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Huawei Is Building A Successor To The Google Nexus 7, Says Report (arstechnica.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the size-matters dept.

According to reliable product leaker Evan Blass, Google is working with Huawei to produce the successor to the wildly popular Google Nexus 7. Evan Blass tweeted yesterday: "Google's Huawei-built 7-inch tablet, with 4GB RAM, on track for release before the end of the year." Ars Technica reports: "Of course 'Nexus' probably won't be the name of this device. Google is undergoing the Great Hardware Unification of 2016, and according to a report from Android Police, the Nexus line is going away to make way for a unified 'Pixel' line. The two upcoming Google phones are reportedly going to be branded 'Pixel' and 'Pixel XL.' If that report holds true, this device would probably be branded a 'Pixel,' too. We last saw a 7-inch Google tablet in 2013, when the Nexus 7 was released as a follow-up to the original 2012 version. Both of these were built by Asus and were well-received thanks to their novel (at the time) 7-inch, 16:9 form factor and low price (~$230)."

37 comments

  1. A Match Made in Heaven by dew4au · · Score: 1

    Combine the power of China's state sponsored back door engineering program with the power of Google's, FISA beholden, information collection abilities, and you have an all-star of state sponsored information gathering!

  2. Not Impressed by thsths · · Score: 1

    I am not impressed with the Google devices. I have both the Nexus 7 (2012) and the Nexus 4. At least the Nexus 4 is still a nice phone, but the Nexus 7 is just obsolete now. Both are out of support and out of security updates. Both devices look quite small nowadays: with phablets approaching 6" screens, a 7" tablet is kind of useless.

    And recently Google has turned up the price. The Chromebook is great, but overpriced, and the Pixel C is kind of ok, and also overpriced. So my prediction for the new tablet: kind of nice, but overpriced. And in two years they will stop supporting it.

    1. Re:Not Impressed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I use my Nexus 7 daily. It's not useless to me at all.

    2. Re:Not Impressed by barc0001 · · Score: 1

      Nexus 7 2012 was ... OK. Nexus 7 2013 was a huge improvement. I still have mine and use it daily. I was looking forward to a replacement in 2014 or 2015 but they brought out the Nexus 9 - which is too big for my jacket pocket - and wanted twice as much for it so I passed. If this new one is in the $250 range again, I might finally consider a replacement for my 2013 7.

    3. Re:Not Impressed by darkain · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Parent has the 2012 edition. You're probably on the 2013 edition like I am. There is a major leap and bound in performance and capability between the two years. The 2013 Nexus 7 is still my daily tablet for news, web browsing, social media, and even gaming. The thing is incredibly rock solid build and stable.

    4. Re:Not Impressed by Kevin108 · · Score: 1

      I have the 2013 as well. WugFresh always has something new for it. I've never done so with this particular device, but I'm considering trying one of the Nougat distros at this point.

      --

      It's a perfect time for being wasted.
      A perfect time to watch the stars.
      - Burden Brothers, "Beautiful Night"
    5. Re:Not Impressed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I have the Nexus 7 second generation and its my favorite device. I have been using it almost daily. My ipad gathers dust, its useless but the nexus is fantastic. Easy to bring everywhere, and with a cover its about the size of a paperback. Any bigger and I would just use my laptop. Google doesnt need to support it, I add the updates I want, its rooted and with KDE Connect its an awesome device. Drag and Drop folders. I dont bother with google services either, I do my own.

      The only thing it is lacking is an SD card. My phone will do 2 terabytes but my tablet is stuck at 32gb.

    6. Re:Not Impressed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Nexus 7 (2012) ... is just obsolete now. Both are out of support and out of security updates.

      You're talking about a 4 year old computing device. I know that people are spoiled now with desktops that can remain usable for ~10 years, but there was a time when desktops got long in the tooth after about 3 years, and ~maybe~ you could stretch their useful life to 4 years. After that, they were pretty much useless. Tablets are still in their growth phase of technology.

      > Both devices look quite small nowadays

      You say that like its a bad thing.

      > a 7" tablet is kind of useless.

      My Nexus 7 (2012) [with case] fits in my pockets. Shorts, jackets, and coats. Portability is a major plus that open up a lot of use cases.

      > And recently Google has turned up the price.

      The Nexus line has *always* been expensive on launch. They were/are intended to be flagship devices to showcase the capabilities of the platform.

      > And in two years they will stop supporting it.

      As opposed to other vendors who drop support after 6 months? I wish my Nexus 7 (2012) could update to Android 6, and 7, but with the issues with the 5.0 update, I can understand why google does not want to keep supporting obsolete hardware forever.

    7. Re:Not Impressed by fizzer06 · · Score: 2

      I have the 2012 original Nexus 7 and use it every day. Google may have thought that their update would kill it, and it all but did kill it, but I was able to flash it back to the older Android version it came with.

    8. Re:Not Impressed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I bought a Nexus 7 because I wanted a tablet that size (I now have an 8" screen Sony, same overall width as the Nexus 7, for the same reason). I don't see why the existence of oversized phones should have any effect on that choice whatsoever. For me, it's the sweet spot.

      Obsolete? As far as running the latest OS is concerned, phones are obsolete after three years, deal with it; that's nothing unique to Google. Running the latest iOS on a three year old iPhone is a dog too. It's not in anybody's interest for the manufacturers to waste effort trying to shoehorn their latest software into devices that are way behind current specs, and with dwindling numbers in service anyway as most users will upgrade by that point regardless. Of course, they're not obsolete in terms of they still work fine at their current level of functionality, and users that wish to do so can keep using them for years beyond that, although a battery replacement will be needed eventually.

    9. Re:Not Impressed by aardvarkjoe · · Score: 1

      Parent has the 2012 edition. You're probably on the 2013 edition like I am.

      Mine is a 2012, and it still works pretty good. (I did have to "downgrade" from the updated Android version back to an older version of Cyanogenmod, though.) It's not useless by any stretch of the imagination; I use it almost every day.

      I have started having problems with it occasionally crashing, which I suspect is hardware-related. If there's a new Nexus 7 when it finally bites the dust, I may get one.

      --

      How can we continue to believe in a just universe and freedom to eat crackers if we have no ale?
    10. Re:Not Impressed by AaronW · · Score: 1

      The Nexus 7 2013 is a totally different beast. The 2012 didn't have enough memory. I have both. I'm still using my 2013 running Marshmallow and it runs fine. My 2012 can't even boot after I installed Marshmallow on it.

      --
      This post is encrypted twice with ROT-13. Documenting or attempting to crack this encryption is illegal.
    11. Re:Not Impressed by guacamole · · Score: 2

      To be honest, I don't get what you're complaining about. That a four year old tablet is no longer fast enough? Please. You gotta realize that the mobile technology in 2012 was nowhere near being as mature as the PC technology. A 2012 PC notebook is usually a perfectly usable device today. A 2012 smartphone or a tablet.. that's a big question mark.

      The 2013-2014 technology was a lot more mature by todays standards. A Nexus 5 from the late 2013 is still a perfectly usable device today, and still has a better SoC than most entry and mid-level devices.

    12. Re:Not Impressed by Corporate+Gadfly · · Score: 2

      The only thing it is lacking is an SD card. My phone will do 2 terabytes but my tablet is stuck at 32gb.

      I use my 2013 Nexus 7 daily and use the OTG cable on a weekly basis (for backups and transferring large amount of data from USB flash drives).

      Also recently, I bought a 32G USB3/OTG combo drive when it was on sale.

      --
      Corporate Gadfly
      Jonathan Archer: the most beaten up Enterprise captain in Star Trek history
    13. Re: Not Impressed by tap · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm posting this on my 2013 LTE Nexus 7. Tablet that's still small enough to fit in a pocket. Can run everything I use it for. Looked into replacements when the orientation sensor stopped working and there was nothing comparable on the market.

      Was able to fix the sensor by reseating a cable. Still running 4.4.4 due to horror stories of the 5 update on the LTE Nexus. Recently Google docs started crashing with an error in the logs from ART about some docs clipboard class failing compile time verification. Switching back to Dalvik fixed that, perhaps Google is now releasing apps that crash when using ART on KitKat?

    14. Re:Not Impressed by Mandrel · · Score: 1

      What version does Nexus 7 (2012) work well on? 4.1, 4.2? 4.4 runs like a dog.

    15. Re: Not Impressed by Compumyst · · Score: 1

      Bullshit. Nexus 7 launched at $200 and the Nexus 5 launched at $350 (though I opted for the 32GB version). Those were great devices for their time. The Nexus 5 is still a great device. So don't tell me that the Nexus line has always been expensive at launch or otherwise. Don't use the last 2 years to generalize the entire product line.

      --
      What's done's in the past, forever shall last.
      Work is work; life is life; fair is not!
    16. Re:Not Impressed by nogginthenog · · Score: 1

      I run a 4.4 on mine and it's OK. Battery is still going strong. I also run F2FS and manually run a SD Trimmer every now and then. But I'm really only using it for a Netflix/Plex remote.

    17. Re:Not Impressed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >A 7" tablet is kind of useless.

      Hey, some of us actually like screen real-estate.
      Using a tablet as a replacement for a graphics tablet, I can tell you I find it far superior.
      The larger that tablet, the better.

      Using some simple scripts, I mapped virtual OSK keys to multiple functions useful in drawing, editing code and other handy functions that aren't easy to perform or are slower to perform when using an OSK through VNC.
      Simple things like holding any mouse button down, undo, redo, cut copy paste, back forward, copy whole line, dupe line, and so on. (all hidden behind shift+` and another limited-time key press after that, or it terminates)

      Not all of us use tablets as Facebook machines.
      I'm improved my overall productivity through the roof simply by being able to VNC my PC from around the house.
      Gotta get al those personal projects done my friend. They ain't gonna do themselves now, are they?
      Can't beat comfy bath programming. Woops finger slipped.

    18. Re:Not Impressed by Mandrel · · Score: 1

      OK thanks. Now I think about it, 4.4.4 did run OK, it was the upgrade to 5.x that caused barely-tolerable lag.

    19. Re:Not Impressed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The [2013 Nexus 7] is incredibly rock solid build and stable.

      Just to throw my two cents in, mine actually creaks a little if I press on the left side, just above the midline. Still, good enough.

  3. Pixel by Tailhook · · Score: 1

    If these rumored specs are correct then the Pixel phone will be a winner. The same reasonable, non-phablet 5.5 inch size as the 5/5X with conservative improvements across the board. I don't care who builds it. It's all Google/Nexus to me as long as the updates are timely, the battery doesn't explode and the prices are reasonable. The rest of the Android world continues to be that same sad fail it's been since forever and I plan to continue ignoring it.

    --
    Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
    1. Re:Pixel by ipb · · Score: 2

      >If these rumored specs are correct then the Pixel phone will be a winner.

      The specs may be good but who the heck wants a phone branded 'Pixel'?
      It sounds like it should be a childs toy or a Disney movie.

      Nexus is cool, Pixel is just lame.

    2. Re:Pixel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Too bad it will be filled with ever increasing set of google's crapware. If I wanted a device which sole purpose is to serve as a crapware distribution platform, I would buy a Samsung or Lenovo.

  4. About fucking time by YuppieScum · · Score: 1

    My original Nexus7 is getting rather long in the tooth, and hasn't been updated since 5.1

    I've been waiting for a new, decent spec, sensibly priced, back-pocket-sized tablet for ages, so hopefully this will be it.

    --
    This sig left unintentionally blank.
  5. I Don't Want Much by Greyfox · · Score: 1
    I don't want much, really, just a stock android phone that doesn't suck, is regularly updated and has a slot for a MicroSD card. Google's pushing cloud hard and it seems like they're going out of their way to discourage external storage. I could buy a Samsung device, but I hate Touchwiz and also hate having to install some buggy ROM image that fucks up the camera and bluetooth more often than not. It doesn't seem like there's a device out there that's everything I want and I really don't think I'm setting such a high bar.

    Ultimately what it boils down to is that Apple and Google don't have their customer's best interests in mind. Their platforms exist only as a way for them to leverage their advertising to a captive audience. It doesn't seem like it should be all that difficult to find someone on alibaba who'd be willing to build a truly open phone platform. Perhaps it's time someone did.

    --

    I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    1. Re:I Don't Want Much by Winckle · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I don't want much, really, just a stock android phone that doesn't suck, is regularly updated and has a slot for a MicroSD card

      It's starting to feel like one of those "choose any two" thought experiments.

    2. Re:I Don't Want Much by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. Really sad. At least most android support USB storage (with adapters) for occasional use.

    3. Re:I Don't Want Much by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      Google's pushing cloud hard and it seems like they're going out of their way to discourage external storage.

      External storage is an annoyance - Android, by default, ships with nothing that can violate patents. No VFAT patents from Microsoft needed with stock Google image. No "rounded corners" issues from Apple with stock Google image.

      That's why neither Apple nor Microsoft sued Goiogle - they have no grounds because the stock defaults do not violate the patents. It's the OEMs who do, which is why Microsoft went after them for models that support SD card, and Apple after Samsung who made TouchWiz identical to the iPhone back in the early days. (TouchWiz no longer looks that way, which is why the Apple lawsuit only covers really ancient phones - and the patent covers rounded corners, a grid of apps and a static drawer, none of which are true on stock android back in the day - "widgets" were the reason why).

  6. Nexus vs Pixel by jwymanm · · Score: 1

    Really not seeing why Pixel wouldn't be the name to stop using.

  7. Poor Build Quality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A reliable product leaker, but will it be a reliable product? Google's Nexus 7 suffered from poor build quality. Yes, the Wikipedia entry praises it, but many people including myself had a very different experience: https://www.google.com/search?...

    The Nexus 7 was manufactured by Asus not Huawei but it's Google who owned it and bears responsibility. I was so disgusted with mine I wouldn't touch any hardware made by Google or Asus again.

  8. Re:Smartphones are for CHUMPS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's right, you are a chump if you own one. You may as well be wearing an ankle monitor like they put on people under house arrest, plus you're giving free access to everything you say, do, and type on it, to corporations, governments, and hackers. Smartphones may as well be butt-plug shaped, for all that they do to violate you. Seriuously people, why are you doing this to yourselves? Are you slaves? Do you have to have a Master or you don't know what to do with yourselves? Are you deluded into thinking you're safer this way? Or are you all really just this dumb?

  9. Been waiting for this! by slasher999 · · Score: 1

    I bought the 2012 N7, which I still have and which just last night I downgraded from 5.1 back to 4.4.4 - HUGE improvement. At $250 or less I'd pick one of these up.

  10. Heew.. by fubarrr · · Score: 0

    >Huawei So with 3 Nexus devices in a row being made in mainland China, Goolglers seem to be trying hard, really hard at licking communist party assholes'

  11. Pixel Qi - those low-power displays from OLPC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Speaking if Pixel, what the hell happened to Pixel Qi and surely they must be mad if they even still exist?
    They had even fixed one of the larger issues they were facing with horrible viewing angles. Nope, dead.

    Seems they had some sort of recent-ish news in 2015.