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Google I/O 2012: $199 Nexus 7 tablet to ship with Jelly Bean this July

US, UK, Canada and Australia only

Google I/O 2012: $199 Nexus 7 tablet to ship with Jelly Bean this July
Keen not to be left out of the tablet party, Google unveiled its first own brand tablet at its I/O conference in San Francisco.

The Nexus 7 – which, as the name suggests, is a 7-inch slate – is manufactured by Asus and will launch in the US, UK, Canada and Australia in mid-July, with debuts in other territories to follow at a later date.

Going low

Google has no intent on taking on iPad, however.

Instead, the cheaper Amazon Kindle Fire – currently only available in the US – appears to be its target, with Nexus 7 launching at an RRP of $199.

Customers will also receive $25 of Google Play credit they can spend on music, books or games.

Spec wise, Nexus 7 runs Android 4.1 (better known as Jelly Bean) sports a 1280x800 HD display, and will come equipped with a quad-core 1.3GHz Tegra 3 CPU and 12-core GPU.



Indeed, Google was keen to stress how the device will act as a 'gaming powerhouse', sporting graphics "previously only seen on dedicated gaming devices."

Nexus 7's unveiling comes just days after Microsoft lifted the lid on its own tablet, Surface, which will run either Windows 8 or Windows RT.

What's your Q?

Nexus 7 wasn't the only new hardware unveiled, however.

Google also launched what it claims is the "first social streaming media player", dubbed Nexus Q.

The ball shaped device will connect to Android tablets and smartphones as well as audio and video equipment to let users control media across multiple devices in their households from mobile devices.

More details on the device, which will launch at an RRP of $299 in the US only, can be found on the newly launched Nexus Q website.


With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.