Hasta La Gadget!

The refund scheme for Nexus 7 buyers who bought just before Google announced price cuts has taken a confusing turn, with ASUS saying its policy does not cover hardware bought at the Play store. ASUS announced last week that Nexus 7 buyers in Europe who picked up the Android slate prior to October 29 could get a £25/€30 coupon to offset the lowered prices; however, ASUS today clarified that contrary to initial expectations, those who bought their Nexus 7 from Google through the official Play store would not be eligible.

“Just to clarify – the ASUS Nexus 7 coupon offer is not available to customers who purchased their device from the Google Play store” the company tweeted. ”Apologies for any confusion caused RE: Nexus 7 Rebate. Devices sold on Google Play are completely independent of ASUS so do not qualify.”

The confusion has arisen since the ASUS coupon claim site makes no mention of the Play store limitation, saying only that the Nexus 7 must be “purchased at our physical channels and its online shops” without listing which those shops are. Instead, Google is offering its own scheme, with refunds for those who bought their tablet within fifteen days of a price cut.

Unsurprisingly, ASUS is now facing criticism from its own customers, some of which have accused the company of being lax with details so as to gather as much user data as possible, even if not every user is entitled to a refund. ASUS UK spokespeople say they believed they had made clear from the start which stores were eligible.

Either way, there’s some cash or credit in it for you if you bought just prior to the price drop, but which company will provide it will depend on where you originally purchased your tablet. You can find details on ASUS’ scheme here, while Google’s scheme is here.

Nexus 7 refund confusion after ASUS’ Play store ineligibility is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you bought a 16GB Nexus from Google Play 15 days (or less) before the price drop, you can get a $25 credit from Google. [GigaOM] More »

Price drops are tricky things. On the one hand, price drops will likely get more people buying your product, but on the other, if someone purchased that same product immediately before the price drop went into effect, it’s likely that they’ll get pretty angry. With the recent introduction of the cheaper 16GB Nexus 7, Google knows this dilemma all too well, and now it’s trying to do something to make those annoyed Nexus 7 owners a bit happier.

Google has introduced a new price protection program for devices on the Google Plus Store. The program is pretty straight forward: if Google reduces the price of a device on the Google Play Store, it will refund you the difference provided you purchased the product within 15 days of the price drop. In order to get that refund, you’ll need to file a request with Google within 15 days after the price cut goes into effect, which you can do here.

This means that if you purchased a 16GB Nexus 7 on or after October 14, 2012, you can request that Google refund you the difference in price. Google says that if your purchase is eligible for the price protection program, you’ll have your refund within 14 days. Not too bad, and and we’re thinking that this program will make those who purchased a 16GB Nexus 7 in the lead up to its price drop happy.

It seems like this will be an ongoing promotion, so future price drops might be covered price protection. Were you one of the folks who purchased a 16GB Nexus 7 right before the price drop? If you are, will you be taking advantage of Google’s price protection program?

Google announces price protection for devices on Play Store is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you live in Europe and happened to buy a Nexus 7 right before Google dropped the price, then you might be eligible to receive a €30 voucher from ASUS to make up some of the difference (₤25 voucher for UK users). However, only customers who purchased the device directly from either ASUS or Google are eligible.

There are some stipulations, though, that you must meet in order to claim your voucher. First, you obviously would’ve had to purchase a Nexus 7 before October 29, which was the day that Google announced the price drop. Also, you have to register your Nexus 7 with ASUS and provide your proof of purchase.

Towards the end of October, Google announced a 32GB version of the Nexus 7, as well as 3G HSPA+ capabilities. They released it a price of $249 while bumping the 16GB model down to $199 from $249. Obviously, those who bought a Nexus 7 right before that date are most likely pretty upset, but ASUS is doing their part to make at least some of its customers happy.

In order to claim your voucher, you must submit all the required info by November 30, and the voucher itself is good through December 31. However, the voucher can only be used at ASUS’s online store. We’re not sure if ASUS will be bringing a similar program over the US, but it could just be a matter of time.

[via The Verge]

ASUS giving vouchers to Europeans who bought a Nexus 7 before price drop is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The iPad mini has finally arrived—Apple’s much anticipated response to the incredibly successful 7-inch tablets pioneered by Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and more recently by Google with its Nexus 7. So far they are the only tablets that have made a dent in Apple’s near monopoly on tablets. At first Apple declared them too small to be useful, but consumers clearly wanted something more portable than a full size 10-inch tablet, and also a lot less costly. Millions were sold—and that got Apple’s attention. Over the past year there have been increasingly credible accounts of a small iPad prototype being developed by Apple, but there was no guarantee that it would turn into an actual product until Apple’s official announcement. More »