Ok. Google has mimic Amazon’s approach with its new Nexus 7 tablet. The 7-inch Nexus starts at $199, same as the Kindle Fire, and provides home-screen access to Google Play, the search giant’s online marketplace. Maybe the Nexus 7 is a loss leader, given the tablet’s solid specs, it’s hard to imagine Google is earning much from each tablet sale and the tie-in with Google Play is essential for the company to profit from the undertaking. What makes the Nexus 7 so good is the quality of its components, which top those of most $200 tablets. Google and its manufacturing partner Asus have built a tablet that raises the bar in the low-end tablet market, perhaps making it difficult for smaller competitors to keep up.
Featuring a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor with a 12-core graphics subsystem, a 1280 x 800-pixel HD display, a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera, and the new Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) mobile OS, the Nexus 7 has the best specs of any $200 slate available today.
1. Resolution:
The Nexus 7’s 1280 x 800-pixel display may not be that of what Apple calls the new iPad’s pixel-packing, 2048 x 1536 screen, but it’s better than the 1024 x 600 displays of comparable 7-inch slates, including the Amazon Kindle Fire, Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet, and Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0.
2. Lightweight:
When it comes to tablets, a few ounces matter, particularly if you’re holding the device for hours on end. Weighing in at 340 grams (12 ounces), the Nexus 7 is slightly lighter than the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 (345 grams). However, the Nexus 7 has a significant weight advantage over other leading 7-inch tablets. It’s 2 ounces lighter than the Nook Tablet (400 grams), and about 2-1/2 ounces lighter than the Kindle Fire (413 grams)
3. Front Facing Camera:
Most of today’s 7-inch tablets, including the Kindle Fire, Nook Color, and the Nook Tablet, don’t have a camera. But the Nexus 7 has a 1.2-megapixel, front-facing camera designed primarily for face-to-face chats via Google+, Skype, and other videoconferencing apps. The Nexus 7 doesn’t have rear-facing camera. You might try the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 instead. It has dual cameras: a 3-megapixel rear and a front-facing VGA camera for video calls.
4. Quad Core CPU:
Google boasts that the Nexus 7 is the “world’s first” 7-inch tablet to have a quad-core processor. As a result, the tablet’s Nvidia Tegra 3 CPU promises better multitasking, as well as smoother video streaming and Web browsing, than the dual-core chips found on competing tablets. The Tegra 3 also features a fifth core that conserves battery life by managing low-power activities such as active standby.
5. 12 Core GPU:
A quad-core CPU may be interesting, but the Nexus 7’s 12-core graphics processing unit (GPU) is the real Show Stopper.
6.Android 4.1 Jelly Bean:
The Nexus 7 is the first tablet to ship with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the latest version of Google’s mobile OS. Jelly Bean delivers incremental improvements, such as smoother scrolling, better widget controls, and faster overall performance.
7. Compass Mode for Business Photos:
Android’s Compass Mode, the ability to view panoramic views of street-level photographs, has been around for a while. The same goes for Google Maps’ Business Photos feature, which shows 360-degree scenes inside local businesses. Its new Compass Mode for Business Photos feature uses the tablet’s gyroscope to make the process more intuitive: To look around a business, you turn the tablet rather than tap onscreen controls.
8. Chrome Browser Standard:
Chrome is a great browser; Android’s stock browser isn’t. The good news is that Chrome is the default browser on the Nexus 7. What’s so great about Chrome? In addition to tabbed browsing–the ability to open a virtually unlimited number of tabs. Chrome for Android also syncs with Chrome on your other devices.
9. NFC Built-in:
Near field communication (NFC) tap-and-pay technology may be the next up-and-coming thing. But when (or if) NFC hits it big, the Nexus 7 will be ready. Incorporating Google’s Android Beam feature, the tablet can exchange data (a photo, for instance, with a compatible machine simply by tapping the two devices together). The beauty of this technology is that NFC devices connect automatically when in range, enabling potential applications such as the ability to share business cards, board a bus, or buy a Coffee with a simple wave or tap of your mobile device.
10: The Price is Right:
Given the Nexus 7’s better-than-average feature set, Google could have charged $249 for its tablet. But the Nexus 7’s impulse-buy-inducing $199 price should make the tablet a popular item this holiday season. With its front-facing camera, high-resolution screen, quad-core processor, and 12-core GPU, the Nexus 7 is bound to sell.
