Wednesday was a busy days for updates, with Android 4.4 KitKat rollouts to the Nexus 4 and the Verizon Moto X, and a bug squashing update for Google Nexus devices.
The update, which has already begun rolling out to some users as an OTA, brings the build number to KRT16S, from the KRT16O of the original KitKat build that rolled out last week. This update applies to the Nexus 7 (2012) WiFi, the Nexus 7 (2013) Wi-Fi, and the Nexus 10...
Read the full story here... Source: Android Authority
The new Nexus 7 was announced today and the Internet has been ablaze with the information all day. It’s a pretty impressive device and one that all Android fans have the potential to enjoy. It has amazing specs, a cheap price point, and best of all, it’ll be available on July 30. While it’s pretty much the common sentiment that the new Nexus 7 will be the best 7-inch tablet on the market when it gets released, we have to ask ourselves if it really is that much better.
With that in mind, here is a direct comparison with some of the more popular 7-inch tablets in the industry. For a full list of the new Nexus 7 specs, check out Andrew Grush’s earlier post detailing the official specs. For this comparison, we’ll take a look at the 5 major specs that people care about. Those are the screen, the CPU, the battery, the RAM, the storage, and the connectivity...
Read the full story here. Source: Android Authority
"Power reasons" force the switch from NVIDIA's Tegra platform to Qualcomm according to the sourceA report from Reuters earlier says that come July, we'll have a new version of Google's popularNexus 7 tablet. ASUS will still be the manufacturer, but a few key things will have changed. Expect a higher resolution screen with smaller bezels, and concerns over "power" (we take that to mean battery power) have forced a switch to Qualcomm for the CPU.
Pricing is said to still be in limbo, but the $199 figure has been mentioned. This is the same base priceas last year's Nexus 7, and a key to its success.
If this rumor turns out to be true, a July release would work well with an unveiling at Google I/O this May. ASUS sold an estimated 4.6 million Nexus 7s in the second half of last year, and updated specs at the same price will draw plenty more interest. We're keeping an eye on this one.
[Source: AndroidCentral]
While News Corporation's big tablet newspaper experiment, The Daily, may have ended with a whimper, it's not stopping the global media company trying new strategies to pick up more (paying) digital readers. The Times, one of the only UK national papers to keep its content firmly behind a paywall, has decided to offer a discounted Google Nexus 7 tablet alongside its digital subscriptions. Knocking £149 from the original £199 price of the 32GB Nexus 7, the device will arrive accompanied by an 18-month subscription with access to the full site and its mobile apps, costing £18 per month, discounted to just shy of £300 in total if you're willing to pay it all upfront. However, it's not the first time we've seen a news organization fold in a gadget incentive for new subscribers -- Barnes and Noble offered discounted Nooks alongside one-year subscriptions to The New York Times at the start of the year. UK readers can check out the deal at the source below.
[Source: Engadget]
Despite having only just been made officially official, for UK Nexus 7 buyers savings can already be had on the new 32GB version. 2 different high street retailers are currently offering Google's 7 inch tablet for £179.99, £20 below list price.
First up is Comet. While our thoughts are with each and every member of staff in these uncertain times the chain finds itself in, the result of the company's difficulties is a liquidation sale. While the majority of stock is reduced by a modest 10%, on a 32GB Nexus 7 that equates to a £20 saving. The sale only applies in store, and while stocks last. Our local branch still had them for sale though, so it's worth a look.
Rival retailer, Currys PCWorld, is also offering the Nexus 7 32GB for £179.99 after £20 cashback. Here though, the offer applies only when the tablet is bought with any case from their offering. But, since you're going to want to look after it, it's not a bad deal to be had. The saving would almost completely pay for an official Nexus 7 Travel Cover, should that be your desired choice.
[Source: Android Centeral]
Advertisements don't always make for compelling viewing, but when Google makes one, sometimes they're worth watching. After all, ads are only truly bad if they're for things we're not interested in, right?
So, props to Google for this, their latest effort at advertising the Nexus 7. Anyone who has ever seen the Bill Murray movie, "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" will feel right at home. Those who haven't -- firstly, check the link below to the movie in the Play Store -- maybe not so, but it's still worth a watch. With Google refreshing the Nexus 7 line up as part of their recent Nexus-fest of announcements, we're sure to see a big push on marketing as we enter the holiday season.
[Source: Android Central]
While it was pretty clear that Asustek's Google-partnered Nexus 7 contributed heavily to the Taiwanese maker's healthy Q3 results, there was no official confirmation on its exact sales figures so far. Asustek CFO David Chang has now come clean and told the WSJ that the 7-incher is close to touching the one million per month mark, just about double the rate of sales at its launch. While this number is a fraction of the iPad's sales (14 million in the last quarter alone), it could well go up due to the recent price dropand the addition of new 32GB models to the portfolio. On the flip side, the Nexus 7 is sure to face heat from close rivals, the Kindle Fire HD and the 7.9-inch Apple iPad mini, while the mega-spec Nexus 10will also entice some buyers away from Asustek's reach.
[Source: Engadget]
ASUS today announce that the UK’s best-selling Android tablet has been upgraded to 32GB storage and will be offered with 3G connectivity. The original Nexus 7 by ASUS was voted Tablet of the Year and Gadget of the Year at the recent T3 Awards, in addition to scooping numerous other industry accolades.
Nexus 7 by ASUS with 32GB will be priced SRP £199 and will be available from 4:30pm (UK time) today from a range of retailers including PC World, Currys, Comet, Carphone Warehouse, Ebuyer, HMV, Tesco, John Lewis, Littlewoods, Argos, ASDA, GAME and Sainsburys. The Nexus 7 by ASUS with 32GB and 3G connectivity will be able from Three.co.uk around the middle of November. Three.co.uk will shortly announce further details including tariffs and exact date of availability. The Nexus 7 by ASUS has proven to be a huge success with consumers and is the most successful Android tablet to launch in the UK.
Nexus 7 is built by ASUS and comes with a NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 quad-core processor so everything is faster – pages load quickly, gameplay is smooth and responsive, and running multiple apps is a breeze. Patented 4-PLUS-1™ design gives users processing power when needed, and battery saving efficiency when they don’t. It comes with Android 4.2, the latest version of the world's most popular mobile platform – featuring an improved keyboard that helps users say and do more, new actionable notifications, updates to Google Now and much more.
Nexus 7 was made for Google Play, putting entertainment users love right in their hand: the world's largest collection of eBooks, millions of songs, thousands of movies and TV shows, and the latest magazines – plus over 675,000 apps and games. Nexus 7 comes with all the favorite Google Apps – like Gmail, Chrome, Google+ and YouTube – putting the best of Google in the palm of the hand.
Tech Specs
If you'd rather not let your Nexus 7 live out its life as a Jelly Bean-toting device, Canonical's freshly minted Ubuntu Nexus 7 Desktop Installer can help. Instead of allowing Ubuntu to ride shotgun with Android, the installer requires unlocking the device's bootloader, which wipes the slate clean. Once the Nexus 7 is unlocked, started in fastboot mode and connected to an Ubuntu machine, the one-click installation software takes care of the rest. Roughly 10 to 15 minutes later, your tablet will be running full-blown Ubuntu. Since development is currently focused on getting the core of the desktop OS up and running, there's no tablet-specific Unity UI to see here. However, Raring Ringtail is set to flesh out the mobile experience with an emphasis on sensors, memory footprint and battery life, among other features. Those who regret ousting Google's confection-themed operating system can simply reload their device with stock Android. For the entire walk through, hit the first source link below.
[Source: Engadget]
The stock Nexus 7 peaks at a 1.3GHz clock speed when it's at full burn. That's certainly good enough for the $199 price tag, but eager adopters have just hit a new record in trying to wring out even more of a bang for the buck. Courtesy of a custom Elite kernel from XDA-Developers' Clemsyn, the Tegra 3 in the mini tablet will scale all the way to a heady 2GHz. You'd be right in suspecting that it leads to some dramatic speed boosts: the Nexus 7 at this pace can put a Transformer Prime to shame in common benchmarks, let alone most smartphones. Reaching the loftier heights of performance does require nerves of steel, however. The Elite kernel is very much a rough build that the creator doesn't yet trust with the public, and NVIDIA's processor is already known to get toasty under significantly added stress. There's hope a refined kernel will make for a safer venture into unknown territory. If you can't wait to throw at least some caution (and the warranty) to the wind, though, hit the second source link for code that will reach a slightly less melt-prone 1.8GHz.
[Source: Engadget]
When the ASUS MeMo 370T appeared, and then swiftly disappeared at CES, rumors suggested that the $250 7-incher had been poached by Google as the basis for its Nexus tablet. Fast forward six months, and we got confirmation at the Google I/O developer conference, with the introduction of the Nexus 7 and its official model number, ME370T. However, its journey from budget ASUS tablet to Google flagship has remained a mystery, until now...
[Source: To read the full article visit Android Central]
Since the release of the Nexus 7 there hasn't been all that many official accessories made available for it and those that have appeared, disappeared just as fast. There is clearly more on the way though as shown off in some leaked documents from Nordic Hardware.
As you may have noticed, there is pogo pins on the side of the Nexus 7. They were always assumed to accommodate a dock and with the leak we're now getting a look at said dock that has a microUSB charging port, a 3.5MM line out jack and is “perfectly-angled for better movie and photo viewing, browsing, and email.” When can you get one? August 24th if the info is accurate for $50.
If you're not really feeling the current case offerings for the Nexus 7, no matter. There is apparently more on the way. A premium leather version of the official Nexus 7 cover is shown to be arriving August 31st for $39.99 in 4 different colors. That's all in addition to more color offerings for the original grey cover. If you want to see more, look below but of course given they are leaked documents, we'll have to wait and see what shows up when.
[Source: Android Central]