Re: "aren't always in arms reach of a hotspot."
My wife's used my WiFi Xoom 2 as a sat nav. Granted we had to pre-cache the maps but the GPS itself worked fine . The 10.1" display shows the routes very clearly indeed :-)
Amazon may have done more that most to get Android onto tablets, but Google's Nexus 7 tablet, built by Asus, isn't so much a shot across the bows as a full torpedo attack on Jeff Bezos' ambitions in the fondleslab market. Google Nexus 7 Android tablet Amazon attack: Google's Nexus 7, built by Asus At £159 ($199) for the …
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Just go for applying the US firmware......works a treat.
Only thing to be aware of is that you have to remember to turn on the USB debugging if your device fails to connect to your PC. Check that at every stage and your sorted.
I am happy on 4.0.4 now....and waiting for those smooth graphics in 4.1
It's exactly what i've been wanting - if the Kindle Fire had been released over here, i'd have got that.
I don't need a 10" display, if I want a larger display i'll use my Netbook, it's the 7"/Kindle sized display I was looking for - plus in colour for online graphic novels.
As for no 3G, why not just set your phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot and use that??
Not sure why people are commenting on the tablet not having 3G connection, most if not all of the users will have at least an iPhone or an Android one, both of which can tether. How many people will use the tablet and not have their phone nearby? Not many, therefore, I see the tablet as not having 3G a blessing.
Just waiting for the 10" version now.
Correct me if I'm wrong but virtually every phone I've had with Bluetooth, including the somewhat dumb by today's standards Nokia 6230, and with it is a PAN like profile to allow external devices to use it to access the internet. This was a really useful to hook up to things such as sat navs to get traffic updates etc.
In fact, it's only really with my current Samsumg Galaxy S where I've had an issue - I swear an (Orange) update removed the BT "Internet Access" which is one reason among many as to why it's now running CM9.
So, what was your point exactly about companies not splashing out for smart phones?
Yeah, unless they've suddenly decided to give away free 3G service, then one would be looking at an ADDITIONAL monthly expense of $30. The data plan cost would swamp out the cost of the hardware in the mid-term. Daft.
Assuming one already has a mobile phone with a rational data plan, then turn on wifi tethering. Duh. If your carrier doesn't allow this, then you've chosen the wrong carrier. Daft.
Looks good. I was skeptical about tablets at first but got one because it was cheap. I now use mine all the time now, mostly for reading ebooks. I like being able to switch between the ebooks and a web browser, play spotify on it at the same time, etc, so for that reason it is more suitable to me than a dedicated ereader.
If I didn't already have a tablet (I would probably still be skeptical and not looking) and could see the benefit of them despite having not had one, I would definitely be looking at one of these.
Yup 3G on a 7' portable Tablet is high on the must list. Not so much on a 10' which is more (on average) a home based device..
I carry my 7' tab everywhere as portable office instead of a smart phone. Use a very old Nokia 6210 for basic voice duties due fantastic battery life and size. Slightly unusual set up maybe but works for me
Well, I'm amazed you've had a down-vote for basically expressing your opinion. You obviously have a setup that works for you but obviously someone doesn't like it that you have!
I am personally in the tethering to smartphone camp, but that's just me. I think these look brilliant.
Different strokes for different folks and all that...
This mirrors my setup. I abandoned my smartphone because it was too small to be any use.
Tethering is not always straighforward, it does depend on phone, Android version and network.
An SD slot would be nice, but 3G is essential. A 7 inch tablet would then be the ideal portable device.
It looks like I am going to have to wait for Mk II to be released.
Google have missed a trick with this one.
It is MTP, as Android post 3.xx doesn't support mass storage as standard.
That said, my 4.xx phone is rooted, and I can unmount the SD card and export it as mass storage. However, it seems highly unlikely that you can export the unified internal storage of an Android 4.1 device as mass storage at all, even with rooting.
I'd happily be proved wrong.
(Ordered my Nexus 7, it can live with my iPad 3, and annoy both kinds of fanbois, as I love gadgets.. It's a lot cheaper than a drink problem :D)
Hopefully Google will do a bit more than Amazon who "have done more that most to get Android onto tablet" and buy an Atlas... Then they'll notice a market Amazon missed. Namely the rest of the world!
I was quite up for a bit of Fire hacking when it was announced. It's not like they would have to translate anything for the UK market, we're quite used to having American English forced upon us.
What does that have to do with the price of coffee?
I think 4g will be pretty pricey for a while to come. I won't be buying a 4g phone for a while but a data contract will probably be the cheapest option. So I'll have a fast 4g mifi to use with my wifi devices, none of which have 3G built in and hence were cheaper to buy, and I'll stick to my cheap 3G iPhone 4s for calls.
Makes financial and technical sense to me.
"I'd be reluctant to buy anything with built-in 3G. 4G is around the corner. Why keep on paying for 3G modems for each device when you can use one as a mi-fi. You'd probably end up with a 3G phone and another contract for your Nexus 7 3G. Pointless. Then there's the extra hit on the battery."
4G? You wanna wait for 5G... THAT is what you really want
4G is so far away in terms of a UK rollout that it really shouldn't be a consideration as a device feature.
Considering these devices update every six months or so and 4G realistically isn't going to be mass market until late 2014 / early 2015 we'll all have much newer editions of these by then.
I'm really baffled by the number of people who say "It must have 3G"...
Are you seriously planning on carrying a 7" tab an using it as a phone too?
No, thought not, so you mobile phone will still be in your pocket, a few feet from your tablet. So tether it! One mobile contract, one SIM... Simples.
Dunno, whatever the stock battery in the first gen HTC Desire was (I just upgraded to a Galaxy S3). It was running Juicedefender, too. Battery power was generally never a problem.
The real killer is how strong or weak the 3G signal is, polling for the cell is what kills the battery. The wifi doesn't make as much difference as folks generally imagine. (Oh, also, if you're devious, and you're tethering some laptops, you can always ponce some power from them over USB, too, don't forget!)
You would be surprised. While running the mobile chipset takes up some juice, and running wifi takes up some juice, running the portable AP does seem to eat vastly more juice than both put together. The more data you transfer over it, the faster your battery flattens.
It's kind of telling that my Xperia Arc S only gets really red hot when I'm running the portable AP. So hot in fact, I've had it stop charging itself - apparently this is a safety feature.
Kind of annoying that since the ICS update, it randomly turns the AP off though. Ho hum, that is a different issue.
Just how much storage do you guys need from your kit?
I have never reached the 8Gb on my SD card on my phone, and I use it for podcasts, films, books and newspapers as well as the 30 or so games that I regularly play. And the 1Gb of maps I use for sygic. All my pics are backed up to my G-Drive. Currently I still have just under 4Gb left.
Mine is on order :-)
So what negative points were in the other 15% Was it the fact that it crashed a few times, the lack of MicroSD/3G or the battery life?
Just curious as to what prevented it from getting a higher score; seems to be a very positive review overall, with few negatives. Though I am heavily biased on the subject, I'm not suggesting that it *should* have scored higher - I'm just curious about the rationale.
Ultimately I really don't care about the review scores; this is an impressive device, regardless of your opinion on Android or tablets in general, which could have easily commanded a higher price. At £160 it almost feels like I'm ripping them off by buying one.