The Google Tablet: The Nexus 7

[RULINGCHAOS]

"As rumoured, Google’s going to announce a 7-inch, Nexus-branded tablet called the Nexus 7.

According to the leak, it’s built by Asus, with:

A 1.3Ghz quad-core Tegra 3 processor
GeForce 12-core GPU
1GB of RAM with two different storage variants: 8GB and 16GB.

The Nexus tablet will also feature NFC and run Google Wallet (probably only in the US) and Android Beam.

The screen is an IPS display with a 178-degree viewing angle, running a resolution of 1280×800. The device will also sport a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera. The battery will also give you nine hours worth of operation.

The 8GB model will set you back $US199 and the 16GB will cost $US249. No word in the document on local prices.

The leaked document also says that the device will be the first to run Jelly Bean, the new version of Android.


http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/06/th...t-the-nexus-7/


Very very interesting. Great price point. I might pick one up.

[Sandlotje]

Hmmm.. Muy bueno. I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

[randyrat]

That's a very tempting price point!

[scoliosis]

Wish the display resolution is higher. I'm willing to pay another $100-150 for retina like resolution...

[Bitter]

wish it had 2GB ram. Would be a smooth little buntu handheld then.

[RULINGCHAOS]

Ram is a big issue with me.

Still don't know how much ram the Surface tablet has.

[Tim]

Originally Posted by RULINGCHAOS

Ram is a big issue with me.

Still don't know how much ram the Surface tablet has.

I'd imagine it's more than their flagship phone the Lumia 900 (512MB) since they've already said that Win7 phones will not be able to update to Win8. Probably not the best news for Nokia since everyone will now either wait for the Win8 phones or move on to something else while leaving Nokia with a dead end phone that's hard to sell.

[Damian]

Originally Posted by scoliosis

Wish the display resolution is higher. I'm willing to pay another $100-150 for retina like resolution...

Well it's 206 ppi which is pretty high - Remember, it's a 7 inch tablet. The ipad3 is 264ppi. It's not retina, but it isn't bad and the price is pretty damn low.

[scoliosis]

Originally Posted by Damian

Well it's 206 ppi which is pretty high - Remember, it's a 7 inch tablet. The ipad3 is 264ppi. It's not retina, but it isn't bad and the price is pretty damn low.

That's true. I'm a resolution hog. Hate having to keep scrolling left and right on a large page.

[FLiPMaRC]

Awesome specs and price. I wonder why only front facing cam. At least with this Nexus tablet, you wouldn't be waiting forever for updates

I just picked up a refurb P6210 Galaxy Tab 7 Plus 16GB a few days ago for $200.

[RULINGCHAOS]

Originally Posted by FLiPMaRC

Awesome specs and price. I wonder why only front facing cam.

To keep pricing low. I would much rather have a front facing cam than a rear. I doubt that I will EVER take pictures of other things with it.

Found this interesting tidbit on pricing:

"Google Nexus 7 tablet costs estimated at $130 to $210
IHS iSuppli bases estimate on tear-downs of other tablets

By Matt Hamblen
June 26, 2012 03:15 PM ET

Computerworld - If the starting price of the expected Google Nexus 7 is $199, Google could be spending $130 to $210 for materials and manufacturing costs for each device, according to a preliminary estimate from IHS iSuppli.

Anything above the $199 price for materials and manufacturing costs would result in a loss for Google. Many analysts say Google might be willing to take a loss to gain market share against other low-cost tablets such as the 7-in. Kindle Fire, which sells for $199.

The Nexus 7 hasn't even been announced, although Google may do so at the start of its Google I/O conference Wednesday. IHS has not seen the Nexus 7 device, but derived its estimate by comparing reported components of the Nexus 7 with two other tablets on the market that it has examined in detail, at the request of Computerworld.

IHS analyst Andrew Rassweiler said the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, which IHS has examined and which has a price tag of $499.99 with Verizon Wireless, cost nearly $300 in materials and manufacturing. By contrast, the low-price 7-in. tablet called the Aino Novo 7 Paladin (selling on Amazon for $114.99) cost about $100 for materials and manufacturing, he said.

Given the price tags for those two tablets, Rassweiler said, "I could see a potential Nexus 7, 7-in. tablet bill of materials [including manufacturing costs] being anywhere from $130 to $210." He said a closer look with more components detailed, or an actual teardown of the device, would narrow the cost range.

Rassweiler noted that the Galaxy Tab 7.7 has an LTE module, and if the Nexus 7 does not, that would reduce its cost by at least $40. Also, the Galaxy Tab has a Super Amoled screen, which costs $120 alone. By contrast, the Nexus 7 is expected to have a different, less-expensive display technology. Rassweiler set an estimated $70 to $80 cost for its display.

The Nexus 7's 8GB of NAND flash storage would cost around $10, compared with $18 for the Tab's 16GB, Rassweiler said. (The Nexus 7 is reportedly also coming in a 16GB version for $249.)

In general, a tablet's three biggest costs are the screen, the memory and the processor. Together, those three component might make up 60% to 70% of a tablet's costs, said Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates. A tablet's processor could cost $25 to $50, he said.

The Nexus 7 is also expected to have 1GB of RAM, but Gold said "that's not enough" for good performance, even with a high-end Nvidia Tegra 3 processor.

Nvidia has said its Kai reference design reduces the need for lots of memory to provide adequate performance, and some observers have said the Nexus 7 will have the Kai design.

Gold said there are plenty of examples of low-priced tablets on the market, but questioned whether Google can really achieve great sales with a low-cost, low-priced tablet."

Google Nexus 7 tablet costs estimated at $130 to $210 - Computerworld

[Bro'Man]

Well, I think I am jumping into the tablet market. I like the form factor and until Windows Surface Pro I never thought of them as a laptop replacement. At $200 I think I can accept a non-laptop replacement option. Something portable that I can read some digital comics on, quick bootup internet searches, etc. I'm not really into them enough, at this time, to jump into the $500+ end of the pool. Also while MS Surface Pro looks pretty awesome and can potentially be a laptop replacement, I don't think I want it enough for the estimated ultrabook price.

$200 for an unskinned OS tablet appears to be my jump in point.

Edit: The limited time $25 added to your Google Play account and a digital copy of Transformers Dark of the Moon didn't hurt. I really didn't care for the first Transformers movie and haven't watched the other two. I hear the 3rd was alright.

[Tearstone]

$199 is a fantastic price point on that Nexus7. There is a Samsung 7" sells at the $249 price point so they are still in the same ball park.

I picked up a Asus Transfomer Pad TF300 with the same specs as the Nexus7 at the $399 price point. But it is a 10" tablet and has the ability to be docked into a keyboard which doubles the battery life, provides USB and full size SD memory upgrades.


asustablets.us

[Tim]

No SD card slot is the only thing that's killing the N7 for me. The price is right and I know google wants to push their cloud services harder, but when I'm on a long flight and there's no intertubes...

[Loco]

Not bad considering if you actually get the claimed 9 hours of usage. Thats probably the one thing I love about my iPad... I know I wont need my charger if I take it along for the day.

[Bro'Man]

I think Tim means the storage issue not battery. On a long flight his concern might be having the space for enough high def content to entertain him throughout the trip. If there is no internet or not enough bandwidth to facilitate streaming off the cloud he is stuck with what he can fit on the 8-16GB.

[RULINGCHAOS]

It is funny that people think 8-16 GB of storage is mediocre. If you cannot store enough material in that amount of space to last you the day, you might have issues. You can fit 20 typical movies in there. And SO much music. I would not even come close to filling that up. And if I do, chances are that I will be near a WiFi, so I can refill on the cloud.

[RULINGCHAOS]

Pre-order.

https://play.google.com/store/device...d=nexus_7_16gb

[RULINGCHAOS]

Gizmodo -

"Nexus 7 Tablet Hands On: Brave New World
Brent Rose

Google just let attendees to today's hardware-filled I/O conference love up on the new Nexus 7 tablet. It's light, it's compact, and holy crap, it's faster than hell. In short, you won't believe this is a $200 tablet.

First thing you notice is that it's incredibly solid. There are hard aluminum edges, and a rubberized back that feels soft and grippy. It easily fits in a jacket pocket, and even (just barely) in a jeans pocket (though that's not recommended). It has a front-facing camera, but no rear camera, which is good because you shouldn't be taking photos with your freaking tablet anyway. Volume up/down rocker, power button, micro USB and a headphone jack. Sadly, there's no expandable storage, but Google is emphasizing its cloud portfolio, so that makes sense.

The boot time is very quick. The screen is bright and vivid at first glance. Then you start scrolling around the operating system and it's perfectly smooth. Google used the word "butter," and so far, that looks pretty apt.

Jellybean is rather lovely, and it really utilizes the tablet-sized screen much better. For example, there are six shortcuts (plus the app drawer), in the home row.

Plenty more time with the Nexus 7 is needed before a full review, but snap judgement: There is zero reason to buy a Kindle Fire over this. It's brighter, sharper, faster, and infinitely more capable. Your move, Amazon...."

Nexus 7 Tablet Hands On: Brave New World

[Tim]

Originally Posted by RULINGCHAOS

It is funny that people think 8-16 GB of storage is mediocre. If you cannot store enough material in that amount of space to last you the day, you might have issues. You can fit 20 typical movies in there. And SO much music. I would not even come close to filling that up. And if I do, chances are that I will be near a WiFi, so I can refill on the cloud.

I don't know what format you're getting your movies at, but "Aliens" on MP4 w/ 2.13mb/s compression, 640x480, 30 FPS you're looking at 2.4GB file size.

[Bitter]

Dude, I had a 40GB music player FULL and not even a fraction of my collection. I have well over 100GB music in high quality lossless format. 8GB is like...a few albums and maybe a concert set or two.

[Tim]

I don't need to carry my entire collection with me in a portable device, but when I travel to Zurich for work it's hours at the airports, 8-10 hour flights each way, and CNN International was the only English channel I have... I burn through content quickly.

[FLiPMaRC]

Originally Posted by Tim

I don't know what format you're getting your movies at, but "Aliens" on MP4 w/ 2.13mb/s compression, 640x480, 30 FPS you're looking at 2.4GB file size.

I get 720p for around 600-750mb and 1080p for around 1.5-2gb. H264 compression format at 23.976 fps. Looks awesome on my 50" TV and damn good on my tablets.

I do agree about no SD expansion slot is a deal breaker for me too. I think that's why I never got the Kindle Fire. 8GB internal (approximately 6GB available for user content) is on a low side for my taste. Especially 32GB microSD cards are around $20 or less now a days.

[Loco]

iTunes match ftw

[Tim]

Originally Posted by FLiPMaRC

I get 720p for around 600-750mb and 1080p for around 1.5-2gb. H264 compression format at 23.976 fps. Looks awesome on my 50" TV and damn good on my tablets.

Still a good chunk of space.

[RULINGCHAOS]

After researching this and hearing that it does work with netflix, I will be buying the 8 gb model. I do not store movies on my devices, so storage space is not an issue with me.

[RULINGCHAOS]

Saw this on a Nexus 7 forum. Looks like something I will do. Really don't need to get the 16GB now...

"Several people have complained about the lack of a SD card slot and @dennyjones mentioned that he used a flash drive to move files around. I thought I'd elaborate on that a bit.

On pages 67-68 of the Nexus 7 Guidebook states that you can connect mice, keyboards and "other" devices with an "adapter". I had assumed this was true but it is comforting to see it in print. Here are links to the OTG (On The Go) adapter and micro sd card reader I use.

Amazon.com: micro-USB to USB OTG Adapter Cable for Samsung Galaxy S II (AT&T, T-Mobile & i9100): Cell Phones & Accessories

http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-micro...sb+card+reader

Here a couple of other links that may be of interest.

Amazon.com: Samsung 32GB Class 10 MicroSDHC High Speed Memory Card with Komputerbay SD Adapter and SanDisk MobileMate USB Reader: Computers & Accessories

http://www.amazon.com/Lexar-MicroSDH...ef=pd_sim_pc_1

The only difference between the regular and the OTG cable is that pin 4 and 5 are tied together. If the tablet senses a ground on pin 4 it knows that it should act as a host usb port if not then act as a device port. Simple and easy/cheap to implement.

P.S. You can play videos and other media files directly from the flash drive - no need to transfer the files to the internal memory unless you feel like it."

[Tim]

N7 Tear-down: Nexus 7 Teardown - iFixit



Amazes me that the entire MoBo is that little L-shaped board. The rest of the device is all screen and battery.

[Loco]

Nice. Its good to hear Asus/Google took a different approach this time around. Instead of picking from a pile of parts and hoped for the best, they kinda took an Apple-ish approach and designed it from the inside out. I can see it being Androids currently most successful tablet because, lets be honest...they all have been flops. Maybe the only good one so far is Samsungs Galaxy

Honestly, now I wish I would have waited instead of getting an ipad 3 when they first came out. This is smaller and much better pricing

[RULINGCHAOS]

YouTube video showing the pretty badass capabilities of the Google voice search.

[scoliosis]

Except that they're issuing an OTA update to the Galaxy Nexus to neuter it to web only searches. These patent lawsuits are idiotic... Gene Roddenberry's estate might as well file an injunction against Apple to use Siri too since they've been using voice searches since the 90s in Star Trek.

[RULINGCHAOS]

Pre ordered mine.

Sararose

[kabob]

Originally Posted by RULINGCHAOS

Pre ordered mine.

Sararose

Can Sara hook us up on pricing with these? Actually, it'd be perfect if someone could get me a Surface whenever that comes out.

[Tim]

Originally Posted by kabob

Can Sara hook us up on pricing with these? Actually, it'd be perfect if someone could get me a Surface whenever that comes out.

PM her. She mentioned something on FB about pre-order specials for the N7.

[RULINGCHAOS]

She's shipping mine out today!

[malachi]

let me know how it goes man,


im looking for something for travel, games, movies, email, web surfing.

[RULINGCHAOS]

Expected delivery on the 16th.

I love it when a plan comes together.

[Bro'Man]

No shipping update but I'm sure I'll have it sometime next week.

[RULINGCHAOS]

I've been on this forum for a couple weeks.

Nexus Tablet Forum

[TryinMyBest]

The price is tempting but I really want a 10" screen. Grrr

[RULINGCHAOS]

Originally Posted by TryinMyBest

The price is tempting but I really want a 10" screen. Grrr

Then go buy one.

[TryinMyBest]

Originally Posted by RULINGCHAOS

Then go buy one.

I like the specs of the N7 better than anything out there.

[RULINGCHAOS]

Originally Posted by TryinMyBest

I like the specs of the N7 better than anything out there.

Then go buy one.

Mine comes Monday.

[RULINGCHAOS]

Got mine in hand! Awesome!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[Bro'Man]

Enjoy. I'm still waiting on a shipping confirmation. They apparently aren't shipping by order date.

[RULINGCHAOS]

Derrrrrrrr