back to article Google unveils Nexus 7 tablet, Android 4.1 and Nexus Q

Google has used its annual developer conference, Google I/0 2012 in San Francisco, to announce its long-expected tablet, the Nexus 7, along with a new 4.1 build of Android (codenamed Jelly Bean) and a hackable home streaming Android computer called the Nexus Q that is shaped like a ball. Built by Asus, the Nexus 7 packs a quad …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    oh finally el reg remembers google i/o is on today!

    1. bdam
      Holmes

      Compare and contrast

      One company gives a live demo involving a complex chain of events and teams of people, starting with skydivers above the conf hall, streaming the audio/video live from their view to everyone, actually risking life and death, or at the least major embarrassment if any one of those links in the chain breaks whilst delivering the kit to the presenter on stage, the other company has their top man standing alone showing off kit which freezes the instant their own software they have been writing for 15 years hits it, and has to awkwardly shuffle backstage for a replacement.

      Your starter for ten is to work out which of those extorts $5 per handset from the other for absolutely no other reason then them playing a corrupt patent system.

      1. h4rm0ny

        Re: Compare and contrast

        Oh please. Have you even given up the pretense of looking for excuses to shoe-horn some MS-bashing into the comments section. This is about the Google tablet. The Surface isn't remotely the same sort of thing. The Surface is a higher-end hybrid device. The Google tablet is a about half the price of the lower-end Surface and clearly set up as an attack on the iPad. Which it looks like it might do well at. Surface and Nexus 7 is not a like for like comparison. Nexus 7 and iPad... well they're both designed for sofa-consumption, really. Exactly how high-end do you need for that? I don't have much experience on Android. I get the general impression that it's not nearly as slick an experience as iOS. But will people really want to pay a premium of over a hundred dollars or substantially more for an iPad when this will do the job just as well?

        Oh and as to the Surface, the Netfilx app froze on pre-release hardware on pre-release software the presenter tried for a moment to work it and just picked up a back up from a lecturn on stage. But yes, let's make a great big deal about "awkward shuffling backstage". If you are making your purchasing decision by weighing that against the pure theatrics of skydivers, etc. which you seem to consider so great, then I wouldn't want you in charge of company purchases. Since when did IT professionals start considering the slickness of a company's marketing as something to brag about? Marketing is about manipulation and image, not performance. Your own Nexus 7 will not, I am sad to inform you, be delivered by skydivers.

        1. Law

          Re: Compare and contrast

          "and clearly set up as an attack on the iPad"

          I think it's aimed more at the Kindle Fire than the iPad - otherwise it'd be more expensive with higher storage capacity, larger screen and a 3G option, hopefully that'll be a Nexus 10 model! :)

          ICS is every bit as slick as iOS 5, if not slicker - I've used both, iOS feels very 2009 now. The ICS UI team recently won design awards for their hard work.

          I wouldn't mind a Surface to be honest - looks like a nice bit of kit, but at the price they're asking I'll probably just buy an AIO desktop from Dell and a Nexus 7.

          1. Bob Vistakin
            Happy

            Re: Compare and contrast

            I've just ordered a Nexus 7.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Quad core

      Processor? Twelve core graphics?

      A battery that lasts ten hours?

      Will it come with a back pack for the battery and fire resistant gloves for the heat it will produce from 16 cores!

      Wow, if it's that good I'd buy one.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Until

      Apple bring out the iPad mini it will sell.

  2. eSeM

    A Properly Priced Tablet

    I expect they will sell a few.

    Little point in Amazon releasing the Kindle Fire over here now and I'll expect to get a free Playbook with a packet of corn flakes next week.

    :)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: A Properly Priced Tablet

      It's a small one, there's loads of them around.

      I doubt they're making much profit on it either.

    2. lurker

      Re: A Properly Priced Tablet

      "Little point in Amazon releasing the Kindle Fire over here now"

      Spot on. I might have bought a Fire if they had got their asses in gear and released it over here, but now I'm more likely to buy this instead as it seems Amazon aren't interested in pounds sterling.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: A Properly Priced Tablet

        Plenty of other reasons not to get a fire.

        1/ It doesn't run proper Android

        2/ It doesn't have Google Market

        3/ It's locked down to a single content stream

        4/ It's forever stuck on old Android 2.3 with no update path

        5/ It's Amazon, and they want you to only ever buy from Amazon and nobody else.

        Any of these is a great reason NOT to buy a Fire. The reason it's not been released outside the US, is only Americans are stupid enough to see past those rather important points, and all they see is "shiny cheap tablet".

        The Nexus7 is also a Shiny cheap tablet, but without any of those problems.

        1. h4rm0ny
          WTF?

          Re: A Properly Priced Tablet

          "The reason it's not been released outside the US, is only Americans are stupid enough to see past those rather important points, and all they see is "shiny cheap tablet"."

          Well American's managed to produce this Nexus 7 which looks alright to me. So they can't all be as stupid as you think unless you hate this device as well. Troll.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    In the interest of balance...

    I trust the big G will now be known as the Asus-rebrander?

    ;-)

    1. TonyHoyle

      Re: In the interest of balance...

      'Big G' has always rebranded phones.. The G1 was T-Mobile (not sure which manufacture), the Nexus 1 HTC, The Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus Samsung. It's Asus' turn.

      1. Nick De Plume
        Boffin

        Re: In the interest of balance...

        G1 was also HTC. fyi.

        So.. First two nexus phones were from HTC (for Android 1.5 and 2.1)

        the second pair were from Samsung (for Android 2.3 and 4.0)

        On tablets the first was from Motorola (Android 3.0), the second will be from Asus (Android 4.1).

        Essentially Nexus devices are reference devices for major OS releases, unburdened with extra manufacturer skinning/extras.

    2. Giles Jones Gold badge

      Re: In the interest of balance...

      Why would they design their own when lots of companies will be falling over themselves to supply one to them?

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: In the interest of balance...

      "Asus-rebrander"

      errr.... if you have bothered to look for the device's pictures on the web, you would have seen that Asus's name is clearly present on the back of the device.

      This is not an Asus-rebrand, it is an Asus device!

  4. TonyHoyle

    £159 for a nexus tablet? At that price it's well within impulse buy range. As I just did, in fact.

    Probably doesn't tick everyone's boxes, but Nexus are reference devices (basically there's a nexus per android version).. they're google saying 'this is the minimum spec we expect.. do better'.

    1. Fibbles

      Really I'd have expected the price to be 'converted' to £200. Still, even that would be cheap as chips considering the spec.

      Commoditization, you've got to love it :)

      1. miknik
        Thumb Up

        You would be wrong

        You can pre order from Google Play now, its £159 for 8gb and £199 for 16gb

        1. PaulR79
          Thumb Up

          Re: You would be wrong

          Ahhh fuq! Google, why?? Now I'm lighter in the .... wait no, now I'm deeper in debt. Need it? Nope, got an iPhad 3. Want it? Yes.

        2. Bassey
          Facepalm

          Re: You would be wrong

          Why would you "Pre" order? If it's available, you buy. If it is not available yet, you order.

          Pre means "before" so Pre-order is what you do before you order. What is that? Thinking about ordering?

          1. Bear Features

            Re: You would be wrong

            You have far too much time on your hands

          2. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

            Re: You would be wrong

            Pre means "before" so Pre-order is what you do before you order

            Agreed, and certainly "pre-order" in the sense commonly used today - ordering a product that is not yet available - does little or nothing that "order" would not do.

            That said, there are cases where consumers do take pre-ordering actions. Some years ago, when it was common to watch audio-visual entertainments stored on an archaic medium known as "videotape", a US distributor of anime wanted to purchase the rights to the Japanese series Kimagure Orange Road. Given the capital costs of acquiring those rights, translating the dialog, subtitling, and other production requirements, they solicited early partial pre-payments from likely buyers. Once enough customers contributed the requested amount, they went ahead with the project. That could certainly be considered a "pre-order", since when the product was ready, the pre-ordering customers still had to order it and pay the balance if they wanted a copy.

            For their investment, pre-ordering customers got their names in the credits - and, of course, got the opportunity to get a legal, well-made translation of the show.

          3. Hardcastle the ancient

            Why would you "Pre" order?

            Well, quite.

            In the real world we Buy, or we 'reserve'.

          4. MnM
            Thumb Up

            Re: You would be wrong

            Impeccable.

  5. Roger B

    As good as this sounds and as cheap as it appears to be, and I'm trying not to upset the Google applecart, but is it right there is no SD slot or Bluetooth?

    1. TonyHoyle

      It has bluetooth.

      No SD card - Nexus devices haven't had SD cards for years (TBH never missed them.. I've filled <1Gb of my Transformer, but they're important for some).

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      it seems it has got bluetooth, but no sd slot.

      It also has got GPS apparently even though many rumours until today said it hadnt.

    3. Roger B

      Sorry, that's what I get for reading the specs on a crappy website, it has Bluetooth, but I guess they'd like us to use the cloud for our storage.

      1. Ragarath

        Why use "The Cloud"

        Can't you use your own hardware for storage? Wi-Fi streaming when at home and over the Internet while out and about.

        Admitidly we are not all on fast connections yet but the way things are 'slowly' going there is no need for a little card that can get lost.

        1. A Known Coward
          FAIL

          Re: Why use "The Cloud"

          Strangely enough the vast majority of this country is outside the range of a wireless network. Sure if you spend your entire life inside your home, office or café then the lack of an sd card slot isn't a problem.

          For everyone else it cripples the device - e.g. there's no point taking it on holiday to that cottage in the Lake District because there's not enough storage for even two broadcast quality HD films (on the 8GB).

          For a few pence extra they could have added micro SD and I'd have almost certainly purchased it, but without one there's just no chance.

          1. ShadowCopy
            Boffin

            Re: Why use "The Cloud"

            Android 4.0 onwards (Ice Cream Sandwich) has USB host mode - Buy a USB host cable for £2 off ebay, plug it in, then plug a USB pen-drive/hard drive into that. A much more flexible option, and saves buying SD cards if you have no other use for them.

            1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

              Re: Why use "The Cloud"

              Hmmmm. So you're suggesting that my nice new Googley tablet, light enough to hold in one hand, would be improved by dangling a small, portable hard disk off it? Interesting...

              1. ShadowCopy
                Facepalm

                Re: Why use "The Cloud"

                Come on, It's not going to be a permanent attachment is it? It's there if you need it, should you need more than 16GB of storage for some bizarre reason. How much portable porn would one man possibly require?

                1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
                  Happy

                  Re: Why use "The Cloud"

                  "How much portable porn would one man possibly require?"

                  Are you seriously asking that question on an IT website? About a device designed to be held in one hand...

                  Seriously though, I've got 20GB of music. I would like to have that all with me at all times. Depending on the mood I'm in, I might want to listen to different stuff. Yes, I could cut that down easily to a more manageable amount, or change what's on my device according to mood. I just don't want to.

                  Also, my iPad currently has about 10GB worth of Apps (and their data). That's just going to carry on growing

                  Even assuming I could always find a signal to stream my music from the cloud (something that wouldn't work for the above apps), I may not want to pay the enormous data charges in order to do so. Given how cheap 32GB Micro SD cards are, there's no excuse not to have one.

                  We've not even mentioned TV and films. If I wanted to take a decent collection of stuff on a trip, 16GB is going to run out pretty damned quickly.

                  1. David Evans

                    Re: Why use "The Cloud"

                    This size of tablet is perfect for catchup TV and movies on the train every morning, so much so that I bought a Galaxy Tab to do just that. Biggest problem? Constantly deleting videos off the SD card and hard disk to accommodate new stuff. You're right, 16GB isn't enough, and the Cloud isn't ready to take up the slack (not over a 3G connection anyway)

        2. Steve Renouf
          FAIL

          Re: Why use "The Cloud"

          There is if you want to be able to download from cameras/audio recorders etc. onto an external HDD, as I do with my netbook and laptop. I was very tempted by the Transformer, until I realised that they'd done something stupid like putting a SD slot on the base but a MicroSD on the tablet. Duh! And not to manufacturers: FFS stop using MicroSD on these types of devices - keep them for phones and other small devices. It's difficult enough not to lose SD cards let alone MicroSD cards when you have a collection of them for use on stills cameras, video cameras and audio recording devices!!!

          1. Dave 126

            Re: Why use "The Cloud"

            MicroSD cards are too small... it wouldn't be so bad if they were made from a bright day-glo plastic so they were easier to spot on the ground.

            However, I tend to use them in SD card adaptors, just to give me flexibility. Camera, Laptop and Car Stereo: SD. Phone, MP3 player and Keyring Card Reader: MicroSD.

    4. Bear Features

      It has bluetooth, sausage. Are you reading anything

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Poor apple lawyers!

    No doubt the apple lawyers are in for a sleepless night tonight trying to find something to get it banned for!!!!

    1. Sean Timarco Baggaley

      Re: Poor apple lawyers!

      That 'Q' is bizarre. It does less than an Apple TV*, yet it costs three times the price? Also, the "hackability" thing is just manufacturer shorthand for "We can't be bothered to do all the work, so we'll let our customers do it for us! For free! And we'll make money off their development efforts!" Nicely done, but then, we're talking about a company that makes its living selling you to advertisers, so hardly a surprise.

      The tablet's pricing is the only genuinely interesting bit of news. As another poster said: this is going to hurt Amazon's Kindle Fire sales badly. Especially as Amazon still haven't managed to ship any outside the US.

      The "Made in the USA" thing doesn't mean much outside of the USA, and, of course, increasing automation means factories aren't going to be employing all that many people, regardless of the country they're in, so I don't see the point of the jingoism.

      * (Yes, they can be trivially jailbroken too, so they're no less "hackable". The only difference is that here, Google is making a virtue of releasing unfinished software and expecting others to finish the job for them. Without pay.)

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Poor apple lawyers! @ Sean

        Mmm... Grapes...

        What's up? Are yours not sweet?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Poor apple lawyers! @ Sean

          Maybe Sean's grapes are playing up? Try some Preparation G.

      2. Giles Jones Gold badge

        Re: Poor apple lawyers!

        Batteries and screens must cost a lot.

        If you take apart any tablet you'll find a dinky little PCB with a few chips on it (smartphone sized) and a huge battery.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Google Now

    "Google Now learns the user's interests from their search terms as well as their location, and suggests real-time data on things like the daily sports scores and commuting times."

    Sounds like an ad-man's dream data miner. Wonder just how much is being tagged and stored?

    Anonymous, because that's how I'd prefer my searches and interests to stay for no other reason than basic privacy.

    1. Wile E. Veteran
      Thumb Down

      Re: Google Now

      "Google Now learns the user's interests from their search terms as well as their location, and suggests real-time data on things like the daily sports scores and commuting times."

      That's a total deal-killer for me. I, too, have a basic privacy instinct.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Google Now

        Same here. Would not touch it with barge pole. Plus, it is not exactly revolutionary in terms of design/capability.

        No one has mentioned whether you can hook it up to a mobile network? If you cannot, then that would be another reason to drop it in the 'useless' bucket.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Google Now

          Yes, you can hook it up to a mobile network. Just use your portable WiFi. You do have one of those, don't you? You don't? I guess then you like paying extra for the ability to connect to a mobile network every time you upgrade your tablet/laptop, instead of just once. Your choice, I guess.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Google Now

            No I do not have a portable Wifi. Carrying loads of different bits of crap around with me just so that I can get on the internet is an unappealing prospect and quite frankly, the cost of another mobile account is irrelavant to me.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Google Now

              You know you can use your smartphone for portable WiFi, right?

            2. ShadowCopy
              Happy

              Re: Google Now

              Android 4.0 (Also on 3.x i recall): Settings > Wireless & Networks > Tethering and Portable Hotspot.

              Connect tablet to phone's wi-fi network, no need for seperate data contract/SIM

              1. M Gale

                Re: Google Now

                "Settings > Wireless & Networks > Tethering and Portable Hotspot."

                Okay if you own the phone. Usually locked out if you don't (and haven't paid extortionate extra fees to use the same data).

                I also use a portable hotspot these days, since the 3G-enabled tablet went missing. However, I do rather like having everything in one device. Have you ever seen how much juice that portable hotspot sucks out of a 1500mAH battery?

                So basically, to get all-day usage from the hotspot, I need to have my phone, and £80 worth of 8AH/30WH Energizer XPAL battery attached to it. Hardly a fiddle-free solution. Nor cheap.

                1. ShadowCopy
                  Thumb Up

                  Re: Google Now

                  RE: Networks limiting personal hot-spot usage -

                  I got my galaxy nexus from the O2 shop, but they aren't branded anyway. My HTC desire was heavily O2 branded with all the O2 guff installed, and it still allowed me to use the personal hotspot (Android 2.2/2,3 i seem to recall). O2 just limit data usage nowadays anyway, "unlimited" no longer exists so you can't cane it 24/7 like you could previously. Just pick a bolt on that suits you (Mine is 1GB/month i seem to recall. I was on the 3GB one but now i work from home i don't use it anywhere near as much as i did)

                  Once you're on a bolt-on you can hammer it as much as you like, then once you hit the limit they throttle your speeds until your next billing period starts. Unless you're watching netflix over mobile data connection it shouldnt ever be a problem.

              2. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: Google Now

                "Connect tablet to phone's wi-fi network, no need for seperate data contract/SIM"

                Also works on suitable Nokia Symbian phones (eg E71) and has done for years with e.g. JoikuSpot.

                But those old Nokia Eseries were just functional and value for money, and were not hiptrendy article material.

        2. Steve Evans

          @A/C 22:04 was Re: Google Now

          You own a mobile phone don't you?

          You carry the mobile phone with its connection in you pocket 99.9% of the time don't you?

          Well you set the phone to act as a wifi hotspot, and connect the tablet via that. Tada... One mobile contract, one sim, and it's kept the cost of the tablet down.

          That's assuming you have a mobile which can act as a wifi hotspot - hint, Android phones can.

      2. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
        Unhappy

        Re: Google Now

        The BBC website said that Google Now would allow it to give you the menus of restaurants as you walked past them on the street.

        I hope this was the usual Beeb getting over-excited about technology. Otherwise, yuck! Can just imagine the phone binging and vibrating madly as you walk down the street. It's the digital equivalent of those places that have a guy outside, trying to tempt you in...

        I've lived in a city that does that, and it's dead annoying when you're just walking down the street trying to get somewhere. I guess it adds a bit of local colour when you're on holiday.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Google Now

          "The BBC website said that Google Now would allow it to give you the menus of restaurants as you walked past them on the street."

          Randomly showing you menus as you walk down a street would be a bit irritating ... but I suspect it will be more like "I want to eat now ... show me the menus of the restaurants within 5 mins walk of here" - that could be useful

      3. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. koswix
      Black Helicopters

      Swap the N for an n and that sentence becomes far more worrying.

  8. Hardcastle the ancient
    Thumb Down

    underwhelmed

    1280 x 800 is HD is it?

    is that a 15mm border round the screen?

    no 3G/cellular access?

    no card slots?

    no USB master mode?

    Not interested in nfc.

    1. ShadowCopy
      Trollface

      Re: underwhelmed

      It's £160 FFS - Please ask a customer service representative to direct you to the "moon on a stick" department

      1. Hardcastle the ancient

        >It's £160 FFS

        But I'd pay £200 for one I want. I won't pay £160 for one I don't.

  9. Hardcastle the ancient
    Coat

    Errr...

    > a rewriting of the code to allow the CPU, GPU,

    > and display to work in sync

    That's only just occurred to them?

    1. Sean Timarco Baggaley

      Re: Errr...

      To be fair, they are having to work with NVidia. You know: the company that Linus Torvalds said "Fuck You!" to, at a conference, on video.

      For the terminally slow on the uptake: Android is a Linux distro.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Thumb Down

        Re: Errr...

        There's been quite a few SoC suppliers other than NVidia.

        Samsung - makers of the current Nexus phone - also use their own Exynos chips and theres Texas with OMAP too . So "having to work with NVidia" is not really an excuse.

    2. ThomH

      Re: Errr...

      No; my memory may be at fault but I think I'm right to say that Android 1.x and 2.x essentially rendered everything in software, including real-time interaction responses like scrolling. No GPU caching at all.

      3.x introduced the first version of offloading to the GPU and 4.x has consolidated and updated that so that basically everything happens on the GPU — it's not just a cache for a compositing window manager, it's actually doing the drawing. So it's like QuartzGL or WPF on the desktop.

      Based on released benchmarks, it's really good stuff.

      1. Hardcastle the ancient

        @ThomH Re: Errr...

        But that's "using" not "in sync"

    3. Anomynous Coward

      Re: Errr...

      "That's only just occurred to them?"

      Suspect it's only just become possible to guarantee that all the hardware was up to the required spec - early android was shifting on some pretty low-spec devices.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Fair price...

    looks good, runs android, good price (only £50 more than your average cheapy cheap chinese ones), I personally think this might do rather well. At least compared to Chromebook.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    >For the terminally slow on the uptake: Android is a Linux distro.

    And IOS is which *nix distro ? Your point is ? Sorry just realised this is an STB post, forget I said anything.

    1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      You forgot to add that it isn't even a distro. Still, more likely to be the future of consumer-facing linux but one without stupid fucking penguins and silly licensing. Wouldn't surprise me to see them even swap the kernel for something else.

      1. Ocular Sinister
        Go

        Swapping the kernel?

        They already have as they have made a lot of custom modifications. You could argue its not a Linux distribution at all.

        The good news is they are heading in the correct direction - they are actively working on getting these changes approved for inclusion in Linux. This will benefit us all, especially the power management stuff they've been working on.

        So, no they're not going from Linux to some other kernel. Quite the opposite.

  12. Andrew Jones 2

    Since everyone seems to of missed it - Google are not THAT stupid, "Google Now" is opt-in.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      is that like Google+, which you need to have to use an increasingly number of Google products?

      1. M Gale

        I have no Google+ account, and will never have a Google+ account.

        Google Play: works.

        Youtube: works.

        Webmaster Tools: all fine.

        Gmail: yup, that's there too.

        I can see Picasa needing a profile for some retarded reason, but that's not a Google+ account and it's not like there aren't a bajillion and one other image upload sites available.

        So what Google services (they're not really "products") require a Google+ account, asides Google+?

        1. MrWibble

          Re: I have no Google+ account, and will never have a Google+ account.

          As far as I know, you do have a Google+ account, you just don't use it. Having a Gmail / Play account has automatically created you a + profile. All part of Google's "streamlining" logins policy...

          1. MikeS
            FAIL

            Re: I have no Google+ account, and will never have a Google+ account.

            you do need to create a gmail account to register the device and use the app store

            you DO NOT need to sign-up for or use google+, but you can if you want to..

          2. This post has been deleted by its author

          3. M Gale

            Re: I have no Google+ account, and will never have a Google+ account.

            "Having a Gmail / Play account has automatically created you a + profile."

            No it has not.

            The fact I had a Picasa account created a profile for me. I promptly deleted both, and now have neither. A "profile" isn't a + account anyway, as far as I'm aware. I would have still had the profile if they hadn't insisted on real names, as well.

            Now if they start insisting on + accounts just to have a Play Store account, I might start getting more pissed off, especially considering the amount of real money splunked on apps. I imagine a lot of other people will too, and giving them all a channel to organise themselves through might be the last thing Google want. Well, unless they want to transform + from a ghost town into a trolltastic sewer.

  13. stuartnz
    Meh

    Aussie tax

    I was planning on buying one through Google Aus, since they're not on sale to NZ, then found out that while $199US=$192AUD, the 8GB version is $249AUD, slightly dearer than the 16GB in the States. Time to make nice with US friends for reshipping, I think.

    1. annodomini2

      Re: Aussie tax

      $249 is without tax and import duty.

      Technically when you add VAT and Import duty, the device is cheaper in the UK, than the US.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Aussie tax

        "Technically when you add VAT and Import duty, the device is cheaper in the UK, than the US."

        LOL, but they don't in the US have VAT and import duty :) And if they do have state sales tax and import duty in the USD, the USD 200 still includes them. So... strip their tax and duty, strip ours - and then compare, which one is cheaper.

        btw, conversion rate of USD to GBP makes this toy about £124.

        1. PsychicMonkey

          Re: Aussie tax

          there is the cost of getting it to the destination as well though, it may be cheaper to get it to the states (larger volumes?) than to other countries.

  14. GrantB
    Boffin

    Can't buy one

    StuartNZ just beat me to it.

    "Sorry! Devices on Google Play is not available in your country yet.

    We're working to bring devices to more countries as quickly as possible.

    Please check back again soon".

    I have a iPad (gen 3) but want a smaller tablet pretty much for a dedicated e-reader when the kids have swiped the iPad for gaming.

    The Nexus7 hits the right price/performance spot, so went to see if I can order one. Oh dear.

    Mind you we are used to lagging behind the rest of the world with products, but still just don't get why Google (and Apple etc) still enforce geographical restrictions. I can get one via a US re-shipper, so why stop us buying directly?. Stick up warnings about media content not being accessible and that it might have colour spelt wrong or not be 100% metric, but let us buy. Please?

    1. stuartnz

      Re: Can't buy one

      Totally agree on the idiocy of geographical restrictions. My understanding is that the Google Play lockdown is not like Amazon's Fire, where all product on the device must be bought through the Kindle store. If you buy a Nxus 7 from the US, the apps should still be available, and even with shipping the price is going to be competitive.

    2. jarjarbinks

      Re: Can't buy one

      It is almost never because they don't want to or they want to make other regions wait. It usually has to do with government laws with imports, US export restrictions, etc. If they just got this thing done and want to release it, they likely don't have the exportable one ready yet. If they waited a few months to announce it, they may have been able to ship them all over and spent the few months getting all that in place. It will make it's way to other countries fairly soon, but companies that do sell things world wide typically don't hold back on purpose. That's loss revenue for them.

      1. stuartnz

        Re: Can't buy one

        The usual arguments don't apply in this specific instance. It's on sale in Aus, which means the hardware is compatible with NZ. Also, because Aus and NZ are treated as one market by most licence holders (Warner's has already shut down its NZ offices) it is not an issue of content permissions.

  15. eldakka
    FAIL

    No (m)SD or (m)HDMI?

    Fail.

    1. eldakka

      Re: No (m)SD or (m)HDMI?

      Replying to my own post...

      Tho if the USB is MHL (OTG would be good too) then the HDMI aspect is somewhat ameliorated

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: No (m)SD or (m)HDMI?

      There is no rear facing camera either.

      But these things had to go to make that pricepoint. I have no interest in them (well MicroSD would have been nice perhaps), On the upside of course you get a 17-core CPU/GPU that's going to be killer at gaming.

      Mines already on order (went for the 16GB as there is no MicroSD slot). £10 2-day delivery ontop in the UK, but a £15 play store credit to compensate.

  16. Keithjw

    Nexus q

    What you need here is a picture of Woody Allen in the movie Sleeper - fondling an "orb".

  17. Charlie Clark Silver badge

    +1 for Google

    They really are coming on in leaps and bounds. I think the Nexus 7 is an attempt to kickstart the market for publishers on Android which has been very sluggish, especially for pads. Google, like Amazon, happy to be a loss-leader in the device market. It's small enough to leave room for other partners to release larger, added value versions and building it with Asus should put paid to the myth that Motorola Mobility is some kind of preferred partner.

    Jelly Bean seems to be underlining on the software side what the hardware side has been showing for the last few months: technological superiority over IOS. The graphics rewrite is long overdue and the key area where IOS has been ahead of Android. Offline voice recognition is very impressive.

    The Nexus Q looks like a vanity project, which is why they were also giving them away. Might be interesting to see what people come up with. I'm currently looking for some kind of home media system and have not yet seen anything that would really do. I can see a cut-down version of the Nexus Q being it.

  18. nederlander
    Trollface

    correction...

    mexican workers.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Chrome on Android

    I'm a big fan of Chrome, but for it to take off on Androids and especially tablets the version of Chrome needs to be on a par with the version that you can run on Windows / OS X and Linux. You need to be able to run all your plugins and sync all your apps across. The beta didn't have this in ICS, so has this changed for the version in Jellybean? Or is it still lightyears away from its bigger brother?

  20. nederlander

    so..

    Several people, in a room, each with a google tablet, taking turns to play music on that ball thing..

    Really google? REALLY?

    Anyway - what about my massive collection of pirated films and music?

    1. ShadowCopy
      WTF?

      Re: so..

      I'm assuming it'll pick up upnp sharing, so anything my server chucks out through Samsung Allshare should be available (When i'm at home anyway) - fingers crossed. If not, there's probably "an app for that" *cringe*

      If it doesn't, i see no point in buying one. You can get a network ready BluRay player that does all that for about £150. Or god forbid....and apple tv (and put linux on it..obv)

  21. MrXavia
    WTF?

    Why oh why is there no micro SD??? To those of us that do use these for video, it IS important,

    I find the 16gb on my phone too tiny, hence I added a 32gb card, and i fill that easily if I go away for a week somewhere...

    Think I will wait for a rival to release a 7" at a similar price point...

    really Google, why oh why did you forgo the microSD, it is not COOL to follow apple....

    1. Anomynous Coward

      I think they did it to avoid the incompatibility / support problems they bring - Nexus devices are reference machines so the hardware has to be a mailed down known quantity.

      Once you get to shove any old SD card in there this is no longer the case.

      It is annoying though, and might stop me buying one of these - but no doubt one of the other systems builders will provide something with a similar spec plus the card slot we'd prefer.

  22. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

    What's the biggest story?

    "Google is also prepping a platform developer kit with future Android builds, to be released months before the next operating system build goes live, so manufacturers can tune their devices to the new code."

    Perhaps it's just me, but I think this could be the biggest story of the conference.

    According to the BBC's reporting of this, Google's own figures say that ICS is only installed on 7% of Android devices. Which given that it's free and has been out for 9 months, is amazingly piss-poor. There's still hardware coming out now running 2.3, which is 2 years old.

    Alternatively the Nexus 7, being only $199 could also be huge. It could be the one that gets Android tablets selling big time, and screws over Amazon (stopping them from nicking all Google's customers). I've got an iPad 3, and I still want one...

    1. M Gale

      Just FYI

      Rather than relying on the BBC, it can be better to get your information direct.

      That way you get to see that 4.x use is steadily increasing, though yes, developing your apps for 2.x is probably the way to go at present.

      1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

        Re: Just FYI

        M Gale,

        Thanks for the link.

        As you say, use of 4.x is steadily increasing, but not very quickly. That graph seems to confirm what I've thought for a while. Android gets updates very very slowly, if at all. It's almost not worth developing for the new version for 6 months to a year after it comes out. Of course, that's probably not true, as I expect early adopters spend more on apps. But I think Google really need to do something about that.

  23. Euchrid
    Headmaster

    The hardware employs workers?

    "The not-so-subtle dig at Apple's outsourcing went down well with developers, some of who are happy to spend more for hardware that employs American workers."

    It's companies that employ workers, not hardware (unless we should be hailing our new robotic overlords), so that sentence really needs to be fixed.

  24. Slabfondler
    FAIL

    Still no fix for Audio? WTF!?!

    For quite some time now, people have been complaining about the lack of decent audio latency in Android, people who might want to hack together some musical application for instance. According to this: http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4971761 - they have still not addressed the audio latency issues. for shame Google for shame! When and if I buy a tablet (or my next smartphone) it won't be one with audio latency issues.

    1. Anomynous Coward

      Re: Still no fix for Audio? WTF!?!

      You pick the username Slabfondler but you have not yet bought a tablet of any kind?

  25. the-it-slayer
    Happy

    Loves fandroids squabbling :)

    Oh look at that, fandroids trying to justify an expensive under-powered/under-spec'd device and get naff all direct support for it. Keep squabbling guys, might keep you out of the Apple articles for a change. 7" tablets are still too useless for anything IMHO.

    These sorts of devices will appear dusty in cupboards/draws abandoned across the country in a years time.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Loves fandroids squabbling :)

      Took long enough for an Apple troll to show up...

      Under-powered/under-spec'd? You mean the processor and GPU that are faster and have more cores than your beloved iPad?

      Expensive? 1/3 the cost of the iPad?

      Sorry, trolling attempt fails. Score: 2 out of a possible 10 for trying.

      1. the-it-slayer
        Facepalm

        Re: Loves fandroids squabbling :)

        "Under-powered/under-spec'd? You mean the processor and GPU that are faster and have more cores than your beloved iPad?" - It's not always the top numbers that get the best results. anyway, tegra 3 is based off the same iPad 3 CPU anyway. the only major difference is the GPU. again, better spec's dont always give you a better experience. jelly bean will be as a good as it's been developed. i'm sure to have a play with it somewhere and be disappointed again.

        "Expensive? 1/3 the cost of the iPad?" - For what the Nexus 7 has, there's nothing on there to justify that price.

        Sorry, but this is another sideway step for 7" tablets. And keep squabbling :).

  26. ShadowCopy
    Paris Hilton

    This may be total guff, but.....

    .....is the lack of an SD card in "Google Controlled" hardware devices (i.e. Nexus range) due to the fact they don't want to supply a device that utilises FAT storage?

    With the Apple/Samsung row it probably makes sense to be cautious when it comes to using other companies technology to avoid further patent battles.

  27. Maxson

    No Card slot?

    Bit dissapointed about the lack of card slot, my phone has a £13 class 6 32GB Micro SDHC card in it, I'm not about to spend about £40 to bring the tablet to half of that so I'll probably give this a miss as I don't /need/ a tablet.

    It's dangerously close to impulse purchase but a tablet doesn't do anything I really need and I'm a stickler for storage space.

  28. ShadowCopy
    Thumb Up

    Retail Stores

    Looks like the 16GB will be sold in Currys, PC World, Tesco, Carphone Whorehouse etc

    http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/28/nexus-7-uk-availability/

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Becoming a Gargoyle

    In true Snow Crash fashion, one step at a time..

  30. Al Jones

    Pre-order on Google Play

    If this tablet does get widespread takeup, it will also begin to change one other aspect of the Android "ecosystem". A lot of Android users don't buy apps, because they don't have any form of payment registered with their Google Play account. If you have to register a card with Google Play just to order the Nexus 7, and you get $25 worth of "credit" in your Google Play account, then a lot of Android users might get in the habit of buying apps, rather than using the free "ad supported" apps (and some of the ads are getting a lot more aggressive and annoying than they were at first).

    In the long term, that might be a far more important aspect of the Nexus 7 release than anything else.

  31. Jonathan White
    FAIL

    'The not-so-subtle dig at Apple's outsourcing went down well with developers, some of who are happy to spend more for hardware that employs American workers.'

    So the least useful most half arsed product Google have ever put their name on is made domestically but all the ones people are actually likely to hand money over for are, without exception, made in the far east and the people at Google I/O lapped the whole 'made in the US' shpiel up? I thought these guys were supposed to be the smart ones?

  32. Super Fast Jellyfish

    Missing components

    I'm really missing an infra-red output: something like this would be brilliant as an all-in one remote and since it only has micro-usb output I can't even attach a dongle to it. Ho-hum, I'll keep looking.

    I'd agree the inclusion of an SD slot would have been useful - even if only to download pictures off my camera.

    I'm not missing the rear camera (or likely to use the front facing one) - but I suppose it might have been useful for QR codes?

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