TECH/GADGET SPECIAL...Nexus 7 tablet

Nexus 7 tablet

Google Inc steps up its challenge to Apple and Amazon in the tablet market with the $199 Nexus 7, while showing off the futuristic Glass Project slated for a consumer release sometime in 2014

    The Nexus 7 is designed specifically for Google Play, the online store that sells movies, music, books, apps and other content. Google’s announcement that it’s putting its brand on a tablet comes a week after Microsoft said the same thing.
    The Nexus 7 has a 7-inch screen, smaller than the nearly 10 inches on Apple’s iPad. The Nexus 7 will also be light – at about 0.34 kgs, compared with the iPad weighs 0.65 kgs.
    The Nexus 7 will ship in mid-July starting at $199 in the US – the same price as the Kindle Fire. By contrast, iPads start at $499 in the US.
    Much like the Nexus phones, the Nexus 7 tablet will be a showcase for a new version of Android, in this case one called “Jelly Bean.”
    Although the tablet carries the Google brand, the machine will be made by AsusTek Computer. Google also announced a home entertainment device called Nexus Q. It sends content from your personal collection or YouTube to your existing TV and speaker systems. You control it through a separate Android phone or tablet.
    The Nexus Q, which Google is calling the world’s first “social streaming device,” will available in July in the US, will sell for $299.
    Google made the announcements during a keynote to open its annual conference in San Francisco for computer programmers.
    Google gave out a Nexus 7, Nexus Q and a Nexus phone for free to all 6,000 attendees.
    Google also unveiled a new search tool to help you get the right information at the right time on your mobile device. Called Google Now, the tool will be part of Jelly Bean, which will be available in mid-July. Some devices, including the Galaxy Nexus, will get the upgrade automatically over the air.
    With Google Now, if you say “traffic,” for example, it will look at your usual commute to work and show you alternative routes if there’s a lot of traffic.
    The feature bears resemblance to the Siri virtual assistant on Apple’s iPhone. Jelly Bean will also come with the ability to share photos by tapping two phones together. AGENCIES

NEXUS 7 SPECS
SCREEN
7-inch 1280X800 Corning glass Back-lit IPS display
OS
Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
CPU
Quad-core Tegra 3 processor
MEMORY
8/16GB internal storage 1GB RAM
FEATURES
WiFi-n, Bluetooth, NFC, Accelerometer, Magnetometer, Gyroscope WEIGHT 340gms

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