- Dec 5, 2011
- 143
- 50
Since Google has announced their latest and greatest Nexus 7 Tablet we thought it deserved its own place on the forums. Enjoy!
Nexus 7 (2nd Generation) Forums are Live!
- Thread starter cereal_killer
- Start date
This Forum promises to be a pretty busy place over the next few months. Indeed, the new Nexus 7 is a significant hardware refresh. It comes packed with a a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro 8064 CPU, a Adreno 320 GPU,a 1920 x 1200 panel display at 323 PPI (much more than the iPad mini) capable of 1080p, HDMI output, 2GB of RAM, a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera to complement the front, NFC, stereo speakers, and built in LTE, if you want it.
Google says battery life will clock in at 9 hours of HD playbook and 10 hours of web browsing.
These specs were no surprise to many of us, as most had been leaked before the launch, here at the Forum.
The new Nexus 7 will be the first tablet on the market to support OpenGL ES: 3.0. Combined with the Snapdragon S4 Pro 8064 CPU and Adreno 320 GPU, this gives the Nexus 7 the ability to render graphics on par with early PS3/Xbox 360 games complete with lens flares and reflections.
The new Nexus 7 will be running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. Google didn’t demonstrate a specific killer feature for the new OS, though showed off a variety of handy tweaks. There’s now support for multi-user settings, including restricted profiles for kids, and new updates for Bluetooth including something called Bluetooth Smart and Bluetooth low energy.Google didn’t talk pricing at the event, but a leaked Best Buy flyer showed the 16GB model will cost $229.99 in the US and the 32GB model will come in at $269.99. The 64 GB LTE version will come in at $349. Google says the WiFi models will be available on July 30, and the LTE versions will be on the market “in the coming weeks”.
Source:
Google says battery life will clock in at 9 hours of HD playbook and 10 hours of web browsing.
These specs were no surprise to many of us, as most had been leaked before the launch, here at the Forum.
The new Nexus 7 will be the first tablet on the market to support OpenGL ES: 3.0. Combined with the Snapdragon S4 Pro 8064 CPU and Adreno 320 GPU, this gives the Nexus 7 the ability to render graphics on par with early PS3/Xbox 360 games complete with lens flares and reflections.
The new Nexus 7 will be running Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. Google didn’t demonstrate a specific killer feature for the new OS, though showed off a variety of handy tweaks. There’s now support for multi-user settings, including restricted profiles for kids, and new updates for Bluetooth including something called Bluetooth Smart and Bluetooth low energy.Google didn’t talk pricing at the event, but a leaked Best Buy flyer showed the 16GB model will cost $229.99 in the US and the 32GB model will come in at $269.99. The 64 GB LTE version will come in at $349. Google says the WiFi models will be available on July 30, and the LTE versions will be on the market “in the coming weeks”.
Source:
Last edited by a moderator:
Very good point, drawman61. Indeed, it wasn't prominently featured in the specs because with the new Chromecast plug-in device, HDMI output now seems to be redundant. After all, why use a cable to connect to your TV, if you can do so wirelessly, from any tablet, phone or laptop. Better late, than never, I guess. An SD card slot would certainly have been more appropriate.
Ever since the first Motorola Xoom rolled off the production lines two and a half years ago, Googles struggled to convince developers that their Android apps need to look beautiful on larger tablet displays.
With yesterday's launch of Googles second-generation Nexus 7 tablet, I was hoping the situation would have greatly improved by now. The original Nexus 7 sold fairly well, and Android tablets in general now account for more than half of all tablets shipped. Youd think there would be a market for tablet-optimized Android apps, especially for the most popular apps.
But after doing some comparisons between the Apples App Store and the Google Play Store for Android, its clear that Android is still behind the iPadthough not as far as it used to be. Many of the most popular iPad apps are available for Android, but they arent always designed to take advantage of the extra real estate of tablet displays. Twitter, Facebook, Dropbox and Pandora are the worst offenders, stretching out their interfaces instead of filling the screen with sidebars and menus.
And just in case I sound overly crabby, Android does have a much better tablet app selection than it used to. Apps like Flipboard, SoundHound, Pocket Casts and Pinterest all look great on Android tablets, and they either didnt exist or werent properly optimized a year ago when the first Nexus 7 launched.
With yesterday's launch of Googles second-generation Nexus 7 tablet, I was hoping the situation would have greatly improved by now. The original Nexus 7 sold fairly well, and Android tablets in general now account for more than half of all tablets shipped. Youd think there would be a market for tablet-optimized Android apps, especially for the most popular apps.
But after doing some comparisons between the Apples App Store and the Google Play Store for Android, its clear that Android is still behind the iPadthough not as far as it used to be. Many of the most popular iPad apps are available for Android, but they arent always designed to take advantage of the extra real estate of tablet displays. Twitter, Facebook, Dropbox and Pandora are the worst offenders, stretching out their interfaces instead of filling the screen with sidebars and menus.
And just in case I sound overly crabby, Android does have a much better tablet app selection than it used to. Apps like Flipboard, SoundHound, Pocket Casts and Pinterest all look great on Android tablets, and they either didnt exist or werent properly optimized a year ago when the first Nexus 7 launched.
This is the 1st tablet (or ANY device for that matter) that I have pre-ordered without playing with one 1st. Hopefully Google/Asus will be shipping a high-quality, issue free device (hardware-wise at least) from day one.
It'll be interesting to see how the new version stands up to the 1st generation. I'll be comparing the new N7 to the old N7 as I just purchased a new 32 GB OG N7 for my wife about a week ago.
It'll be interesting to see how the new version stands up to the 1st generation. I'll be comparing the new N7 to the old N7 as I just purchased a new 32 GB OG N7 for my wife about a week ago.
- Mar 24, 2011
- 15,781
- 1,812
Google has just announced that, while the new Nexus 7 will be available in the United States on July 30th, it is coming to Canada and other countries “in the coming weeks.” Yeah, right. You know what that translates into. Road trip...shuffle off to Buffalo.
In a report this morning, KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi Kuo predicts that Google will drop Asus as its production partner in favor of LG in 2014.
The report, courtesy of 9to5Google, suggests that Google plans on focusing more on display design, something Google has turned to LG for in the past, most notably with its Nexus 4 smartphone. Supposedly, "LG Display’s access to both thinner and lighter IPS panels would 'narrow' the design gap between Google and Apple’s devices."
The report, courtesy of 9to5Google, suggests that Google plans on focusing more on display design, something Google has turned to LG for in the past, most notably with its Nexus 4 smartphone. Supposedly, "LG Display’s access to both thinner and lighter IPS panels would 'narrow' the design gap between Google and Apple’s devices."
My wife and I were at a friend's house yesterday, who'd just purchased the New Nexus 7 over the weekend while on a business trip to Cleveland. Upon showing it to me, I immediately noticed how the device seemed tall. And it is taller than the old Nexus 7 by 6 hundredths of an inch (1.5 mm for you normal people that use the metric system). That may not be much, but the device is also nearly a quarter of an inch skinnier than its predecessor, which makes the large bezels at the top and bottom of the device seem awkward. However, once I picked up the tablet for the first time, I immediately realized how much nicer this device was going to be to use. Its lighter and thinner. And that almost quarter of an inch makes a big difference when holding the device with one hand. My wife was super excited when she picked up the new Nexus 7 and realized she could easily one-hand the device. It definitely seems like Google stepped it up with the feel of the device.
As far as the hardware goes, the 7-inch 1900 x 1290 pixel 323 ppi highest-resolution-Android-tablet-display-ever looks really great. Its bright and very crisp. The colors are great. Ill have more details to share when I'm able to buy one here in Canada and can get down to the nitty gritty and compare the tablet side-by-side with other devices. I just played with it, so far.
One cool feature about the new Nexus 7 is the dual speaker setup. When the new Nexus 7 was announced, they talked about the virtual surround sound feature. This is actually a feature of Android 4.3, but the new Nexus 7 definitely takes advantage of it. Judging by the few minutes of video that I watched on the device, the sound quality is very good. But, I wish it were louder. The dual speakers on the new Nexus 7 are rear firing, so in my friend's noisy house with kids, I still had to wrap my hands around the device to be able to hear the conversation in the movie clip. If I really cared about listening to videos in my own noisy house, I could always throw on a pair of headphones. But this is just something I noticed about the speakers. I wish they wouldve figured out a way to make the speakers front firing.
The performance of the tablet was fantastic. Its snappy and smooth. That butteriness is one the biggest things that I noticed when using the device. Scrolling during web browsing or through menus is noticeably and surprisingly smooth. If youre a videophile or someone with money burning in their pocket, youre not going to be disappointed with this new tablet from Google. Hopefully, Ill get mine soon and be able to give you more opinions, later. For now, I really liked it, and it was darn fun to have around.
As far as the hardware goes, the 7-inch 1900 x 1290 pixel 323 ppi highest-resolution-Android-tablet-display-ever looks really great. Its bright and very crisp. The colors are great. Ill have more details to share when I'm able to buy one here in Canada and can get down to the nitty gritty and compare the tablet side-by-side with other devices. I just played with it, so far.
One cool feature about the new Nexus 7 is the dual speaker setup. When the new Nexus 7 was announced, they talked about the virtual surround sound feature. This is actually a feature of Android 4.3, but the new Nexus 7 definitely takes advantage of it. Judging by the few minutes of video that I watched on the device, the sound quality is very good. But, I wish it were louder. The dual speakers on the new Nexus 7 are rear firing, so in my friend's noisy house with kids, I still had to wrap my hands around the device to be able to hear the conversation in the movie clip. If I really cared about listening to videos in my own noisy house, I could always throw on a pair of headphones. But this is just something I noticed about the speakers. I wish they wouldve figured out a way to make the speakers front firing.
The performance of the tablet was fantastic. Its snappy and smooth. That butteriness is one the biggest things that I noticed when using the device. Scrolling during web browsing or through menus is noticeably and surprisingly smooth. If youre a videophile or someone with money burning in their pocket, youre not going to be disappointed with this new tablet from Google. Hopefully, Ill get mine soon and be able to give you more opinions, later. For now, I really liked it, and it was darn fun to have around.
jgumphress
Senior Member
- Sep 6, 2011
- 295
- 31
HDMI will be through the USB port using an adapter cable like the Samsung Galaxy S4 phone does.
Nexus 7 is the first tablet to have the new Android 4.3 operating system and you can now root the Nexus 7 tablet. A well know developer, Chainfire has released the CF-Auto-Root file. It is used in tandem with the Android software and is thus the safest way to root your Nexus 7 tablet. The major question for most people though why should I root my Nexus 7?
stevebarber
Member
- Dec 27, 2012
- 9
- 0
Why the lack of SD card slots? Long journeys with no connection cry out for a selection of films, TV shows, music to choose from. A single HD film can take up 7Gb (if you can even get that into the Android file-system), my music collection is 120Gb+, so internal storage isn't going to cut it. Can you add memory sticks/cards via the USB connection?
stevebarber
Member
- Dec 27, 2012
- 9
- 0
Will we see stylus support added to the Nexus range? Something to take on the Galaxy Note? Quickly sketching notes is much better than using an on-screen (or even bluetooth) keyboard. Even better if supported by decent handwriting recognition s/w.
jgumphress
Senior Member
- Sep 6, 2011
- 295
- 31
Yes, the Nexus reads USB sticks well. I carry many business files om keychain drive and access it using a USA-A to USB micro adapter.
