Google Nexus tablet details leak online
The latest leaks follow earlier rumors that Google's 7-inch tablet will run Android 4.1, cost $199 or $249 depending on the model, and go on sale in July.
Google's Nexus tablet will offer Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, a 1280x800 IPS display, and other beefy specs, at least according to one source.
Google is expected to announce its Nexus tablet at its I/O conference later this week. But until then, the folks at Gizmodo Australia got their hands on an alleged training document that reveals key details about the device.
The 7-inch tablet will be the first to run the latest flavor of Android 4.1, aka Jelly Bean, according to the report. Manufactured by Asus, the tablet will be outfitted with a 1.3Ghz quad-core Tegra 3 processor, a GeForce 12-core graphics processor, and 1GB of RAM. The IPS (in-plane switching) display will offer a 178-degree viewing angle with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels.
Google will provide a 1.2 megapixel camera on the front but apparently no camera on the back, probably as a cost-cutting move. The tablet will also run for 9 hours on a single battery charge.
The usual Wi-Fi a/b/g/n is part of the package, but Google is upping the ante by including NFC support as well as Google Wallet (at least in the U.S.). Tapping into near field communication will be Android Beam, a program that lets users share contacts, directions, Web pages, apps, and other content with other NFC-equipped Android devices.
The price tag? An 8GB model will cost $199, while the 16GB version will ring in at $249, according to Gizmodo Australia.
The tablet is slated to go on sale in July in Australia. No word on when it might reach other countries, but I'd expect an international launch to follow rather quickly.
Gizmodo Australia cautions that the training document could always be a fake. But other reports have cited the upcoming Google Nexus tablet with several of the same specs.
If the pricing and other details are true, Google stands to shake up the Android tablet landscape.
Most Android tablet vendors have already been struggling in a market that's highly competitive and fragmented. Beating its rivals on price, Amazon's Kindle Fire was one of the few to make a dent against Apple's iPad.
But Google's lowest-price tablet would match the Kindle in price, according to the report. The company could also more easily and directly roll out updates to its own tablet, cutting out the middleman that users of other Android tablets must face.
We should know more details later this week assuming Google takes the wraps off the new tablet.
