Hasta La Gadget!

There’s more than a small amount of fervor swirling around the Nexus 7, so it only makes sense that Google wants to seize the moment and pitch its first Nexus tablet to the world. Its first commercial is a very Norman Rockwell-like, father-and-son camping trip — if Rockwell replaced Boy Scouts with Jelly Beans, that is. The 7-inch slate handles just about every task the two could care for, whether it’s learning about (and exaggerating) the local fauna as well as keeping busy on a rainy day. We’ll let you witness the slight twist of an ending first-hand, although we’ll add that Google is careful to use a lot of Nexus 7 features that don’t demand always-on WiFi: the search giant wants us to know that we can head to the boonies without the tablet becoming a paperweight. The one shock is the absence of that all-important $199 price, which you’d think would help trigger some impulse shopping. You can reconcile your disbelief and enjoy some family bonding by catching the full commercial after the break.

Continue reading Google takes Nexus 7 camping for its first ad, can afford to pack light (video)

Filed under: Tablet PCs

Google takes Nexus 7 camping for its first ad, can afford to pack light (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 10:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  YouTube  | Email this | Comments

Google’s Nexus 7 tablet is so popular that the 16GB model is sold out on the Google Play store. And that was without any commercials behind it. Here’s the Nexus 7’s first—about camping. More »

We’re rather big fans of the Nexus 7 here at Engadget HQ — it’s just hard not to like a $200 tablet with a Tegra 3 SoC and 7-inch glass-bonded IPS display running pure Jelly Bean. Of the few missing features, there’s one we’re bemoaning more than the lack of rear camera, and that’s the absence of any kind of HDMI or MHL video output. So far, watching movies with the Nexus 7’s been relegated to using a Nexus Q and streaming content from Google Play or YouTube.

Enter Wi-Fi Media, an app available for free on Google Play that lets most Android devices like the Nexus 7 play movies, music and stills on any screen via any Cavium PureVu-compatible streamer, such as HTC’s $90 Media Link HD. We tested Wi-Fi Media with our Nexus 7 and Media Link HD and found it to work pretty much as advertised except for some caveats. First the app doesn’t mirror your screen — you’re limited to playing content stored on the tablet or on the network via DLNA, which means no YouTube, Netflix or games. Second, the app doesn’t handle some common file types — like AVI, for example.

While it supports watching movies, listening to music and looking at pictures, keep in mind that Wi-Fi Media is not a particularly polished app. In addition to playing local and remote DLNA content, you’re able to login to Facebook and Picasa and stream images directly from these accounts, but that’s pretty much it in terms of functionality. There’s also no way to configure the Media Link HD, so you’ll need a sanctioned HTC handset to setup the multimedia streamer before using it with a Nexus 7. Want to know more? Peek at our screenshot gallery below and hit the break for our hands-on video.

Update: Since there’s some confusion in the comments, we’d like to clarify that the Media Link HD is not a DLNA device. It normally only works with select HTC phones like the One X, One S and EVO 4G LTE. WiFi-Media’s primary purpose is to connect with a Media Link HD — the app also just happens to support DLNA.

[Thanks, Matt]

Continue reading Wi-Fi Media lets your Nexus 7 play movies on any screen via HTC’s Media Link HD (hands-on video)

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablet PCs, Software

Wi-Fi Media lets your Nexus 7 play movies on any screen via HTC’s Media Link HD (hands-on video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 Jul 2012 19:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Wi-Fi Media (Google Play)  | Email this | Comments

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: taking pics with a tablet is offensive to the human race. That said, viewing pics on a tablet is a very natural experience and Instagram’s latest build adds support for the N7.

This comes a few weeks after it was discovered that Instagram didn’t run on the new tablet. Owners trying to run Instagram were greeted with an incompatibility message. But now, with the latest version of Instagram, owners can view and share pics along with taking mugshots with the 1.2MP front facing camera.

Version 1.2 also adds Flickr support, allowing users to upload Instagram pics to the photo sharing site. As AndroidCentral reminds, Google + support is still missing.

But remember, kids, use this app for picture viewing purposes only. Taking pics with a tablet is dumb.

Over the past day or so, a few lucky souls have managed to get their hands on Google’s much-anticipated Nexus 7 tablet, leaving the rest of us to wonder when our time would come. As it turns out, the answer is very soon.

After their Nexus support phone line tipped users off earlier today, Google has finally come right out and said it — the company has begun shipping those wallet-friendly tablets to all those who pre-ordered from them.

Truth be told, some people may not be as excited about the announcement as others. A handful of retailers (Gamestop, Office Depot, Staples, and the like) have already received their Nexus 7 shipments in-store, which means that customers who pre-ordered from them are just a quick drive away from getting a taste of Jelly Bean. In fact, according to Droid-Life, at least one person was able to waltz into one of these stores to purchase a Nexus 7 without having pre-ordered.

Meanwhile, people who pre-ordered directly from Google right after the device was announced at I/O have a bit longer to wait before they too can join in on the fun. It may seem like a minor thing to get worked up over, but don’t underestimate the sort of sway that a virulent strain of gadget lust can have on people. That the device in question is a Nexus tablet doesn’t help things — Nexus devices have always had a particularly lofty reputation among most Android fans, and now that distinction is being carried to a few new (and in the case of the Nexus Q, peculiar) product classes.

In any case, the wait for you Google gurus is almost over. All there is to do now is take a deep breath, settle into your favorite chair, snack on some jelly beans, and wait for the inevitable to happen.