Google Nexus 7 (Nvidia Tegra 3 Processor; 7-inch display)

Specs:-

General
•Processor Nvidia
•Processor number Nvidia Tegra 3
•Processor speed 1.3GHz

Connectivity
•Ports micro-USB
•Wireless LAN 802.11n
•Bluetooth Yes
•Infrared No
•Webcam Yes

Display
•Screen resolution (max) 1,280 x 800
•Diagonal screen size 7 inch

Software
•Operating system Android

Chassis
•Weight w/battery 0.34 kg
•Dimensions 198.5 x 120 x 10.45 mm

Memory/Storage
•Amt of RAM 1024 MB
•Hard drive 16 GB



During Google's opening day keynote at Google I/O 2012, the company announced a new Asus-branded tablet called the Nexus 7. It was hardly a surprise given the flood of leaks over the past few days, but we were eager to pick up a unit and tear open the box. Here's what we've found so far.

The Nexus 7 sports a 7-inch, IPS (in-plane switching) screen, with a resolution of 1,280 x 800 pixels. The tablet is also the first 7-incher to house a 1.3GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core CPU, which includes a 12-core GPU.

Rounding out the specs are a micro-USB port, 1GB of RAM, a 1.2-megapixel front camera (no back camera included), a gyroscope, GPS, accelerometer, microphone, and 802.11a/b/g/n-compatible Wi-Fi.

Look and feel
The device measures 10.45mm thick, weighs 340g and has a textured, grippy backside with both "Nexus" and "Asus" embossed on it. Built by Asus, the Nexus 7 feels lighter than the Kindle Fire and the soft, textured back feels a lot like Acer’s recent line of tablets and makes it more comfortable to hold.

The IPS screen has a wider viewing angle than the Kindle Fire and even wider than some 10-inch Android tablets. The 1,280 x 800 resolution packed into a 7-inch display gives visuals like text and graphics a sharper look than what we're typically used to seeing on most 7-inchers.

Just how sweet is that Bean?
The Nexus 7 will be the first device to run the latest version of the Android 4.1 OS, also known as Jelly Bean. One of the purported new Android 4.1 features is improved precision when typing on the soft keyboard. After taking it out of the box, we wanted to quickly put this to the test. We usually make lots of mistakes when texting on the iPhone 4 or even when testing on other tablets, but when signing in to our Google account on the Nexus 7, we were able to type fast without making a single mistake. This rarely happens to us on any touchscreen device.

While we did eventually begin making mistakes, we felt much more like they were our own errors and not the tablet misinterpreting the taps. We're not saying it's perfect, it’s just better than what we've experienced on Android tablets before. At least that's our impression after spending only a couple of hours with the device.

Though Android 4.1 on the Nexus 7 is just as customizable as before, the way it's presented on the tablet feels much more controlled, focused, and possibly a bit less intimidating to the uninitiated than normal Android tablets. Makes sense given that Google is ostensibly going after the same market Amazon targeted with the Kindle Fire.

The home screen is presented in portrait mode only and doesn't rotate. There's a "toolbar" of apps along the bottom, all of which are Google services apps like Play, Music, Books, and Magazines.

It all feels very claustrophobic and if we didn’t know this was running a full version of Android, we would have guessed it was a custom, controlled version like the Kindle Fire.

In keeping with the "Google's gunning for the Kindle Fire" theme, Google Play has been updated to include TV shows, purchasable movies, and magazines, finally bringing the store into modern times.

There's also now a Siri-like voice assistant in Android 4.1. We've not spent a lot a time with it, but our initial impressions were mixed. It definitely felt faster than Siri, returning results in half the time that our test iPhone 4S did, but other times it couldn’t understand what we were saying. We'll definitely have to give it more time though to see exactly what the point of having it on an Wi-Fi-only tablet is.

The power of four, or twelve, or is it sixteen?
The quad-core Tegra 3 includes a 12-core GPU as well. The same Tegra 3 we've seen in most recent Android tablets and it’s just as impressive. Riptide GP ran smoothly, and, of course, it includes the Tegra 3 water splashy effects. We also got a 1080p movie to play on the tablet, and it looks great, especially with that 1,280 x 800-pixel resolution scrunched to such a small, 7-inch space. Google says to expect 9 hours of 720p HD video battery life.

Apps loaded quickly, and scrolling through pages produces that satisfying 60 frames per second framerate we've now gotten used to on Tegra 3 tablets, but still very much appreciate.

Impressions, so far
So far, we're impressed with what we've seen. The screen looks great, feels responsive, and the tablet already does a good job of demonstrating its power in games and movie performance. That lack of expandable memory or a back camera is a bummer, but it's understandable given the dirt-low price for something that feels very well-built.

On paper, sure, it's a Kindle Fire killer, but with sales of that tablet drying up recently, is that saying all that much? That said, we think Google has done a lot right here with the specs, including Android 4.1, and the welcome additions to the Google Play store. So far, so good, as it’ll take a galaxy-sized amount of support to take on the iPad. We don’t think that this is the tablet to do that, but it could be the first step on the road to a much more competitive tablet market.

The Nexus 7 is available now for preorder from the Google Play store starting at US$199 for the 8GB storage configuration and US$249 for 16GB. Units will ship in mid-July. Note that it's currently only available in the US, Canada, UK and Australia, with more countries to follow later. Purchasing from Google Play also gifts you a US$25 credit to spend on Google Play media.