The next iteration of the Nexus 7 may be coming in May. The Nexus 7 tablet has grown in popularity, and arguably set the standard for what a 7 inch tablet should be. When will we see the new tablet? Perhaps it will be unveiled at the sold out Google I/O conference.
Nexus 7 – Perfect Size, Perfect Price
The Nexus 7 took the world by storm when it was released. It was the first pure Google Nexus device not being a smartphone. The 7″ form factor was just starting to become popular as well, and Google jumped in just at the right time.
In fact, smaller tablets have become so popular that we now have an iPad Mini, something Apple said no one would need or want. I give credit to the Nexus 7 for driving Apple to create the Mini.
Not only is the Nexus 7 a great portable, take everywhere tablet, it’s also a great price. The 16GB model currently sells for $199.99 on the Google Play Store. Compare that with the $329.00 price tag on the 16GB iPad Mini. Sure, the two are very different when it comes to the operating system, but the end results are the same. There are thousands of apps available, watching movies and reading books is a breeze, and keeping up on social networks is easily done on both tablets.
Nexus 7 Specs
Before speculating on the new Nexus 7 specs, let’s take a look at the current model:
- 7″ back-lit IPS HD display running at 1280×800 , Back-lit IPS display
- Scratch-resistant Corning glass
- NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-cord processor
- 16GB or 32GB internal storage, 1GB RAM
- 1.2MP front facing camera
- 8 hours of battery life from the 4325 mAH battery
Not too bad for a $200 tablet.
The new Nexus is rumored to contain a Qualcomm processor rather than the currently available NVIDIA chip. This is interesting because the Tergra 4 processor was recently announced at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) a couple months ago. Asus, who builds the current Nexus 7, will also handle the duties for the next version. Their thought was the Tegra 4 would not be available by the time they wanted to release the new Nexus 7. As you may not know, the new Tegra 4 chip comes with LTE on-board, which would be a nice feature.
So what are the other Nexus 7 features? The Snapdragon S4 quad-core chip will power the device most likely. There are new Snapdragon processors, but given the low cost of the Nexus 7, the S4 makes the most sense.
Display wise, the rumor is Google will be jumping to 1920 x 1080 full HD. This will look great on a 7 inch tablet, especially over the current 1280 x 800 display.
Are you in the mood for dessert? The tablet will most likely come with Android 5.0, or Key Lime Pie as it will be known.
Expect all of these rumors to become clear at Google I/O May 15-17 in San Francisco. The event sold out within hours after registration was opened to the public, so stick right here for all the latest news.
What else would you like to see on the new Nexus 7?