Will Google Nexus 7 take on iPad successfully?

Taking a lesson from Amazon, Google recently launched its own affordable tablet called Google Nexus 7, which will try to snatch market share from existing rivals like Kindle Fire and the iPad the dominant players in the tablet market. Well, this is the idea after all. But will the Nexus 7 be able to do it? Give two heavyweights in the tablet market a run for their money? If we look at the specs of the Nexus 7, we will see that it does have the potential of doing it. Let us start by taking a look at the various features that comes with the newly unveiled Google Nexus 7.

The big pluses

The Galaxy Nexus 7 tablet is quite affordable at $199.99 for an 8GB device and $249.99 for the 16GB version. It will be the first mobile device to debut with Jelly Bean Android 4.1 the newest version of Googles mobile operating system and the combination of this price and OS makes it quite a worthy contender.

Key Features

The Nexus 7 tablet is the product of a partnership between Google and Taiwan-based Asustek Computer Inc. The Nexus 7 features a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera, a Tegra 3 processor from NVIDIA Corp., and a 12-core GPU.

The list of the new devices other striking features includes an accelerometer, an electronic gyro, support for near field communication technology, dual-band 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It will come equipped with several apps from Google Play that will allow owners of the device to download television shows, movies and digital books seamlessly.

On the downside:

However, its comparatively smaller, 7-inch 1280-by-800 resolution display, lack of mobile connectivity along with Apple iPads huge popularity can make it suffer hard times. It may be noted here that no 7-inch tablet has so far been able to become a great success. The small screen of the Amazon Kindle Fire is believed to be a reason behind its falling popularity. Moreover, lack of 3G and 4G LTE
could affect the Nexus 7 sales because consumers always prefer mobile devices that allow them to connect to the Web anytime, anywhere.

Against heavy odds

As per research firm DisplaySearch, worldwide tablet market will reach $78.7 billion by the end of 2012, significantly up from $44.9 billion by at the end of 2011. The fast-growing, money-spinning global tablet market has eluded almost all of the major manufacturers, but no single tablet has thus far succeeded in snatching a considerable share the large pie of worldwide tablet cake that is currently in the hands of Apples iPad.

Conclusion

The Google Nexus 7 will be available in July. The sole aim of any tablet launch today (other than the iPad for obvious reasons) is to take on the iPad and dislodge it from its pole position in the tablet market. Here I come back to the same question that I had posed earlier. Will the Nexus 7 be able to do what no other device has been able to do so far? The fight for the Nexus 7 is even harder since it also has the highly successful Amazon Kindle Fire to compete with.

The Nexus 7 does have some pretty good thing going about it, although feature wise it does not have anything spectacular. The pricing and the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS will certainly give this Google tab the right kind of a head start. But the rest will depend on Googles marketing prowess and performance of the tab. If the fate of the Nexus smartphone is anything to go by then Google has its task cut out as far as the Nexus 7 tab is concerned. No matter who wins this ensuing competition, as consumers, we are certainly up for some exciting times ahead in this market segment. May the best tablet win.

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Asus Transformer Pad Infinity tablet due in July

Asus has made the announcement about its first Android tablet which will have specifications like 10-inch screen with 19201200 pixel resolution. The device is scheduled to come to the market in mid-July. The customers will be able to get the device for $499. The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity will have 32 GB storage. A model with 64GB will be available for $599. Some features which make the Transformer Pad Infinity different from the other Android tablets are-

In case the user is not willing to go for faster CPU or the extra screen resolution, Asus is ready to drop the starting price of the Transformer Prime soon. With a starting price of $499 and a HD display, the new Transformer Pad Infinity from Asus is all set to hit the market and will come as a tough challenge for Apple iPad which has 20481526 pixel resolution and 9.7 inch screen.

Via: Asus Transformer Pad Infinity tablet due in July

Instagram Updates its App for iOS, Android

Instagram has come out with its updates for Android and iPhone proving that it was not resting evenafter the Instagram-Facebook deal did not materialize. This new update has some features added in it and fixing of few bugs has been done on the Android side.

On the iPhone, Instagram 2.5 has a new profile tab which has got a very good visual appeal. The users can now optimize the speed, have improved searches and commenting and can share the Facebook optionally. In the previous one, t he users could share the photos to Facebook but that could be done when the photo was already taken.

One of the new features of the Instagram iPhone app is the Explore Tab which makes the work of the users very easy. Now the users could find new people to follow and search out hashtags very easily.

This is just the starting of a bigger content-discovery push for Instagram. The Instagram on Android has the improved search, bug fixing done for tilt shift filter. One of the interesting things on the Android is the change log which is responsible for bug fixing and the Instagram on iOS will take care of new features and improvements.

Via: Instagram Updates its App for iOS, Android

iBerry provides a glimpse of its upcoming affordable Auxus AX03G tablet

iBerry recently took wraps off the Auxus AX03G tablet to allow consumers to see what the companys upcoming tablet PC will look like.

The Auxus AX03G, which has been built up on the success of the Auxus AX02 tablet, will come equipped with a 1.0 GHz ARM Cortex A8 CPU, a Dual Mali-400 OpenGL 2.0 GPU plus an out-and-out Full HD Video processing VPU.

It features a 7-inch capacitive multi-touch display with a resolution of 800 by 480 pixels, and two cameras a 2-meapixel camera at the rear and a 0.3-megapixel camera on the front.

For connectivity, it offers an inbuilt SIM slot, GSM (2G or 3G) 900/1800/2100MHz with Phone Function, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g.

The list of the upcoming Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich-based tablets specs also includes 1GB of RAM, an internal 8GB NAND Flash, an external 16GB microSD card slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack, mini USB port, built-in microphone, stereo speakers, and a Li-poly 4000mAh battery.

The manufacturer boasted, We are sure this product would create a big market impact in the budget Tablet category & we are proud to be part of the process of setting a new benchmark in the tablet market.

The launch and its following delivery of the Auxus AX03G tablet are scheduled for the 1st week of July. The tablet will be very affordable with a price tag of price just around Rs.7990.

Via: iBerry provides a glimpse of its upcoming affordable Auxus AX03G tablet

Gizmodo leaks Google Nexus 7-inch Tab on the net?

Gizmodo has claimed that its tech enthusiasts have viewed a leaked training document for Googles upcoming I/O developer conference.

According to Gizmodos claims, the document revealed Googles much-rumored Nexus 7 Tablet with Android 4.1 Jellybean operating system.

The leaked document revealed that the hardware of Google 7-inch Nexus tablet will be manufactured computer giant Asus. The list of hardware specifications will include a 1.3 GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor, GeForce 12-core GPU, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB or 16GB storage capacity.

About the display of the potential tablet, the report stated, The screen is an IPS display with a 178-degree viewing angle, running a resolution of 1280 by 800.

It will have also come equipped with a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera, and big battery that will give you nine hours worth of operation.

In addition, the Nexus 7 Tablet will feature near field communication (NFC) chip, run Google Wallet and Android Beam.

The 8GB model has reportedly been priced at US$199, while the 16GB model will set you back US$249.

Via: Gizmodo leaks Google Nexus 7-inch Tab on the net?

Fuhu launches a 7-inch Nabi 2 Android tablet only for kids

You must feel very irritated when your child borrows your iPad from you, especially if you were doing something really interesting with it. You cant even refuse them because they are kids and they really need a past time. However, all these days of misery are coming to an end. The Los Angeles based company, Fuhu, has just announced a 7-inch nabi 2 Android tablet exclusively for kids. Fuhu isnt really a novice in this art; they have already launched an original nabi slate last year.

The features of the original one and this new one arent the same. This one has a much better display of 1024600 resolutions along with an Android 4.0 ICS platform. It is also equipped with a quad-core Tegra 3 processor and storage of 8 GB. Both of these have a number of parental controls and also a soft casing made up of rubber to protect it when it is dropped. This tablet offers you much more things. There are TV shows, songs and at least 500 child games and applications. There is a corner for education which teaches your child mathematics, social studies, English and science. It also gives homework to the students and that keeps the parents happy.

Via: Fuhu launches a 7-inch Nabi 2 Android tablet only for kids

LG puts tablet production on backburner means there will be one less iPad competitor

South Korean consumer electronics maker LG has announced its decision to turn its entire focus to smartphones, and to put the development of all new tablet computers on the back burner.

In March, the South Korean manufacturer launched its first tablet computer called the Optimus Pad. The first LG tablet, which as marketed as the G-Slate by T-Mobile USA. The manufacturer, then, announced the Optimus Pad LTE, but it has yet to be shipped. None of the two tablets could capture the desired consumer interest.

Confirming the Seoul-based manufacturers latest move, spokesperson Ken Hong said, Weve decided to put all new tablet development on the back burner for the time being in order to focus on smartphones.

Samsung has decided to place all new tablet development on the back burner as Redmond-based software giant Microsoft has announced its entry into the tablet market, with a tablet of its own the Surface.

The Microsoft Surface will be available in two versions the Surface RT and the Surface Pro. It will have x86 or ARM chip, and feature a 10.6-inch screen, magnesium case, built-in kick stand and ultra-thin attachable keyboard cover.

The lucrative tablet market is attracting more and more manufactures. Almost all major manufacturers, including HP and RIM, have tried their luck in the tablet market, but most of them succumbed to Apples widely popular tablet the iPad. The tablet maker is expected to reach a whopping $78.7 billion this year.

Via: LG puts tablet production on backburner means there will be one less iPad competitor