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News & ArtsWednesday, June 27, 2012
Tech Google Announces Nexus 7 Tablet: What Do You Think?
Posted by Paul Constant on Wed, Jun 27, 2012 at 4:21 PM
This morning, Google announced a few new products. First, and most importantly, was the Nexus 7 tablet, a 7-inch tablet running the newest Android operating system. At $199 (for an 8 GB model, and no SD card slot for expandable storage) it appears to be a pretty powerful package. The Verge has some more specifics about the device, which will be available in two or three weeks. As Tim Carmody at The Verge says, the Nexus 7 is less of an iPad competitor and more of a shot at winning the niche created by Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet. It's an attempt by Google to claim their place as a seller of e-books, magazines, movies, music, and TV shows.
In addition, Google announced the Nexus Q, which appears (to me) to be an overpriced giant plastic globe that does a bunch of things that devices in your home probably already do, like streaming movies and music to your TV. The Q supposedly works in tandem with the Nexus 7 and other Android devices, allowing you to control your TV from your portable devices.
But the thing that Google is pushing right now is the Nexus 7. Amazon's Kindle Fire has done well—it's the biggest-selling Android tablet, by far—but it's not a runaway success. There's room for competition in the 7-inch tablet field. And the fight is just getting started: Amazon is reportedly announcing another Kindle with improved specs later this month. So with all that in mind:
1
It's a pretty good idea. Right now this gives you everything the Kindle Fire does, plus more. The Kindle app lets you read all your books on this tablet. The Amazon App Store lets you run all the Kindle/Android apps on this. So there's nothing that the Kindle does that this doesn't. But this gets you native Gmail, Google Maps, the Google Play Store, and other stuff that the Kindle will never get. Unless Amazon completely forks Android and makes their apps incompatible (and I don't think this would be a good move), there's no compelling reason to buy a Fire.
The Q is overpriced. But you are forgetting one thing. It's made in the USA. Even most of the semi-conductors in it are made here. People are bashing Apple and others for their manufacturing practices overseas, but when someone makes something here; they complain it's too expensive.
The Q is overpriced. But you are forgetting one thing. It's made in the USA. Even most of the semi-conductors in it are made here. People are bashing Apple and others for their manufacturing practices overseas, but when someone makes something here; they complain it's too expensive.
2
Heh. Looks like a gigantic iPhone.
Google needs to spend more effort at developing products. I know they want to be Apple, but they're no Apple. An iPad with a small screen and no camera for nearly as much money? An orb-shaped MP3 player for $400. Gah.
Come up with something original that I need in my life, or stop trying.
Google needs to spend more effort at developing products. I know they want to be Apple, but they're no Apple. An iPad with a small screen and no camera for nearly as much money? An orb-shaped MP3 player for $400. Gah.
Come up with something original that I need in my life, or stop trying.
3
The bottom half of the Nexus Q is actually cast zinc. Apparently it's a heat sink which allows the machine to run without a fan. Early reviewers say it feels very solid overall.
I haven't made my mind up on the functionality of it yet.
I haven't made my mind up on the functionality of it yet.
4
@Matt
It has a front facing camera. I have not yet seen anyone make a case for the utility of a rear camera on a tablet. Are you seriously holding up your giant tablet to take pictures? Front facing for video chat makes sense, rear facing is dumb. Apple realized this when they launched the iPad. It had no camera. Cheap Android tablets launched with cameras and touted that the iPad didn't have one. Apple added it to the iPad 2.
It has a front facing camera. I have not yet seen anyone make a case for the utility of a rear camera on a tablet. Are you seriously holding up your giant tablet to take pictures? Front facing for video chat makes sense, rear facing is dumb. Apple realized this when they launched the iPad. It had no camera. Cheap Android tablets launched with cameras and touted that the iPad didn't have one. Apple added it to the iPad 2.
5
The Q seems like a Boxee Box that came out two years later, is spherical instead of cubic (both, though, have a weird cut-part-of-the-device-off look) and costs twice as much.
Given that I can control my Boxee Box from my iPhone and can stream music to it from that same iPhone, I'm not sure why we should give a fuck.
Given that I can control my Boxee Box from my iPhone and can stream music to it from that same iPhone, I'm not sure why we should give a fuck.
6
Oh thank goodness! A little media-streaming device! I just can't get enough of those little media-streaming devices! This one is round. It's round!
7
I'm really interested in the Nexus 7, but I wish it was a Nexus 10. I'm stoked that there's an Android tablet that doesn't have some bullshit imitation iOS UI slapped on top of it. I couldn't care less if it had a camera though. And the lack of SD expansion doesn't really bother me either.
The Nexus Q looks like a ho-hum Apple TV, itself a ho-hum product. As neat as it would be to control what I'm watching/listening to using my phone or Nexus tablet, it's not $300 "neat."
The Nexus Q looks like a ho-hum Apple TV, itself a ho-hum product. As neat as it would be to control what I'm watching/listening to using my phone or Nexus tablet, it's not $300 "neat."
8
All I know is, between the Nexus 7, the Kindle, and the various other quality tablet offerings in the sub-$300 space, I'm never going to pay too much money for an in-flight movie again.
Suck on it, airlines.
Suck on it, airlines.
10
I like Windows Mobile. I still want the new Microsoft tablets.
Although, hell, both items are still speculation at this point. I'll wait and see what they're actually like when friends get them. I am too damn poor to be an early adopter, or even a mainstream adopter. I'm more like a secondhand-adopter.
Although, hell, both items are still speculation at this point. I'll wait and see what they're actually like when friends get them. I am too damn poor to be an early adopter, or even a mainstream adopter. I'm more like a secondhand-adopter.
11
yes, this is exactly how google should be spending its billions -- making redundant devices. Eureka!
12
No MicroSDHC slot? Fail! The Orb Q thing, wow, three times the cost of Apple TV and just as useless.
13
The problem with Paul Constant's tech reporting is that he doesn't understand anything about non-fruit-logo tech. After completely missing the point of the Microsoft Surface announcement, he gives us that wonderful non-description of the Nexus Q.
The Nexus Q is meant to be a media hub, meaning the main feature isn't that you can control your TV with Android devices, it's that you can stream media from any android device in range to the TV. That being said, it's overpriced and actually re-downloads the streaming content rather than just pulling it off the host device. Google's not a hardware company. They do these things to nudge hardware makers.
The Nexus Q is meant to be a media hub, meaning the main feature isn't that you can control your TV with Android devices, it's that you can stream media from any android device in range to the TV. That being said, it's overpriced and actually re-downloads the streaming content rather than just pulling it off the host device. Google's not a hardware company. They do these things to nudge hardware makers.
14
@13
Except you can do the same thing with a WDTV Hub (150$), but that streams just to the TV (built in 1TB hdd). Or you can jailbreak an AppleTV (99$), run XBMC and stream audio from any PC on the network. Once XBMC is ported to Android, then you dont even need AppleTV and will be able to stream straight to the tablet or phone.
I like Google products, but like the Logitech Revue (GoogleTV), its way overpriced.
Except you can do the same thing with a WDTV Hub (150$), but that streams just to the TV (built in 1TB hdd). Or you can jailbreak an AppleTV (99$), run XBMC and stream audio from any PC on the network. Once XBMC is ported to Android, then you dont even need AppleTV and will be able to stream straight to the tablet or phone.
I like Google products, but like the Logitech Revue (GoogleTV), its way overpriced.
15
Yesss!! Finally, this time a product that will really kill the iPad! In a year, Apple will be bankrupt, their stores will be closed, and it will all seem like a bad dream. Yay!!
@Dear dumfuk #4: I just spent the past week on vacation in Eastern WA and OR, walking around in gorgeous weather holding my super-gigantic 1.5 pound iPad 3 taking fabulous 1080p image-stabilized videos which look fantastic - you should see the ones of Crater Lake - awesome! Of course at 1.5 pounds it was sooo gigantic that I kept falling flat on my face, and boy did I feel dumb, just like you said!
@14 I love love love my WD TV Live Hub media center. Somehow - maybe its elves? copies of Blu-ray movies keep appearing on my hard drives. And it has this magic ability to play DVD rips from the original menus, they keep showing up too luckily.
@Dear dumfuk #4: I just spent the past week on vacation in Eastern WA and OR, walking around in gorgeous weather holding my super-gigantic 1.5 pound iPad 3 taking fabulous 1080p image-stabilized videos which look fantastic - you should see the ones of Crater Lake - awesome! Of course at 1.5 pounds it was sooo gigantic that I kept falling flat on my face, and boy did I feel dumb, just like you said!
@14 I love love love my WD TV Live Hub media center. Somehow - maybe its elves? copies of Blu-ray movies keep appearing on my hard drives. And it has this magic ability to play DVD rips from the original menus, they keep showing up too luckily.
16
@14
I know, that's why I called it overpriced and complained that it re-downloaded streaming content rather than using DLNA. What Google is trying to do is push their cloud media services and encourage people to not save anything locally.
Personally, I use a Roku and Plex.
I know, that's why I called it overpriced and complained that it re-downloaded streaming content rather than using DLNA. What Google is trying to do is push their cloud media services and encourage people to not save anything locally.
Personally, I use a Roku and Plex.
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