Google officially unveils its Nexus 7 tablet

[garyopa]

With Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and a $199 price.



That's right, Google unveiled its own Nexus tablet, the Nexus 7, at the Google I/O conference. It's Asus developed.

Seems that the rumors were true.

Google just made the Nexus 7 tablet official.

The 7-inch tablet will run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and will have a 1.3GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor as well as 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 4,235mAh 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.

Yep, the tablet is built by ASUS and the company is asking just $199 USD for the 8GB model and $249 for a 16GB version.

Sadly, there's NO SD card slot.

Also, seems that Google Play will get TV, movie, and magazine purchases for the Nexus 7.

The service will launch today with major partners on board such as Disney, ABC, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures, and Paramount for video and Hearst and Conde Nast for print. Previously, only rentals of such content was offered through Google Play.

And finally, Google will modify its Maps and YouTube for the tablet:

Engineering Director Chris Yerga demonstrated the new feature within a local San Francisco bar called District, moving the device to show us how the compass and gyroscope work to provide 360-degree views based on your current direction and angle -- it's a pretty slick effect.

There's also offline map viewing that expands the Google Labs map caching to include entire cities, which should definitely come in handy for navigating beyond your comfort zone (and mobile coverage area).

Naturally, there's also an updated YouTube app, letting you take full advantage of that 7-inch display with video preview grids and HD playback, with a familiar Play store-like interface.

So, there you go. What do you think of the tablet? Does it look/sound appealing to you?

NEWS SOURCE #1: Google officially reveals 7 Quad-Core Nexus7 tablet with Android 4.1 (via) ArsTechnica
NEWS SOURCE #2: Google makes the Nexus 7 tablet official (via) EnGadget

Our thanks to 'Gauss' for this news item!

[borbeatss]

Buying this. 100%.

Tegra 3 for $250? Win.

[msanchez]

No sdcard?.... WHAT THE F*CK? I could have forgiven the Tegra3 crap (Damn Asus are nvidia's little b*tch), but this no sdcard business is definitely a deal breaker.

[borbeatss]

No sdcard?.... WHAT THE F*CK? I could have forgiven the Tegra3 crap (Damn Asus are nvidia's little b*tch), but this no sdcard business is definitely a deal breaker.

You used Tegra 3 and crap in the same sentence?

Odd.

I'd love to hear why you think Tegra 3 is crap. I assume you know of a faster SoC on the market right now? Or even in the near future?

LOL. Get informed. Not liking this SoC for whatever reason you have is plain ignorant. Get over it. Tegra 3 is the undisputed king of phone/tablet SoC's.

And will be until 2013 at the earliest.

[msanchez]

Guess you haven't heard of a little company by the name of Texas Instruments. Tegra3 is only faster theoretically just like the Tegra2 is supposed to be faster than the Ti 4460 chipset, but in actual real world usage the Ti is MUCH better than the Tegra chips. Until nvidia doesn't release proper documentation for their SoC (system on crap) then this will not change, unlike some people I don't live/work off of specs.

So yes I used Tegra3 and crap in the same sentence... I can also add feces, fecal matter, doo-doo, poo, and number 2. All = crap which = Tegra

As far as something that is better than tegra3 try THIS on for size. And that's with only 2 CORES. I would personally have waited, or teamed up with a company that like most PC gamers fanboys doesn't think nvidia can do no wrong. In the SoC business Nvidia SUCKS DONKEY COJONES.

[garyopa]

Guess you haven't heard of a little company by the name of Texas Instruments. Tegra3 is only faster theoretically just like the Tegra2 is supposed to be faster than the Ti 4460 chipset, but in actual real world usage the Ti is MUCH better.

I glad someone knows the truth. -- I been a TI fan for years, well not to mention I was an actual TI design engineer for years, and even later still have tons of TI stuff around me, and new designs flowing in my head. -- I personally met some of the other video TI engineers and they are amazing brainheads in they way they work.

Problem with TI has always been on the marketing side, to get out there in meet and wine and dine and get the companies to sign agreements to use their products, all engineers, no brains in the sales side.

[msanchez]

Oh you just to work with them? Yeah I agree that they are just not that well known, at the very least not anywhere near the level of popularity nvidia has. I've had devices running qualcom, broadcom, hummingbird (samsung), OMAP, and recently I bought a Tegra2 tablet... and after a few weeks of use it's pretty clear that the Ti chips pack more power and are way more efficient. The only thing that makes my Ti equipped Kindle Fire seem a bit bad is, again, the lack of an sdcard, in all other respects it obliterates my Tegra2 equipped Iconia.