It has only been a few days since Google started selling the Asus Nexus 7 tablets through Play Store in India while Asus launched the 32GB and 3G variant of Nexus 7 and we are already hearing news about the second-generation Nexus 7 is just a couple of months away from launch. According to Reuters, Google is planning to launch the successor to the Nexus 7 in July.

The most interesting part of the report is that the new version will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, instead of the Nvidia Tegra chipset used in the original model. This apart, the new version is expected to be feature a higher screen resolution and a thinner bezel design. Asus will continue to be the hardware partner for the second-generation Nexus 7.

Though there is nothing concrete known about the pricing of the device, it is expected that Google will keep the pricing strategy unchanged and launch the new variant at a competitive price point to maintain market friction with Apple’s iPad mini and Amazon’s Kindle tablets. Also, Google is reportedly aiming at shipping up to eight million Nexus 7 tablets in the second half of the year.

Only last week Google started retailing the Nexus 7 from the Indian Google Play store but unfortunately, it was the 16GB Wi-Fi only model. Today Asus has announced it is bringing the recently-unveiled 32GB model in both 3G and Wi-Fi only flavors to India. The 3G model will cost Rs 21,999 and the Wi-Fi only model will be a good deal cheaper at 18,999.

Google for its part is selling the 16GB Wi-Fi model via the Play Store for Rs 15,999, but these newer 32GB SKUs will be offered at retail outlets and will be distributed by Asus.

As we already know, the Nexus 7 is powered by a the quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 CPU, and it has a 7-inch IPS panel with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels. Additionally, it has 1GB of RAM, a 1.2-megapixel front facing camera and is powered by Android 4.2.

Asus has confirmed that it will be launching the Nexus 7 in India tomorrow. The tablet is already listed at Croma’s online store for Rs 19,981 for the 16GB model.

The Asus Nexus 7 was announced back at Google I/O in June and since then it has become a best seller. Asus in fact went on to say in its recent earnings call that it has almost been selling one million units a month.

The Nexus 7 was the flagship Android 4.1 Jelly Bean device that was a collaborated effort between Google and Asus. Initially Google had priced the device at $199 for the 8GB model and $249 for the 16GB model, but earlier this month it discontinued the 8GB model and announced a 16GB model at $199 and a new 32GB model at $249.

Apart from being a pure Google experience Android device, it has a 7-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels and has an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor tied in with 1GB of RAM.

Key Specifications:

• 7-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels
• Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz
• 16GB of internal memory
• 1GB of RAM
• Front-facing camera
• 9 hours of battery life
• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean

While everyone is speculating when Apple will actually announce the rumored iPad mini, french blog Nowhereelse.fr has been busy comparing iPad mini mock-ups to the Asus Nexus 7. The Asus Nexus 7 will arguably the chief competitor to the iPad mini when it comes in the market, along with the Amazon Kindle Fire HD, so the form factor will play a crucial role in the decisions consumers make.

From the images posted, we can clearly make out that the iPad mini is slightly taller and thinner than the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD. This of course happens because the iPad mini is rumored to have a 7.85-inch display which is slightly taller than the 7-inch panels on the Asus Nexus 7 and the Amazon Kindle Fire HD.

Having said that the difference in form factors is not major and Apple will probably tout the fact that the iPad mini packs in a larger display in relatively the same amount of width, while making it even more thinner than the competition.

Read

When Google announced the Android Jelly Bean and the Asus Nexus 7 tablet yesterday, the company promised that the update would soon come as an OTA to the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S and the Motorola Xoom in mid-July. Today TechRadar is reporting that it has heard from UK-based retail chain Carphone Warehouse that the Nexus 7 will be the only tablet running Android 4.1 for the next four months.

This is a rather strange development considering Google itself announced that the update will be available for the Motorola Xoom in mid-July and additionally it has also announced a Platform Development Kit (PDK) which would be delivered to OEMs months before an OS release to ensure a faster update cycle for non-Nexus devices.

Another scenario could be that the Nexus 7 would be the only new tablet to launch with Jelly Bean out of the box and it would retain that exclusivity for four months.

Nevertheless, four months is a long exclusivity window period and could be related to the low-margins that Asus will get by selling the Nexus 7 in markets where Google doesn’t retail hardware via its online store. It is a little difficult to believe Carphone Warehouse’s statement and it is for moments like these that we always keep a rock of salt handy.

Read

The rumors have finally come true. Google has indeed launched the Nexus 7 tablet, which runs on stock Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and is the first Android tablet to get the Nexus branding. Starting from $199, the Asus-built tablet has top-of-the-line hardware specifications with the latest Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core chipset, a sharp 1280×840 7-inch IPS display, a front-facing 1.2 megapixel camera, NFC, Wi-Fi and the works.

Google has managed to keep the cost down as tablets with similar specs normally cost twice of the Nexus 7′s price. It will initially retail in the US, Canada and UK via Google’s own Play Store, though there isn’t much clarity at the moment whether it will come to brick and mortar retailers and whether it will be priced the same. However, the bigger question is whether the Nexus 7 has enough in it to challenge current top-selling tablets like the Apple iPad and Amazon’s Kindle Fire? Read on for my thoughts.

Considering I have not used the Nexus 7 or even seen one yet, I’d stay away from passing any judgements on the hardware. However from what ever I have read since last night written by people who have seen one, the hardware quality does seem pretty impressive for a $199 tablet. However, Google is not really fighting the battle to remain relevant in the tablet space by touting its hardware alone. Rather it is going for the classic “giving the complete user experience” sales pitch for which it needed the best hardware it could get its hands on.

From whatever I saw during last night’s keynote session, the Nexus 7 is basically a display window to Google Play, the search giant’s content store. Google has beefed Google Play with movies and TV shows that users can rent or buy apart from music, magazines and books. Notice how all these elements get prominently displayed on the homescreen dockbar. This is clearly Google’s attempt to take on the Amazon Kindle Fire, which makes a similar sales pitch but also has the first mover advantage. Coincidentally, the Kindle Fire also runs on Android, albeit a forked version that does not have Google’s suite of applications as well as the app store. Amazon also has the ability to unlink content from the platform – users can access books on Kindles, tablets and smartphones running Android, iOS or Windows, as well as any desktop or laptop.

Where the Nexus 7 announcement really disappoints is the fact that Google is not yet looking at encouraging developers to create customized apps for tablets that utilize the larger display on offer. And this is where Apple’s iPad scores over the Nexus 7 by promising over 225,000 apps made specifically for the iPad. This makes the iPad relevant even in markets where its iTunes Store is not available. This would limit the Nexus 7′s relevance in most countries to the fact that it will get Android updates first. Well, to be honest, we don’t even know if the Nexus 7 would be widely available for $199 in countries where Google Play does not offer content beyond apps.

Having said that, the Nexus 7 in all likelihood will be a popular tablet for first-time tablet buyers. At $199, it certainly is quite irresistible. But will it make those looking at buying an iPad think twice and buy the Nexus 7 instead? Probably not.

The Nexus 7 would also challenge other Android hardware vendors to bring down prices but will they follow suit and take a hit on their margins is a different question all together.

In my view, a Nexus tablet upgrade will be an annual feature for Google from now as it has lost confidence in its OEM partners’ capabilities to keep Android relevant in the tablet space unlike what they have managed to do with Android smartphones. Only Google can do something to keep its hopes alive without thinking much about keeping the margins high while selling hardware. After all, it makes money by selling ads that are delivered by these tablets and smartphone, and not by selling hardware.

Google finally announced the highly rumored Nexus 7 tablet, which has been made by Asus. As the tablet was long rumored and leaks kept pouring in, there isn’t a lot that surprises us about the tablet, but still Google managed to keep a few things under the wraps.

Specs wise the tablet features a 7-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels, a Nvidia Tegra 3 quad core processor with a 12-core GPU, a 1.2 megapixel front facing camera, a rated battery life of 9 hours for video and 300 hours of stand by time via a 4325 mAh, NFC and 8GB and 16GB memory options. The Nexus 7 will be a Wi-Fi only model, Google is yet to announce a model for cellular networks.

The device runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and has been devised to deliver content from the Google Play store. Google has updates numerous apps like YouTube and Maps, which features a new ‘Compass’ mode that works via the gyroscope for a natural indoor view. The Google Play store now supports purchase of movies and magazines that can be viewed on the Nexus 7 and Google has also added a neat widget for detecting music.

The Nexus 7 will have Chrome as its default web browser, but Google has not yet revealed if Chrome has been integrated into Android Jelly Bean. Even the Google Currents aggregation app has been updated with Google Translate being baked into it.

From the looks of it, Google has tweaked the tablet UI on the Nexus 7 as we are able to see a smartphone like dock in the bottom of the UI in portrait mode, but we cannot confirm this yet.

The Nexus 7 will retail via the Play Store for $199 for the 8GB version and $249 for the 16GB version in mid-July. The device will also be released in the UK and Canada. Google has even made a case for the Nexus 7 which retails for $19.99.

Google will give $25 credit for the Nexus 7 owners on the Google Play Store and the device will ship with a copy of Transformers: The Dark of Moon, the Bourne Dominion E-Book and a few magazines.

Besides the Nexus 7, Google also unveiled the Nexus Q which Google called an Android powered computer and a social streaming device. The spherical device can be controlled using Android devices, but instead of streaming content from ones device, the Nexus Q plucks content from the Google Play accounts. It uses a 1.2GHz Ti OMAP processor, the same one as the Galaxy Nexus, an audiophile grade audio chip, NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and also features a multitude of ports for connecting to ones TV and music system.

Additionally, users will also get a microSD slot for memory expansion and its LEDS will change according to the tempo of the content and if the device is hooked up to an HDTV, it will display a visualizer for the same effect. Google says it will retail for $299 in mid-July and will be available in the US.

Asus it looks like has jumped the gun and has inadvertently leaked the specs of the Nexus 7 tablet. As rumored, the tablet features a 7-inch form factor with a IPS display with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels, a Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM, 1.2-megapixel front facing camera, and 8GB and 16GB storage options. The device will notably run on Android Jelly Bean.

Notably, the dock connector is  similar to the Galaxy Nexus and along side this Google is also releasing a A/V streaming device called the Nexus Q.

Google is expected to announce a Nexus tablet, the first of its kind, tomorrow to kickstart proceedings at its annual Google I/O developer summit. The tablet is expected to come in two variants priced at $199 and $249 and would run the latest version of Android, called Jelly Bean, which would also be announced at the event. Eric Schmidt had hinted at a $200 Android tablet in December last year and it seems we could finally see it tomorrow. In my view, the Nexus 7 tablet could be Google’s best attempt till date at having some decent market share in the tablet space and could change Android tablets for ever. Read on.

There is no doubt that the biggest draw for the Nexus 7 would be its pricing. Having followed three generations of iPads and wannabe iPad Android tabs, there is no doubt in my mind that Android tablets sell purely for their price. I have not seen a single Android tablet succeed in the market that has been priced at par or above the iPad. While most of them offer great specifications on paper but there are hardly any apps available in Android Market (Google Play just doesn’t sound right) to utilize the hardware. What one is left with is a large slate for browsing the web or watching movies.

Having said that, there are a number of sub-Rs 15,000 Android tablets available but even they are not exactly setting the market on fire. I have tried using some of these tablets but the user experience is pathetic. Most of them heat up worse than an old Maruti 800 from the early nineties on Delhi’s streets at the peak of summer and their inferior displays ensure a sprained neck thanks to poor viewing angles.

Many hardware manufacturers like Asus and Lenovo have tried snapping on keyboards with the tablet to entice the enterprise crowd of mistaking it for a hybrid tablet-cum-laptop. I have tried them too and found them to be way too expensive. Also Android, like iOS, has not been designed to work with cursors and mice. That market is best left for Microsoft and its upcoming Windows 8 portable devices, including the Surface.

Google is stuck in a vicious circle. The high-end Android tablets don’t sell because of lack of apps. The low-end ones have inferior hardware that are not capable of giving the right experience. What Android really needs is an affordable tablet with top-of-the-line specs, which would invoke confidence among developers to develop apps for Android tablets. That’s exactly what the Nexus 7 is all about.

Any sane Android tablet vendor would like to maximize its margins at the point of sale considering it does not get to keep a cut out of every app sold (like Apple) or can recover cost later by selling content (like Amazon). For them giving top-of-the-line hardware that is better than the iPad on paper for less than half of the iPad’s retail price does not make good business sense. And understandably so. Since Google does not control both the software and hardware elements (yet), the only option left is to collaborate with an OEM partner to bring the price down artificially.

If the leaked specifications of the Nexus 7′s are true, we might finally have an Android tablet that is cheap and usable at the same time. This might force other Android tablet OEMs to bring lower their prices but I doubt that happening. Most likely, they will ask Google to partner with them for similar Nexus tablets. Yes, it would imply Google handing out a “platform support fee” to select OEMs but it would further its cause and ensure Android tabs stay alive when Microsoft’s “your tablet is also a full PC” campaign begins later this year with Windows 8.

Image Courtesy: Gizmodo