as it'll wiggle ever so slightly in its new position.) Similarly, you can also budge icons and widgets around when resizing existing stuff, and when you're moving a large widget into a smaller space, it'll shrink down to fit the available home screen real estate.

Jelly Bean also introduces a neat new gesture for removing unwanted icons and widgets from your home screens -- when you've got them selected by long pressing, you can throw them away by flinging quickly towards the edge of the screen.

The second big launcher change in Jelly Bean is probably the most noticeable -- the improvement in speed, as part of what Google's dubbed "Project Butter". This is the overarching name for all the different techniques that've been employed to improve perceived performance by cutting down on lag and stuttery transition animations, and the impact on the launcher is dramatic to say the least. The 3D app drawer animation, previously prone to lag in ICS, is silky smooth in Jelly Bean. And live wallpapers which slowed things to a crawl on Android 4.0 now glide along effortlessly.

There's a redesigned Google search bar, of course, but this functions just as it does in ICS, launching you into either voice search or Google search. The app behind this has changed too in Jelly Bean, but we'll show off those changes in a future article.

For a complete walkthrough of the new and improved Android 4.1 Jelly Bean launcher on the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7, check out our hands-on video after the break. And be sure to check out our other Jelly Bean feature showcases if you haven't already.

Archos today announced a new entry-level line of tablets, known as "Elements." The first device in the series is the Archos 97 Carbon, with a 9.7-inch IPS display running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It's got 16GB of internal storage and can take up to a 32GB microSD card, or a flash drive in its full-size USB port. It's also got a 1GHz processor (Archos didn't say what kind) and 1GB of RAM, along with front and rear cameras (again, Archos hasn't given exact specs). But we do know it weighs 21.8 ounces and is 0.45 inches thick. 

In addition to the Carbon 97, Archos says we can expect 7- and 8-inch tablets as well.

The Archos Carbon 97 will be available sometime this month (Archos didn't say when) for between $229.99 and $249.99 in the U.S., while British prices will start at £219.99 (~$340).

More: Archos