Google's Own Nexus Tablet Leaks Into the Wild

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Google's Own Nexus Tablet Leaks Into the Wild

Posted by samzenpus on Monday June 25, 2012 @12:49AM from the show-me-the-details dept.

lukehopewell1 writes "Days out from Google's I/O conference, training documents have been issued to resellers all over the world detailing Google's new Nexus tablet. It's a 7-inch device with an optimized Tegra 3 chip inside and it's going to be the first device to run Jelly Bean, the new version of Android, that, among other notable features, will see Google manage device updates. The device will be priced at $US199 and is aimed as a direct competitor to Amazon's Kindle Fire."

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Re:Hardware? by ChunderDownunder · 2012-06-25 00:57 · Score: 5, Informative

RTFA, they're not - the thing is to be manufactured by Asus.
Re:Motorola? by h4rr4r · 2012-06-25 01:00 · Score: 5, Informative

This is made by ASUS.
Google does not control when phones are moved from GB to ICS. They can only update Nexus devices. They will update those devices from ICS to JB.
Sad... by mystikkman · 2012-06-25 01:04 · Score: 5, Insightful

Sad that even Google is afraid to take on the iPad in it's territory. Almost all the 10" Android tablets have seen dismal sales, HP Touchpad was sold in a firesale,
Playbook's having a tough time and Amazon and Google are forced to play in the sub $200 territory. All of these devices are oriented towards only consumption. Maybe Microsoft Surface will get traction by doubling as a device that you can actually do some light work on, but lets see what price it launches at.
1. Re:Sad... by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-25 01:10 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  All tablets are "oriented towards consumption". You have neither a keyboard nor even a stylus; you have all the input capabilities of a kindergartner's finger-painting. The iPad is not an exception to this, despite the sweet-ass picture you made in that game of Draw Something.
  Most people are more or less okay with this and know what they're getting into when they buy the thing. When I buy a hamburger, I don't complain that it isn't steak.
2. Re:Sad... by alen · 2012-06-25 01:15 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  you're a retart if you can't type on the ipad. I have Pages on mine and can type hundreds of works without any problem.
3. Re:Sad... by drinkypoo · 2012-06-25 01:21 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  you're a retart if you can't type on the ipad.
  Most awesome typo ever.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
4. Re:Sad... by TummyX · 2012-06-25 01:27 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  When I buy a hamburger, I don't complain that it isn't steak.
  Exactly. When you buy a bicycle, don't complain it doesn't have A/C and triple exhaust!
  People who won't buy a tablet until it has a keyboard don't actually realise what they want is a normal notebook because they can't envision the use-case for a tablet (at least until they own a decent one).
5. Re:Sad... by csumpi · 2012-06-25 01:27 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  The 7" form factor works great for me. The 16:9 aspect ratio also has benefits, I can fit the tablet into a pocket and it's nice for watching movies. I used to have an ipad, which I found too heavy and big to carry around.
6. Re:Sad... by kanto · 2012-06-25 01:44 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Whose!
  Sent from my IGimmick
7. Re:Sad... by tripleevenfall · 2012-06-25 01:58 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I don't think it is an issue of capability. You can watch movies on all these things. You can check email and surf and post on twitter.
  The problem is that there is no innovation going on here on the Android side. The Android devices all are trying to be "Well it's no an iWhatever, but it's good enough and it's a bit cheaper". Where is the 10" screen tablet at a similar price point and hardware specs? That's really all it would take, and yet we still have none.
  Now a few years later we have moved on from "meh" copies of Apple to trying to copy Amazon? This doesn't make any sense to me.
  People want an iPad with Android on it. That's all. It's really just that simple. Why shuffle the deck chairs? Give people what they want.
8. Re:Sad... by blind+biker · 2012-06-25 02:25 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Most awesome typo ever.
  It wasn't a typo.
  In other words: wooosh!
  
  --
  "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
9. Re:Sad... by Simon+Brooke · 2012-06-25 02:37 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  The problem is that there is no innovation going on here on the Android side. The Android devices all are trying to be "Well it's no an iWhatever, but it's good enough and it's a bit cheaper".
  To which I say to you Asus Transformer. It's quite a bit better than an iPad on quite a lot of measures - faster, longer battery life, better build quality - and, with the addition of the clip-on keyboard, a useful replacement for a laptop for light office tasks and internet surfing. OK, it's more expensive than an iPad, but you're getting what you pay for.
  
  --
  I'm old enough to remember when discussions on Slashdot were well informed.
10. Re:Sad... by nahdude812 · 2012-06-25 02:56 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  The problem is that there is no innovation going on here on the Android side. The Android devices all are trying to be "Well it's no an iWhatever, but it's good enough and it's a bit cheaper".
  I'm curious what you think innovation looks like. There's a dozen form factors with focus on various improvements such as better cameras, brighter screens, longer battery life, better performance, lower prices, detachable physical keyboards with their own supplemental battery supply, SD and MicroSD card slots, USB ports, dongle-less micro HDMI ports, and more.
  
  Where is the 10" screen tablet at a similar price point and hardware specs? That's really all it would take, and yet we still have none.
  
  Wait, so "innovation" in your mind is "the same thing only different"? That's not innovation, that's knockoff-ism. And you're not looking very hard if you haven't found an Android tablet that offers similar specs. Transformer Prime is the same price point, with added features, better battery life, better performance, thinner, lighter, and some interesting other bonuses. Also the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is so much the same thing that Apple has been suing Samsung over it.
  
  People want an iPad with Android on it. That's all. It's really just that simple. Why shuffle the deck chairs? Give people what they want.
  And they have it several times over, plus other options that try less to be an iPad and do a commendable job of being their own thing, often for a lot cheaper.
  
  --
  Slay a dragon... over lunch!
Going 7" is a smart choice by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-25 01:13 · Score: 5, Interesting

By going with a 7" device that has a relatively low price point Google is offering up a device that that people will buy IN ADDITION to owning an iPad, not INSTEAD of an iPad. Why compete directly against the iPad with your first iteration of a tablet?
16:9 screens on a tablet by Clueless+Nick · 2012-06-25 01:18 · Score: 5, Interesting

I have an Android tablet, and I don't use Apple products, but I have come to believe that the 16:9 format is not that good for a tablet. For one, it is too short vertically in landscape format to accommodate an on screen keyboard and have a generous amount of viewing space available. If one wants to type with one hand while holding the tablet in the other, the keys on the sides also seem a bit too far away (my experience is with a 10" screen). In portrait mode, the keyboard gets a bit too narrow. The screen also seems to be a bit too narrow when reading books in portrait.
On the other hand, I now find the 7" screen size to be much more handy, and probably the keys would not be too far away. Has anybody any idea about how easy or difficult it is to read books on such a screen?
Another thing that has me wondering is the price tag: how can Google afford to sell the tablet for $199 / $249 with a Tegra 3 board, while Samsung charges around $800 (in India, where I live) for the Galaxy S III?

--
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1. Re:16:9 screens on a tablet by SJHillman · 2012-06-25 02:02 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  I own a Nook Color (7" screen) and have spent a lot of time with other people's iPads. I find the 7" to be more comfortable for reading in portrait mode. The 10" device the lines just feel a little on the long side. However, if you prefer larger text or reading in landscape (where it typically shows as two pages) then the larger form factor is more comfortable.
Re:But will it run Linux? by Baloroth · 2012-06-25 01:19 · Score: 4, Informative

All Google's Nexus devices have unlockable bootloaders, as they are designed partly for developers to play around with customizing Android.

--
"None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
Twice cooked tart? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-06-25 01:20 · Score: 4, Funny

That retart sound delicious - that is a twice cooked tart, no?
Might pick one up! by CanEHdian · 2012-06-25 02:28 · Score: 4, Funny

This is going to be very interesting when it gets officially introduced in Canada Q3 2014 for CAD 279.00

--
When the copyright term is "forever minus a day", live every day like it's the last.