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How Google's Nexus 7 saved Android tablets (video)

Prior to the Nexus 7, Android tablets were adrift, failing to fight the might of Apple's iPad. Now, Adventures in Tech explains how Google got its first tablet right.

Luke Westaway Senior editor
Luke Westaway is a senior editor at CNET and writer/ presenter of Adventures in Tech, a thrilling gadget show produced in our London office. Luke's focus is on keeping you in the loop with a mix of video, features, expert opinion and analysis.
Luke Westaway
2 min read

Watch this: Nexus 7: How Google took on the iPad

It's no secret that the first Android tablets were something of a let-down -- costly, bulky machines that were rushed onto shop shelves by manufacturers desperate to fight Apple's iPad. In the latest episode of CNET's Adventures in Tech! we explain how Google turned that all around, with the stunning, home-grown Nexus 7 .

The Nexus 7 shocked us with its charming design, colourful raw Jelly Bean interface and alluringly low price -- a combination that, before the Nexus 7, had eluded makers of Android tablets, but is now becoming increasingly common.

Google Nexus 7 (16GB)

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Apple on the back foot

Indeed, the Nexus 7 was, along with the first Kindle Fire , one of the popular smaller devices that forced Apple to bring out a miniature tablet of its own. The iPad Mini would go on to outsell the Nexus 7, but Google had won a significant victory nonetheless -- for the first time, Apple had observed a legitimate threat to its tablet throne. Today the playing field is much more even.

Are you a Nexus 7 fan? What do you like about it, and how would you like to see it improved? Press play now, then tell me your thoughts in the comments, on our Facebook wall, or let me know on Twitter.

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