Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you’re like us and really want to know what’s going on, then you’ve come to the right place. This past week was a bit slow, but we’ve managed to dig up a couple interesting MeeGo tidbits, along with an excellent utility for Nexus 7 / OS X users — something to help you in the pursuit of slack. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the “best of the rest” for this week of August 20th, 2012.
Like Jelly Beans, custom Android ROMs tend to have different flavors — and CyanogenMod happens to be a fan favorite. Good thing then, that the CM10 team is now serving nightly builds of its Jelly Bean-based custom ROM update. According to the CyanogenMod Google+ page, CM10 nightlies are now available for the US Samsung Galaxy S III variants, the original Galaxy S and the Galaxy S II (i9100g), the Galaxy Nexus, the Nexus S and Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (P3), Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 (P5), Nexus 7, Transformer and Transformer Prime tablets. The list will fill out with more devices when they are ready, the team says, and will continue to have CM9 updates (now weekly, rather then nightly) at their disposal.
Google has once again fully replenished their supply of ASUS-made Nexus 7 tablets in both 8 and 16GB iterations, with delivery again cut back to 3-5 days on both models. Several times since the launch of this device in both iterations we’ve seen the Google Play store online move shipping times back to weeks instead of days and once or twice run out of stock of one or both tablet sizes entirely. At the moment it appears that Google and ASUS have come to a point where supply has met the demand.
In addition, groups such as DODOcase have begun shipment on accessories like their HARDCOVER case. This case makes the Nexus 7 appear to be a hardcover book and is available in four different colors, red, purple, gray/black, and blue. Also included here is a magnet hidden in the cover so that when the cover is closed, your Nexus 7′s display will be put to sleep!
We’ve also had a peek at the official Nexus 7 case as distributed by Google too – it’s quite simple and not a whole lot of imagination is required to make it work. You’ll not have to worry about dropping your device on gravel anymore should to pick this unit up, that’s for certain. This case is also available on the Google Play store online and shipping is just as quick as the unit itself.
And for those of you that want to grab a Nexus 7 tablet with no cash at all, there’s always an NVIDIA event like the one we’ve got going on right now. All you need to do is tell us what your favorite Tegra-laden device or TegraZone game is and BAM! You’re right in the mix – grab one of three right this second!
It appears that Dropbox is also tweaking its Android app to better suit the Nexus 7 and Jelly Bean. The cloud storage outfit made a recent build (2.1.8.6 to be exact) of its mobile software available for download as a sneak preview of sorts. A few fortunate subscribers got first dibs, but you can grab a look for yourself at the improvements. The tweaks include video thumbnails, improved video playback on both ICS and Jelly Bean, a Nexus 7-friendly UI and the ability to open Dropbox files directly from other applications. If you’re jonesin’ for a look, visit the source link below to do just that.
We declared Google’s new flagship tablet, the ASUS-made Nexus 7, to be the best slate that $200 can buy — as well as one of our top choices for students — and while it’s hard to beat the price, we’re going to give four of them away regardless! This week’s contest is all thanks to NVIDIA, the folks behind the quad-core Tegra 3 that powers the Jelly Bean tablet and turns gaming into a smooth and pleasant experience. These little guys are definitely worth a grab, so add a comment to enter!
NVIDIA’s fiscal performance in its second quarter shows the rewards of patience in the mobile sphere. It just saw its profit double versus a glum first quarter to $119 million, even though the company only slightly edged ahead in revenue to $1.04 billion. In explaining the success, the company is quick to point to a confluence of events that all worked in favor of its bank account: a slew of Tegra 3 phones and tablets like the Transformer Pad TF300 made NVIDIA’s quarter the brightest, but it could also point to a much-expanded GeForce 600 line on the PC side and the shipments of the first phones with NVIDIA-badged Icera chips. The graphics guru expects its revenue to climb more sharply in the heat of the third quarter as well — between the cult hit Nexus 7 tablet and a role as a major partner for Windows RT, NVIDIA has at least a temporary license to print money.
This week we’re taking a peek at the official Google Play sold Nexus 7 case for the rather popular 7-inch tablet. This case snaps around the tablet and flops down unto the tablet for a full all-around protection situation. While there is a magnetic sensor in the tablet, this standard case does not make use of it, just working as a much more basic bash-protectant instead.
The case itself will cost you $19.99 when you pick it up from Google and is made entirely of TPU. There’s no silicone here, which we’re thankful for as that stuff often picks up dust and hair galore, and the whole unit is high quality as we would expect from the makers of the tablet. ASUS is involved in the creation of this case as well as they are in making the tablet itself.
Above you’ll see Cory Gunther from Android Community applying the case to his own Nexus 7 tablet with white back from Google I/O 2012. As he notes, the case is durable, easy to apply, and certainly does “get the job done” without any frills. Cutouts exist along the back and sides for each of the device’s ports, mic, and speaker as well. The whole case weighs in at a measly 4.7oz and comes in one color: dark grey.
You needn’t worry about which model you’re getting here as both the 8 and 16GB versions of the Nexus 7 fit perfectly well. This case comes in a tiny box surrounded by a massive amount of packaging from Google and you’ll get it in just about as short a time as Google can possibly get it to you because they’re certainly not running short on supplies. The tablets themselves, on the other hand, that’s a different story entirely.
Don’t forget to check out our original in-depth review of the Nexus 7 and stick around for future tablet action with SlashGear as this device continues to take off!
When Apple decided to put a tablet into the market, they made it clear that, at least at first, they’d only have one model – this “hero” strategy is now working for Google’s Nexus 7 tablet as well. With the iPad being the single most popular tablet device in the world – with no contenders to speak of as far as sales go – you’ve got to wonder why no company has stuck to their guns with a single product name (with slight variations in each generation’s upgrade) like Apple has. Google isn’t exactly taking this strategy to heart with the Nexus 7, but the fact that it’s popping up in the news so often with headlines like “sold out” attached to it has got us thinking: has Android finally got a hit?
Have a peek at three stories that have popped up on the Android-focused blog, and our sister-site, Android Community over the past couple of days. Each of these news bits has the Nexus 7 as its focus and shows how powerful the device has become, how well-loved by the hacker and developer community as well. Begin with the Nexus 7 as in-dash accessory as whipped up by a modder hoping to boost the excellence of his Dodge Ram. Check the video out right here:
You don’t do something so dedicated with a piece of hardware unless you’re confident that enough people will be interested and pumped up about you doing it. In this case, you also don’t do something this hardcore unless you believe in the device and the company behind it. With a tablet or smartphone, you also have to trust that the hardware manufacturer and software developers behind the device will remain dedicated to it through the known future – Google has instilled that trust in this modder.
Next you’ll want to see the most recent “Sold Out” post coming from the Nexus 7 as its listed on the Google Play store. While it turned out this time that Google’s system may have simply been rocking the “Coming Soon” sign while it updated its web system, the shipping time has gone from days to weeks to out of stock entirely several times since the tablet first arrived on the market. Google is either terrible about keeping the device in stock, or they’re doing it on purpose to make people feel like if they did get it, they’re lucky! Either way it’s the same result for the end user.
Finally you’ll want to peek at the most recent overclock and benchmark results from the developers taking the time to push this tablet to its limits. What these hardcore users are doing is releasing all limits in the tablet added on the software end – or as many that make sense to release – so that the device can rev its engine to the max. At the moment, this tablet has gone to 1.64 GHz on each of its four CPU cores – that’s high powered, and it’s shown itself to be a massive clobberer of benchmark tests as well.
The dedication we’re seeing here to this one tablet is nearly unprecedented, and we’re sure Google is patting itself on the back for how well the device has done thus far. Now we’ve only to wait for the sales numbers to show how great (or not so great?) the device has actually done on the market. On that note – if you’re waiting for iPad sales numbers, you’ll be waiting for a very, very long time. The only way we can compare these devices and their success in the market is with analysis from 3rd party groups – and I’m sure we’ll see those soon too!
For now though, let us know: do you own a Nexus 7? Do you an iPad? Do you own both?
Welcome to Engadget’s back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn’t nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain. Today, we’re leaning back with our tablets — and you can head to the back to school hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back — at the end of August we’ll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides — you can hit up the hub page right here!
Your back may be straining from the textbooks, laptop, gym gear and lunch in that dangling overstuffed messenger, but you’re still gonna want to save room for one more item — a tablet. After all, while you can surf, tweet, play games and watch video from your other devices, there’s nothing like doing it from a simple glass window that sits in the palm of your hand. As the hardware gets more powerful, these devices are rapidly becoming versatile enough to let you justify leaving the laptop at home on less-intensive days, so why not check out our picks of the finest devices you should be using and abusing before, during and after class.
If you own the Google Nexus 7 Android tablet and you’re looking to fit it into your car, it seems that apart from mounting accessories and the old fashioned way of holding it in your lap, you can now consider having it installed in your car’s dashboard, which is what the folks at Sonic Electronix have done. They have taken the 7” Nexus 7 tablet and installed it into a Dodge Ram and replaced the double-din head unit with the tablet instead. Unfortunately due to the tablet’s WiFi only capabilities, we’re not sure apart from an entertainment system, what else can be done with the device. However if your carrier allows you to set up WiFi hotspots with your smartphone, then the Nexus 7 in the dashboard will certainly have no trouble doubling up as a navigational unit as well. Pretty cool, huh? So who’s planning on outfitting their cars with the Nexus 7 tablets?
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
