Droid Life

Tag: Nexus 7

  • Thursday Poll: Will You Buy a $199 Google Branded Tablet?

    Today’s hottest topic has easily been the $199 Google tablet that will most likely be unveiled at Google I/O next month. We are expecting it to be built by Asus, powered by NVIDIA’s quad-core Tegra 3 processor, measure in at around 7″ on the display front, and be sold directly to customers through the Google Play store. It sounds like all sorts of win, however, we still want to know if the Android world is ready to take this step into the tablet realm.

    While $199 sounds like an amazing price point, there are some things you need to understand. You have to assume that this won’t be anything close to the quality of an iPad or even Transformer Prime for that matter. NVIDIA has talked recently about their Project Kai which is a platform or package for companies to cheaply make semi-high end tablets using their quad-core processor. The catch here is that they will use cheaper RAM, probably less internal storage, and displays that are miles away from the new iPad’s retina to keep costs down, similarly to what Amazon did with the Kindle Fire.

    Are you OK with that? I would assume that if you don’t already own an iPad or other high-end tablet that this is definitely an option. It will be stock Android, tied directly to Google for updates (not carriers), and at a price that will be tough to beat. Are you in or out?

    We have kept the poll to a simple “Yes or no,” but we would love to hear your reasoning in the comments.

    [poll id=”174″]

  • Google and Asus to Unveil Tegra 3 Powered Nexus Tablets at Google I/O?

    The folks over at Techno Buffalo have learned from a “trusted source” that Google and Asus will in fact, be unveiling and distributing the new Nexus tablet at next month’s Google I/O. On top of that shocker, the tablet is reported to be running NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 chip, which would meet the Project Kai’s standards for creating tablets that maintain powerful performance while meeting a competitive price point. It’s beginning to look like everyone who was hoping this tab would sell for $200 at market will most likely have their dreams come true this summer.

    To top it off, as reported from the source, the tablet is rumored to come with Google’s new Jelly Bean operating system which hasn’t even received too much mainstream attention in 2012, seeing as how most Android devices are still running Gingerbread. Google I/O is literally a month away, so the wait is finally coming to an end.

    Via: Techno Buffalo

  • Rumor: Google and Asus to Ship 600,000 Tablets Next Month?

    According to the latest rumor out of DigiTimes, some higher-ups down the supply chain are outing Google and Asus to have about 600,000 tablets ship next month, with market availbility starting in July. Of course, Google or Asus won’t comment on such speculation, but this could actually pan out. At the end of next month, Google I/O will be taking place and that would be the perfect venue to launch such a device. At last year’s developer event, Google unveiled the special edition Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, which then went to market shortly thereafter. In the end, this is still a rumor and we’re going to have to remain patient. Fingers crossed.

    Via: Pocket Now

  • NVIDIA Announces Kai Platform, the Basis for Building Quad-Core Tablets at $199

    The star of the show at this year’s CES was a 7″ tablet that NVIDIA and Asus partnered to create which would meet a price point of just $250. What made it so desirable is that while meeting such a competitive price, it didn’t sacrifice in the specs department. It had a low power consuming display and naturally, NVIDIA’s quad-core Tegra 3 chip powered the internals.  (more…)

  • What is This White Android Tablet From Today’s Android Developers Office Hours? (Updated)

    The Android Developers team held an “office hours” hangout on Google+ this afternoon, and one of them popped up a white 7″ looking tablet that we would love to know more about. It looks similar to the Kindle Fire in size and form, but it’s clearly running Ice Cream Sandwich, hence the black bar along the bottom. Unfortunately for all of us, the video isn’t of the highest quality, so we can’t see anything else really on it. He sure isn’t shy about showing it off, that’s for sure. Any chance that this could be the Google or “Nexus” tablet?

    Update:  I jumped up to the 43:00 mark and they talk about the tablet. They say that it is not a “Nexus or a Google designed device” and that is third party. Seems weird that they would jump straight to denying that it is a Nexus tablet before we even had a chance to suggest that it was, but hey, we’ll have to take their word for it.

    Thoughts?  (Hit the 14:00 mark in the video below to see it.)  (more…)

  • Google’s Cheap Tablet Delayed for Tweaks and Price Drop, Could be Here in July

    Ahh yes, the “Nexus” tablet. We personally believe that it will be Google Play branded and not “Nexus” branded, but that’s another discussion for another day. Today, it’s about the release of the tablet that all of us want to get our hands on. According to new reports, Google and Asus have delayed the launch of the tablet from May and are hoping to have it ready by July. At its current state, the tablet sits at $249, but Google wants that to be at the Kindle Fire-esque $199 price point and is looking to tweak the build.

    While that may be slightly disappointing, we should remind you that Google I/O happens the last week of June, so “July” sounds about right. What better way for Google to show off their new hardware than at their own conference, which just so happened to add on a 3rd day for the first time. We will be there to cover it all.

    Still holding off tablet plans until Google and Asus can release their 7-incher?

    Via:  The Verge

  • Is this the Google Play or “Nexus” Tablet?

    Any guesses on what this tablet may be? The crew at PocketNow discovered the images above and thinks that it may end up as the long rumored tablet to be Google branded aka the “Nexus tablet.” Their reasoning? Well, the fact that it lacks any OEM or carrier branding and has only stock Google app icons on the front. Is that enough to make this conclusive? Probably not.

    First, the icon set is pre-Play store. As you all know, Google has decided to make Play front and center, however, there is a chance that these renders were created before all of that weirdness happened. Can’t completely flag it for that misstep. Second, that sure looks like a micro SD slot. For two straight Nexus devices, Google has taken away expandable storage, so if this is indeed the “Nexus” of tablets, it would surprise us to see this option.

    But what the hell else could it be? With Asus usually attached to Google tablet rumors, we can’t help but notice that this actually looks like a Samsung product or even one of Toshiba’s new offerings. Any chance that Samsung swooped in and is now the front runner for Google’s first branded tablet? Or maybe this is simply an old render of a device that we will never see? You tell us.

    Via:  PocketNow

  • Wall Street Journal: Google and Asus to Sell “Google Branded” Tablet Directly to the Public This Year

    According to new reports from WSJ, there is most definitely a Google-branded tablet coming to market this year. As reported by WSJ’s sources who are “close to the matter”, Asus and Google will be creating and marketing a tablet that will be sold directly to the public via a website, much like the previous Nexus smartphone devices were.

    Not only that, but according to the sources, Google’s next iteration of Android named Jelly Bean, will be available during the middle of this year and may be shipped on this very tablet. Could it be just in time for this year’s Google I/O? Besides the site that is reporting it, none of this info is all too new, and many in the Android community have put Asus at the top of the list that were possible manufacturers of this device. Whether it will actually be Google Play-branded, or just a pure “Nexus tablet” is still to be seen.

    Funny, a certain someone from this site mentioned Google branded devices being an intelligent next move.

    Via: Wall Street Journal