Google kicked off its three day I/O event at the Moscone Center today with several announcements, the most significant of which may well be a 7-inch Android-based tablet named the Nexus 7. Built by Taiwanese hardware manufacturer Asus and offered at a price of just US$199 for the 8 GB storage model, the Nexus 7 is already available for pre-order for consumers based in the US, UK, Canada and Australia.
Details are still pouring in, but Google has stated that the Nexus 7 will be the first tablet to ship with the newest iteration of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, which contains apps such as Gmail, YouTube, Google+ and the Chrome browser. On the hardware side, Google's slate boasts 1 GB RAM and a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, plus some other goodies like NFC, GPS, a gyroscope and an accelerometer.
Here's the full run-down of the specs:
Display and camera
- 7" 1280x800 HD display (216 ppi)
- Back-lit IPS display
- Scratch-resistant Corning glass
- 1.2MP front-facing camera
Memory and CPU
- 8 GB or 16GB internal storage
- 1 GB RAM
- Quad-core Tegra 3 processor
Connectivity
- WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
- Bluetooth
- Micro USB
Battery
- 4325 mAh (providing a reported 8 hours of active use)
Dimensions and weight
- 198.5 x 120 x 10.45mm (7.8 x 4.7 x 0.41 in)
- 340g (11.9 oz)
Features
- Microphone
- NFC (Android Beam)
- Accelerometer
- GPS
- Magnetometer
- Gyroscope
Pricing for the Nexus 7 starts at just $199 for the base 8 GB model and $249 for the larger 16 GB storage version, with $25 of Google Play credit thrown in for good measure. Orders are open now in the Google Play store for residents of the US, UK, Canada and Australia, with a reported shipping estimate of mid-July.
Check out Google's promo video below for more details:
Source: Google
