As Google’s press event next week creeps up on us, rumors of the next-generation Nexus 7 are heating up big-time. A leaked product information tag of what is said to be the second-gen Nexus 7 shows us what we might expect in the refreshed tablet. These features include Android 4.3, wireless charging, and dual cameras.
The photo suggest that the tablet will also sport an unspecified quad-core 1.5GHz processor, as well as a 5-megapixel rear camera with a 1.2-megapixel front-facing snapper. The 7-inch display will remain as we’ve known in the past, but there will be support for outputting 1080p video on your TV. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the tablet will sport a 1080p resolution, but one can be curious about such a notion.
The wireless charging is a curious thing to note as well, but it’s not all too surprising. The Nexus 4 has wireless charging capabilities, and while we haven’t seen a Google tablet with such support yet, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the next-generation Nexus 7 pack such a feature.
As for a launch date for the Nexus 7 2, it’s been previously tipped that we’ll see the device sometime later this month, which goes right along with Google’s recent announcement of an event coming next week on July 24. That could be the day where we’ll see Android 4.3 in the flesh, as well as this heavily-rumored Nexus 7. Of course, we’ll be there to give you the up-and-up on whatever goes down, so be sure to stay tuned.
The ASUS-made Nexus 7 2 – also known as the reboot of the original 7-inch tablet – appears to have had a collection of up-close photos and video leak this afternoon. At this point in time we’re at least a few weeks out from a full launch of this device, while the existence of the hardware itself hasn’t yet been confirmed by Google, ASUS, or anyone in-between. This machine appears to take on an appearance that’s similar to the original, coming here instead with a slimmer facade and a landscape-aimed back rather than its original portrait angle.
It’s important at this point – and more than once – to remind you that this could very well be a prototype of a final product rather than a final production-ready amalgamation of hardware. The same grain of salt should be spread on the entirety of this release of information as even the source, Android Central, suggests that they are not entirely confident in the legitimacy – or just the finality – of the specifications attached to this hardware. That said, feel free to entertain the notion.
NOTE: The image you’re seeing above is a real-deal photo of the Nexus 7, the original edition. Below are the leaked photos this article speaks of.
The label attached to this possible Nexus 7 reboot reads ME571K_PR1_SKU2, and the hardware is indeed manufactured by ASUS. This is the same as the original, and it would appear that ASUS is sticking to their same design language here through the summer of 2013.
You’ll find a 1.2-megapixel camera on the front of this device and a 5-megapixel camera on the back, and the back-facing camera seems to be placed extremely close to the headphone jack that sits on the short end, right up in the same place it was on the original.
Have a peek at the images shared here and let us know what you think. Is this the real-deal final product, or an early iteration, or is it something else entirely? Have yourself a run down possibility lane with our most recent feature on this device, Nexus 7 2 and the details you want for a reboot.
Those of you waiting for a reboot of the Nexus 7, aka the most successful Nexus tablet yet delivered by Google, will be glad to see more than one source reporting an imminent release this afternoon. This new device has been tipped to be coming to both physical stores and to Google’s own online outlet Google Play before the month of July is over. Based based solely on the stated date (July 24th) of the Google event invite delivered earlier today, we wouldn’t be surprised if the documents being shared this afternoon are entirely accurate. UPDATE: There appears to be a bit of a hardware leak, as well.
There are two distinct – or what appear to be distinct – leaks appearing today, both of which show in-store availability of the Nexus 7 2. Of course that’s just a name that allows the prospective device to be searched for easily whilst users are seeking information on it here before the launch – the real name remains unknown. According to Android Central, the device will go by the name “Nexus 2″ or “Nexus 2 7″.
In this case based on the massive amount of confusion that would ensue if Google did indeed release a machine called “Nexus 2″ where its predecessor was called “Nexus 7″, we’ll put our money on the device retaining its current branding.
Meanwhile Engadget has a document which suggests OfficeMax will be getting the tablet in kind. This document goes on to note that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 will continue to be sold, as will the Google Nexus 10, but inside multi-device (or accessory) bundles. This could very well mean that the company will be preparing for a reboot of the Nexus 10 as well – one follows the other, right?
This OfficeMax one-sheet suggests that the company will be getting the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 soon as well. This device is part of a three tablet release which also includes the (recently reviewed by SlashGear) Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 and Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 – have a peek!
Retail pricing on the reboot of the Nexus 7 is set at $269.99 or $269.00 USD for the 32GB model according to both sources. Meanwhile there’s a 16GB model in the mix for $229.00, while sizes outside these two appear to be missing at the moment. We’ll just go ahead an assume a 64GB iteration would launch later in the year, similar to the schedule that appeared with the launch of the original Nexus 7.
The device is rumored to be coming with an upgraded processor as well as a display with a bit denser set of pixels. It’s suggested that this ASUS-made machine (and ASUS appears to be confirmed in the OfficeMax tip here) will ring true to the device ASUS Pad K009. Keep your ear to the ground and read up in our exploration of this next-generation machine in Nexus 7 2 and the details you want for a reboot.
Rumors about the second-generation of the Nexus 7 keep heating up. We thought we’d see the device at Google I/O back in May, but that never happened. Now, it’s expected to land sometime later this year. Specifically, the latest rumor in the mill is that the next-gen Google slate will arrive later this month.
The model number for the next-generation Nexus 7 is said to be ASUS K009, which we saw earlier last month. The original Nexus 7 was made by ASUS and we wouldn’t have any reason to not believe that the second-generation Nexus 7 would be made by ASUS as well, although the Nexus 10, which is Google’s latest tablet, was made by Samsung.
On the inside of the second-gen Nexus 7, it’s said to house a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor clocked at 1.5GHz with 2GB of RAM and starting out at 16GB of internal storage. There would also be a 5MP rear camera and WiFi n, Bluetooth, and even NFC.
As for the display, it will remain the same 7 inches that it’s always been, but will receive a higher resolution of a rumored 1920×1200. That’s quite impressive, and we’re guessing the pixel density will look pretty good on that 7-inch screen. Of course, the original Nexus 7 already has a good-looking display, but this’ll hopefully be even better.
As for price, that’s still up in the air. Japanese translations mention a $229 price tag and another website mentions $299. Does this mean that the year of a $199 Nexus 7 is gone? Probably not, as we’ll most likely see a lower-tier Nexus 7 take the $199 slot, but it’s possible we could see a decked out Nexus 7 cost slightly more than a couple of Benjamins.
This week at Computex, ASUS has revealed the MeMo Pad HD 7, a direct competitor for the Google Nexus 7, both of them working with a 7-inch display and both of them made by the same company. Though it may seem strange at first for ASUS to create a tablet that’s so extremely similar to the machine they’ve got in their deal with Google, the different bits and pieces offered with this new machine may make all the difference. And it all starts with color choices.
With the ASUS MeMo Pad HD 7, users will get the choice of several different color back panels – yellow, pink, gray, and white are included in this initial release. The Nexus 7 comes in black – or white, if you’ve got the limited edition Google I/O 2012 iteration. If you put color aside, this machine looks so similar to the Nexus 7 that it is, at first, difficult to tell the two apart.
Both devices have the same display size and resolution, 7-inches and 1280 x 800 pixels strong, that being 221 PPI. Both machines work with Android, but the MeMo Pad HD 7 works with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich out of the box with ASUS’ own custom user interface on top.
It’s important to note here that the Nexus 7 benefits from being part of Google’s Nexus program, meaning that it works with Google’s most basic non-skinned version of Android and receives regular updates whenever Google brings new versions of Android to the market. The MeMo Pad HD 7, on the other hand, still works with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and has no such promise of updates on any schedule.
The new ASUS tablet works with an unnamed ARM Cortex-A7 quadcore processor while the Nexus 7 employs the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quadcore processor we know to have support from its manufacturer. While for most common users the brand of the processor has little effect on their end experience, here we know the Tegra 4 to be reliable in its ability to conserve battery life (with 4-PLUS-1 technology, that is), and it has a whole dedicated gaming environment to boast in the NVIDIA TegraZone, as well.
One thing the ASUS MeMo Pad HD 7 has that the Nexus 7 doesn’t is a back-facing camera. While the Nexus 7 famously had its camera axed because ASUS said it wasn’t necessary, the MeMo Pad HD 7 works with a 5 megapixel camera on its back and a 1.2 megapixel camera on its front. The Nexus 7 works with just the front-facing camera on its front for selfies and video chat.
The original release of the Nexus 7 was bafflingly cheap when it was launched, but here in 2013 it appears that the price point is ready to drop once again. While you’ll pay $199 USD for the smallest version of the Nexus 7 (small in 16GB of internal storage, that is), the MeMo Pad HD 7 starts at $129 for an 8GB model. There’s also a $149 model incoming with 16GB internal storage, though there’s still a question of availability.
ASUS hasn’t been clear quite yet on where the MeMo Pad HD 7 will be available, while the ASUS-made Google Nexus 7 is available, and has been available for some time, in both the USA and in international markets. Because of this, the question of which machine is better for your living room is academic: you’ve only got one choice (for now).
A suspected glimpse of what was at first believed to be a brand new version of the Nexus 7 has instead been revealed to be a tablet made by ZTE. Inside a Google-made promotion for Google Maps exploring Central Park appeared a little-known 7-inch tablet that could very well have been Google’s next-generation handheld tablet. Just this morning, though, the truth has come out.
While the possibility of a new Nexus 7 – probably with a new name, mind you – is still in the mix for this summer season, the tablet in this video is actually a ZTE machine. The ZTE Optik is a black and grey 7-inch display-toting tablet working with Android 3.2 Honeycomb. It’s got a relatively large bezel, as you can see, and comes in at 7.63 inches tall by 4.72 inches wide, with a depth of 0.45 inches.
You’ll find this tablet appearing at right around 0:53 into the video.
In short – this device looked interesting enough to be used for this Google video spot, but it’s certainly a step down – or at least to the side – when compared to the current-generation ASUS-made Nexus 7. The Nexus 7 works with NVIDIA’s quad-core Tegra 3 processor while the ZTE Optik works with a single-core 1.2GHz processor, but the ZTE has a couple of cameras where the ASUS does not.
But here’s the good news, for those of you looking to find yourself a new Nexus tablet in the near future: rumor has it a reboot is on the way.
According to a report released earlier this month, a new iteration of the Nexus 7 is coming with a 1920 x 1200 display, the same NVIDIA processor as it has today, and – what else – Android 4.3, the newest iteration of Jelly Bean. Still no cameras though – you’ll have to rely on your smartphone for that.
BONUS: LG has mentioned that they are also making a mystery tablet as well – you never know!
There’s chatter of a brand new iteration of the Google Nexus 7 appearing this afternoon alongside talk of not just a new version of Android, but another “Google Edition” smartphone as well. While Android 4.3 continues to appear in our very own traffic logs here on SlashGear, so too has it been tipped that this update will upgrade features like the system’s camera software. In the tablet universe, it’s a reissue of the Nexus 7 that’s popping up as a possible reality for as soon as next month.
According to a report from DigiTimes, shipments of a brand new upgraded Nexus 7 have already begun. This version of the device will have a lovely new 1920 x 1200 display on its front along with a new set of innards – retaining the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor too, we must expect.
This same tip suggests that this new display is a low-temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) panel that, again, sits at 7-inches diagonally. This means that this device will have 323.45 PPI, that being significantly sharper than the “Retina” panel on the standard 9.7-inch iPad. Meanwhile the sharpest display on a mobile smart device on the market today remains 468.7 PPI, that coming from the HTC One.
The new Google Nexus 7 will continue to be made by ASUS, of course, and the same source as mentioned above have said AU Optronics are the team behind this generation’s displays thus far. Future users can expect this device to be appearing right around June 10th – though there’s been no official confirmation of this from Google thus far.
If you’re wondering what the big deal is with this device, look no further than this Conduit HD review. Or if you want to look a little further anyway, have a peek at this Real Boxing review, it and the other game having been demonstrated on the Nexus 7, nearly a year after its initial release – still kickin!
We saw a lot of cool things during the Google I/O keynote yesterday, including new Google Maps, updated Google Search, and a unified Google+ Hangouts experience. Speaking of which, the promo video for Google+ Hangouts had a peculiar couple of seconds, where we spotted a 7-inch tablet with a glowing notification light, which none of Google’s tablets have. Could this be a next-generation Nexus 7 that we’re seeing?
At the 21-second mark in the video below, you’ll see an iPhone 5 to the right, with a 7-inch tablet to the left. Our first assumption is that it’s the normal Nexus 7, but the glowing, oscillating notification light tells us that it’s not your ordinary Nexus 7, but possibly the next-generation Nexus 7 that Google didn’t announced during the keynote.
Obviously, this raises more questions than it answers, including why this is in the video, and why didn’t Google announce a new Nexus 7. It’s possible that Google had plans to launch a new Nexus 7 and went ahead and put it in the video above, but then they may have scrapped plans to announce it during the keynote.
Or it’s just possible that Google just put a notification light on the Nexus 7 in post-production of the video to simply demonstrate Hangouts’ abilities, but that seems odd on the face of it. We also see a second angle of the alleged new Nexus 7 tablet right after the 21-second mark where a girl picks up the tablet to reply to a message. We can’t really make out if the tablet she’s holding is different from the current Nexus 7, but we weren’t expecting Google to completely redesign the tablet anyway.
We’ve heard in the past that the new Nexus 7 would sport a full 1080p HD display, along with a Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core processor and Android 4.3, which would be magnificent, but it seems that wasn’t the case during the keynote, and Android 4.3 was a no-show as well. Maybe they’ll pull a “one last thing” towards the end of the conference this week, but we’re not counting on it.
This year at Google’s developer conference, SlashGear will be in attendance at what’s guaranteed to be a celebration of convergence. What we’ve seen from the previews, leaks, and rumors of the contents of this conference point towards Android, Chrome, and Google TV devices moving in towards one another, keeping more than just their software in mind.
Just this morning it was suggested by Sundar Pichai that Google’s Android and Chrome operating systems would not be converging – at least not any time soon. That said, it’s very possible that they will be overlapping on a larger level sooner than you might expect. Google TV, as well, has been rumored to be converging with Android on a greater level ever since Android 4.2 Jelly Bean was given Miracast wireless transmission abilities.
Wireless Projection with Miracast
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and higher has the ability to allow your phone to project its display’s contents to machines that work with Miracast. This Miracast term refers to a standardized system for displays – and boxes you hook up to displays – to accept wirelessly projected image information. Have a peek at our original guide for this system entitled How does Android 4.2 Jelly Bean Wireless Display Mirroring Work? and you’ll find the following passage:
“With Miracast being an “industry standard”, you can expect many brands to pick it up soon if they don’t already have it integrated now. Miracast is a technology that’s built in to devices – it’s not a device in and of itself. Miracast certification has begun for devices of many kinds, so you can expect not just displays to have it integrated, but receivers that will plug in through your HDMI port instead – this working for legacy displays.”
The video you’re seeing shows some Texas Instruments device action with Miracast back well before Android 4.2 came along. This very basic demo shows the same functionality built in to Jelly Bean here and now. Point to take home: Miracast has been around long enough, it’s high time for it to be adopted on a grand level.
There aren’t very many Jelly Bean-compatible wireless display devices out on the market right this second. Google will very likely lead the way with a Google TV device – maybe even a Nexus Google TV product. If Google shows faith in Google TV with a product they give to developers at the conference, it’s possible that confidence will grow in the market’s mind.
On the other hand, the Nexus Q never took off. One of its fatal flaws was the relative lack of opportunity developers had to work with it right out of the gate. A very different situation would unfold if Google gave away a Google TV product with Miracast technology built-in.
Nexus Device Refresh: Nexus 7, Nexus 10
The Nexus 10 is a 10-inch display-toting Android tablet that hasn’t seen one whole heck of a lot of press since it was first delivered several months ago. The Nexus 7 has, on the other hand, seen significant success in the market due to its low cost and relatively well-balanced specifications – one year after it was given away at Google I/O 2012, it remains a top search term in Google for those looking for news updates.
The Google Nexus 7 has been tipped on several occasions – several quite recently – to be getting a refresh in the form of an advanced display. It has also been suggested that the Nexus 7 would be getting a new processor in the form of a Qualcomm Snapdragon, though the exact power within has not been clarified.
The Nexus 10, on the other hand, has not seen one whole heck of a lot of action anywhere – not compared to the Nexus 7, anyway. If Google does refresh the Nexus 10, it will be as a bit more of an afterthought next to the Nexus 7, not as a major news item on its own. Expect both of these tables to be mentioned – at least in passing – during Google’s major initial keynote.
Google’s one major keynote will take place on Wednesday, May 15th at 9AM PST. SlashGear will be in attendance and will be delivering you up-to-the-minute details throughout the 2.5-hour session.
Featured Sessions
This convention is home to numerous break-out sessions and talks from those in-the-know across the developer universe. These sessions revolve around Android and Chrome, of course, but there are many mini-events that have to do with specific apps and services too. Some of the highlights that indicate Google and the greater industry’s aims here include:
• Android: Enchant, Simplify, Amaze: Android’s Design Principles • Chrome: JAM with Chrome • Google+: Google+ Platform Overview • Search: From Structured Data to Knowledge Graph • Maps: Google Maps: Into the Future: Wednesday, May 15, 12:00pm • Cloud Platform: Ushering in the next generation of computing at Google I/O • Women Techmakers Session with Susan Wojcicki (SVP, Ads), Anna Patterson (VP, Knowledge), Johanna Wright (VP, Search and Mobile), Jean Wang (Staff Hardware Engineer, Glass), and Diane Greene (Board of Directors, Google).
Oddities SlashGear will also certainly be checking out include a Google+ AirShow and a Data Sensing Lab. The Google+ AirShow will allow users to check live streaming cams attached to blimps flying above the Moscone Center. The Data Sensing Lab will be visualizing environmental data from the area, lying it over indoor maps in real-time: this includes motion, noise level, humidity, pressure, and temperature.
Glass
Though we’ve not heard anything specific about what advances will be spoken of surrounding Google Glass, this year will mark the one-year anniversary of the moment developers were offered the opportunity to purchase a pair of the futuristic face-based computers. We’re expecting that our journey to and through the San Francisco-based event collection will be clad with more than a few Glass-faced users, that’s for sure.
Join us starting tomorrow – SlashGear will be scoping out the event center early and making sure we’re on top of the situation from start to finish! Make sure you hit up the SlashGear Google I/O portal throughout the week!
The original Google Nexus 7 tablet (as manufactured by ASUS) has been tipped to be getting a refresh with new hardware and a launch time around June or July. This updated piece of equipment would, if this set of predictions turns true, have the tablet ready to be re-introduced at Google I/O 2013, the company’s developer conference. This conference begins next week, starting on Wednesday the 15th of May, ending Friday.
It was just one year ago that Google I/O 2012 revealed the Google Nexus 7 originally, giving it there to every developer attendee so that they might develop games and apps for the device with ease. That original Google Nexus 7 remains on sale today with the specifications it came with in the first place.
The original Google Nexus 7 worked with a 7-inch IPS LCD display at 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, that ending up bringing on a 216 PPI screen density. This device was 198.5 x 120 x 10.45 mm large and was released in both wifi-only and 3G-capable iterations, having Bluetooth, NFC, and GPS inside. The original Nexus 7 worked with 8GB of internal storage – this was quickly upgraded to 16GB of internal storage in the smallest, standard model, while another 32GB internal storage iteration was released as well.
Perhaps most important of all, this original Nexus 7 was – before it was scooped up by Google – an ASUS/NVIDIA collaboration. As a low-cost quad-core processor-toting tablet, NVIDIA had it announced at CES 2012 with ASUS without a formal release date. This device was quickly spotted by Google and brought on as an exclusive release under the company’s Nexus brand. Fun fact: we also predicted this collaboration – albeit with the wrong price attached.
This ASUS Eee Pad MeMO was announced with NVIDIA’s own Tegra 3 quad-core processor inside and continued to carry that processor through to its re-naming as the Google Nexus 7. In an analyst report with 9to5Google by Mingchi Kuo from KGI securities today, the new Google 7 tablet will be bringing with it a quad-core Qualcomm processor.
The processor this new Nexus 7 is tipped to bring with it is the same APQ8064 Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor carried by the Google Nexus 4, the current hero smartphone for Google (manufactured by LG). This would be a relatively major blow to NVIDIA as the Nexus 7 allowed their chipset to reach a relatively large cross-section of users over the past year.
This new Nexus 7 would be manufactured by ASUS as the first iteration was and will have 7-inch LTPS display with 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution. That puts the density of this display at 323 PPI, far greater than the original device. This new Nexus 7 is also suggested to be coming with a thinner bezel than before, Qi standard wireless charging, and a back-facing camera sitting at 5-megapixels strong.
We’ll know one way or the other next week – if Google is aiming to re-introduce the Nexus 7 with new specifications for this year, Google I/O 2013 is the ideal place to do it. Stick with SlashGear in our Google I/O portal for more information on the event and head to our Facebook event page to sign up to remind yourself to join us!
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