Android Tablet: Google Nexus Tablet

Sunday 21 October 2012

Google Nexus Tablet

We've now included new info on features within the Google Nexus 7, thanks to our longer-term tests, as well as a look at how the tablet was created in just a few months. We have also added in some commentary on updates and how the tablet performs over a longer period

Undoubtedly tired of watching OEMs make little headway in their uphill struggle against Apple's iPad, Google executives took the stage at this year's Google I/O developer conference to announce a branded 7-inch tablet of their own: the Google Nexus 7 by Asus.

Like other Nexus-branded devices, the Nexus 7 tablet isn't actually hardware manufactured by Google (as you may have noticed, thanks to the suffix). As the Mountain View company has done with Samsung, HTC and Motorola in the past, it paired with Asus to design and manufacture its slender tablet.

It's a smart move: among Android tablets, Asus makes some of the best around, but matching the rock-bottom £129 price of Amazon's Kindle Fire while exceeding its meagre specs would be a challenge for any manufacturer.

And make no mistake: the Nexus 7 by Asus is more of an effort to stomp out Amazon's unwelcome (and forked) version of Android more than an attempt to dethrone Apple's reigning tablet champ.

That thrown-down gauntlet has been picked up by the Amazonians already though, thanks to the emergence of the Kindle Fire HD, which is offering more storage and the same specs for the same price. Winning.