Asus-made Google pad set for June debut
All eyes on Google I/O
An Asus staffer has let slip that the Taiwanese tablet maker is indeed working on a seven-incher for Google and that the gadget will be announced at the end of the month.
The Android 4.1 standard bearer seems set, then, to be unveiled at Google I/O, the online advertising giant's annual technology conference, says Android Authority, into whose ear the Asus rep whispered during the Computex show last week.
Such a device has already been spied on benchmark sites whose readouts appear to confirm the so-called Nexus 7 will use Nvidia's Tegra 3 chip running at 1.3GHz and driving a 1280 x 768 screen.
Originally expected by the end of Q2, the tablet now looks set to ship in July, other moles from Taiwan's component manufactuerer community have said in the past. That would certainly tally with a late June unveiling.
Other whispers have it that the Nexus 7 will be priced at $199 to take the fight straight to Amazon's Kindle Fire as much as Apple's market-leading iPad. ®
COMMENTS
"Why, oh why, do people keep making 7in tablets!"
Because they're selling? Or is this a trick question?
Although I would love to see a 10 inch version of this too, I would like to say that a lot of people (me included) like the 7 inch form. I take mine to work and use it to and from work, read pdf's in bed with it etc.. My sister has the 10 inch one that she loves but it doesn't leave her house. She's happy and I'm happy.
All I'm saying is there is a very good reason for making 7 inch tablets: because lots of us like them. I'd love Google to produce a 10 inch one to keep everyone happy though.
Why is it a fail, exactly?
the 7 inch form factor is actually quite usefull- why do you think E-book readers aren't generally 10" or more?
and I always get a little bit of satisfaction from using my HTC Flyer on the train to read the news comfortably, holding the tablet in one hadn,whilst watching people elbowing each other with their oversized iPads.
The thing is...
Why are phones so expensive if you can make one of these for 200 bucks? Is making it smaller and bunging in a GSM chipset really worth 2x the price?
Re: Three more opinions...
a) Nope .. the market is by no means saturated yet .. billions more devices could be sold.
b) Poor spec would be a problem .. but no one knows what the spec is yet .. so wait and see.
c) No it is not. I have a 3.5" smartphone and a 10" ipad .. 7" would be a nice single device compromise if 3G is included.
In consumer devices, common sense does not always apply.
