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Google IO doesn’t officially begin until Wednesday, but the onslaught of speculation is well underway. We’ve heard a healthy number of rumors regarding the Nexus 7 – the suspected ASUS-made 7-inch Android tablet – and the latest leak supports previous claims. Gizmodo Australia has uncovered what they claim is a training document for the Nexus 7 and it contains a load of details about the device’s specs:
Here is what the training manual claims:
- 7-inch tablet called the Nexus 7
- Built by ASUS with both ASUS and Nexus branding on the back
- Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
- 1.3Ghz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor
- 1GB RAM
- 8GB / 16GB onboard storage options
- NFC with Google Wallet and Android Beam
- IPS Display
- 1280 by 800 pixel rsolution
- 1.2 MP front facing camera
- 9 hour battery life
- $199/$249 for the 8GB/16GB versions respectively
If Google and ASUS are able to pull off such a powerful tablet at only $199, it’ll take a disaster to prevent the Nexus 7 from being a huge hit. That is… if there IS a Nexus 7. At this point it seems more than likely, but rumors are rumors are rumors. We won’t know the full truth until they’re spoken on stage at Google IO and we’ll be on-site reporting live, sharing the officially official announcements with you on Phandroid.
A quad-core Android Tablet with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and IPS display priced at $199? Sounds deliciously delightful. Looks like the Kindle Fire could have some serious competition.
Kindle who? This is an insta-buy. My body is ready.
My body is reader than Reggie’s.
By the same logic used in this article the Galaxy tab 7.0 II should’ve been an instant hit and a buy too. Its barely done bad in terms of sales compared to the KF. The Nexus tab will only be bought by hardcore Android enthusiasts and a handful of other fokes by pure chance unless Google improves the way they market their products.
Not quite. The GT2 7.0 is behind in many places, and ahead in none. Lower res screen, slower CPU, more expensive ( at the same size, IE: 8gb to 8gb is 200 vs 250 ).
Often times, any 1 of those could have been the tipping point…but if all of that is in 1 tablet, that could make a world of difference. (Not to me personally though. I’m not a fan of tablets, and especially if they aren’t a fair bit more powerful than my phone.)
or—just improves their products. Will this be a LOT better than my sputtering, jerky Xoom, with ICS? In truth–and I’m no Apple fan–Android is not nearly as well-developed as iOS.
Damn, I have a Transformer Prime and I’m actually considering buying this bad boy.
This tablet would actually be my first Nexus device.
IPS display, never heard of it….is it any good?
Anyway, I don;t know what I need a tablet for, but I want this!
For that price I am really considering buying it….I mean why not….even if I end up using it just to browse the web, it is still AWESOME and money spent well!
But I already got the Galaxy Nexus this year…….and I want to make it last for 2 years….so maybe I should buy am awesome nexus tablet next year so I can buy nexus every year. (phone one year, tablet the next year, then phone the year after that etc etc etc)
Omg I have a dilemma! O_o
Someone help me, how long can one be satisfied with a tablet? Is it like a phone where you can go two years with it TOPS? Or can I make it last longer and not kill myself when new devices are announced?
OMG, i/o release me from this inner turmoil, set me free from this torment! Basically what it boils down to is….I need more info and probably more money >_<
I can’t tell if this is satire or…?
it’s a mix?
It is the truth, but I hate sounding seriously melodramatic, so I usually overdo it so whoever reads it can enjoy him or herself at least a bit. (Assuming he/she is into that kind of things)
So, yeh serious:
What is IPS and how long can you go with the same tablet when you always crave the best in the line (so only the nexus line, don’t care about awesome non-nexus tablets for now)
For 200$ I can really see myself getting a tablet even though I have no use for it and can’t really think of one other than looking at a bigger display when at home.
IPS is generally found in higher end monitors, like Apple’s Cinema Display or the nicer Dell monitors, for example. They tend to have better color reproduction and viewing angles.
Cheap monitors commonly found at most big box retailers use TN screens, which have inconsistencies, sometimes oversaturated or undersatured colors, and will quickly turn ugly as you move from the optimal viewing angle (literally sitting in front of it). These usually are listed to have a 160 degree viewing angle. Most $250 or less flat panel monitors fall into this category.
Now, the Motorola Xoom and the Dell Streak 7, had TN screens. Most other phones and tablets have IPS (nook color and tablet have ips, I’m pretty sure). Cheap “unofficial” tablets from China often have TN screens as well.
So basically, saying it is IPS means it is of pretty good quality.
More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TFT_LCD
IPS displays are gorgeous! You don’t hear about them too often because they’re a bit more expensive. And making it last is a state of mind. I still fully enjoy and use the heck out of my Xoom, which is much frowned upon in the tech world. Just think: Something better might come out after your purchase, but someday, when you’re ready to buy again, there will be something even better than that.
IPS In Plain switching slightly expensive improves screen viewing to 178 degrees side angle viewing
I want it now O_0
Do want. Wish I had 200 to spend though.
If the above spec is real for $200….this thing will be the hottest tech item for a while!
SO when do the rest of us Androiders get Jelly Bean?
If you have a GSM galaxy nexus probably within a month of the tablet being released, if you have a motorola or HTC device probably within 4 months and if you have the Verizon Galaxy Nexus it will no doubt be when sometime after humanity has colonized Mars :-)
That must be why the RAZR is just now getting ICS and I’m pretty sure my Verizon Galaxy Nexus has had it since December, which is a bit longer than 4 months.
Looool! The part about the Verizon Galaxy Nexus is so funny and yet so true!
John Carter had a nexus. just saying.
hmmm does not mention micro sdcard storage?
regular sd storage would be better
It doesn’t mention infrared blaster (for TV remote) either. I hope both are included, but the 7″ high-quality budget model is a new product type. Either way, I’ll be getting one of these — or a slightly higher specced version that night be following.
No nexus device has had the micro sd feature. Sorry, but there are more great android tablets out there (transformer infinity).
The first Nexus device had a micro sd slot.
Yep. HTC really designed that one well. Ironically, if I use their “cloud storage” instead of flash storage, I go with amazon mp3 instead of Google Music. It lets me get all my songs on there. Big mistake having no option to upload more than 20,000 songs
Hm I don´t see anything about Micro SD support or 3G. This would be perfect to use while on your way, but without 3G, that is not really handy.
If Google can deliver this device for that price, how can something like 590 euro´s for the samsung Galaxy SIII be justified?
I´d love to switch to a basic small phone, and use this for my daily internet addiction habbits :)
micro SD can be a problem if you need more storage, but for internet, perhaps tether from your phone?
Never done it myself, so unaware of the performance
Well I already have a mifi modem thingy to use with vodafone. The thing is, it only lasts 4 hours on one charge and i don´t like to take extra stuff with me.
Yeh, not so much a fan of lugging stuff along…
then for your sake I hope they have a separate 3g version
(I won’t buy the 3g if I buy it at all)
Both of those things add price to the end product. Sure, they’d be nice, but then it’d be $250-$300, effectively turning away all those Kindle dollars.
Yep and then you might as ell get a full tablet (in case of the 300 dollars).
I wonder if that is that much more expensive to build… isn´t it already integrated on the SOC?
I’d pay an extra 50 just to have the option. I know I could tether but that’s just another step/hassle and it’s not as convenient, plus it really drains the battery on the phone if it’s not plugged in. Not the end of the world if they don’t come out with the option and i’m sure i’ll still buy it but it would be nice.
Yeah, and that’s the cool thing about Android is that there probably is that perfect one out there for you. I really wish that one venture from a couple of years ago took off where you could order a customized Android phone same way as you would a PC.
Why worry about 3g/4g service?! If you have an android phone get foxfi and it will give your nexus 7 all the wifi it needs while on the road.
Wow. If this is true, I’m buying three of them.
i hope it will have gps. need cheap but good tablet for navigation
I really doubt it will do good gps. Wifi isn’t that accurate.
They really need an offline mode for Google Maps
There is. If you enable Labs you can pre-cache any area you like.
I hope it has GPS too, usually these days the gps chip is part of other chips like the wifi/bluetooth chip. Would extra nice once we can download entire cities or states onto google maps for offline use!
*Throws money at the screen*
LOL
Best comment ever!
What may prevent the Nexus 7 from being a huge hit? Limited international distribution.
I guess the Nexus 7 will be a US-only product and won’t be available in most other countries (e.g. in Europe) for a long time. With such aggressive competitors as Apple, Microsoft and Amazon, I wonder whether Google can still afford to delay international distribution of new products and let others gain market share and mindshare.
This leak was from Gizmodo Australia and on their site they claim it’s coming to Oz in July. I would assume that indicates it will hit in Europe as well since they tend to go hand-in-hand.
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/06/this-is-googles-new-nexus-tablet-the-nexus-7/
Thanks for the info, I hope so. But this is an English-speaking country, which may also mean the distribution might be initially limited to, say, US, Canada, UK and Australia.
OK, I HAVE TO GET ONE I THESE! (worry for yelling)
I really really want to want this….but I cant do a 7 inch screen. I need something bigger to differentiate the experience i get with my phone. Oh well, I guess its still me and you hp tp cm9
4 inch to 7 inch isn’t differentiated? That’s 175% the size!
I guess its just personal preference but difference between a 7 in. and 10 in. tablet seem huge to me. On the other hand I dont see a huge difference between a 4.6 in.phone screen and a 7 in. tablet….
I have a Galaxy Note with a 12.3 sq inch display with 286ppi and it is too small for a tablet, if you have a few thousand hours on a 10 inch.
No 32GB option? I’ll keep my XOOM, since it has had at least 25GB on it at all times since I bought it. Oh, and I couldn’t live without 4G connectivity. For one, not gonna sacrafice battery life on my phone by tethering.
Honestly, I’d rather get an iPad. I really hoped the specs would be higher on this.
This is not meant to compete with an iPad, hence the fact that you could buy at least 2 of these before you reached the price of an iPad.
I don’t need a tablet. In fact, I don’t even have a burning desire to want one. However, I bought a Kindle Fire because $199 was too good of a deal to have an Android based tablet (after rooting, of course). For $199, this thing is going to attract a lot of buyers like myself. The only thing I HOPE to see is a microSD slot.
I got a refurbished Kindle Fire for $139. Put a custom CM9 ICS ROM on it. The experience is pure pleasure. I enjoy 7″ more than 10″ since I spend all day with computers already. 10″ is too big, too heavy and cumbersome. For me the 7″ form-factor is just right for playing casual games, reading ebooks, reading news via Google Currents, Google Reader, checking Gmail. It complements my life on the couch, on the bed. It fills in the little time-gap I have during the day. And so far it fits in all of my pans’ front pockets.
If I enjoy a rooted Kindle Fire that much, I can imagine Nexus 7 is heavenly with a quad-core and camera (I need Skype). However if it doesn’t have some kind of SD/microSD slot, it would be a let down because I want to put lot of family album on it.
It is not going to be bigger because of cost.
I never intended to buy an Android tablet, despite being a huge Android fan (been holding out for Win8 and still am) but if this is actually $199, there’s no way in hell I’m NOT getting one. No idea what I’ll use it for yet but the tech geek inside me won’t let me not get it. GF is gonna kill me tho.
I’m sort of in the same boat. Been keeping an eye out for a reasonably priced Android tablet. Don’t really need the 10in version, I have tried out some of the 7 inch versions and been ok with the screen size of it. Just need something a little bit bigger to read book on for school really. Also wanted something cheap while waiting on the Surface.
LEGEN……….waitforit……..DARY
Does anyone here use Optimum Wi-fi, because it’s pretty awesome, especially in NYC.
I find on Long Island it tends to be hit and miss. It’s OK near the train stations and along Sunrise Highway, but going a little bit south, closer to Merrick Rd, it’s not so hot. I think my main problem is more phone related than anything. Android would seemingly prefer to latch onto a weak WiFi signal than a strong 3G sngnal, so I end up disabling WiFi a lot. However, the handoff seems a bit improved with my new HTC 4G LTE, so it could have been the hardware or OS version on my old phone.
I don’t even need a tablet but this is definitely tempting!
why would you put google wallet in a tablet? lame
Why wouldn’t you put google wallet in an Android tablet that has NFC?
ok to be more clear why would you put nfc in a tablet?
The only thing you equate NFC to in your mind is google wallet. What if there is more functionality being developed. Wouldn’t you want your nexus device to be able to handle it? Even if all NFC ends up being is google wallet, what exactly is the reasoning to not use it because its 7 inches but at 4.8 its ok? That seems silly.
I personally could not care for either in any platform. It’s my opinon
Transfers between phone and tablet via Android Beam is one use that springs to mind.
Man, i really hope this has an SD card option. I think Google hates SD cards. (ie Galaxy Nexus). And they want to start forcing us into using data storage online (ie Google Music).
How are you supposed to access all of your media when you are not on Wifi?? I see a sad future if Google really starts strong arming people into using online storage…
The only problem with Google’s lack of sd card is how as American’s we want to be able to take our media and hit the road from time to time and that puts us in places without data connections. As long as they have a usb adapter and/or sd card reader then we’re probably ok. Especially at this price point.
They can beef the specs all they want. No SD no deal.
6 dollar adapter for usb or sd
If this will really go for $250 for the 16gb version, I think I’d have to buy it. I always prefered the larger 10 inch tablets to the smaller ones, but I would put those qualms aside instantly for this.
If this has MicroSD then I’ll consider buying it. If it has Full-size SD, then I’m definitely getting it, especially if it supports the bigger 128GB cards. Full size SD + USB OTG = easy way to view and archive photo’s/videos from all devices.
I’m really hoping they’ll pull some impressive integration between android phones and android tablets, similar to some of the tech demo’s from Blackberry’s QNX OS. There’s definitely some room to grow in that regard, here’s hoping that an android tablet becomes a natural extension of your android phone, as opposed to just another device.
I have been super hesitant to buy a tablet…I’ve held out on the iPad, Transformer, Kindle Fire and all the other “hottest” tablets… For $199 I won’t hold out!
Only 1gb of RAM??? I hope not!
Yeah, at least for $50 more, the 16GB should also have another G of RAM. $50 is just an arbitrary price for an extra 8GB of storage anyway.
7-inch tab… do not want.
Once again, google comes up with a great product and I have a feeling they will ruin it by the way they roll out products.
Screw Nvidia. Why would they put a products from a company that refuses to release source (Nvidia) in a Nexus device? That seems counter to what Nexus devices are supposed to be.
Nah… The suggested retail price may have been $250 but it was actually selling for $180-$200 just a few days after it came out. My dad bought one on buy.com for $185 w/free shipping that same week. To the everyday buyer price is the only real difference when you get down into this category. For the most part the average buyer doesn’t even look at specs. They buy based on price and brand loyalty.
anyone else notice it looks like there’s the pogo pins on the side? Here’s hoping for a full set of docks! Car dock and desktop dock would be great! Although docks for prior Nexus devices were near impossible to find if they were made at all, I’m hoping Google finally does it right!
Does anyone know if this is using DDR3 or DDR2? The TF300 seemed to get a big boost from the DDR3, so I’m hoping DDR3.. :)
SD CARD PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!
The comments here are so positive! Over at Droid Life everyone is talking about how they won’t buy it because it doesn’t have a micro SD card slot…