As we noted in our post on May 28th, Google did show off its Nexus 7 tablet at its I/O Developer Conference this week. The lucky attendees were provided with one along with the Nexus Q and Galaxy Nexus phone (Google traditionally gives away certain hardware to all attendees each year). There were no major surprises as much about the tablet was leaked before. Here is a recap of the specs:

• 7” 1280x800 HD display (216 ppi)
• 1 GB RAM
• 8 or 16GB of storage
• Quad core Tegra 3 Processor 1.3GHz (single core) or 1.2 GHz (2 or more cores)
• 12 core GPU
• 1.2MP Front Camera
• 4325 mAh battery
• NFC
• GPS
• Gyroscope
• Bluetooth
• WiFi
• Micro USB
• Android 4.1

Google introduced a Nexus line of Android phones in 2010. The Nexus series is meant to provide a pure Android experience with an unlockable bootloader, no carrier modification, and be the first to have the latest Android updates. Although there have been three Nexus phones, Google introduced its first Nexus tablet, Nexus 7, at its 2012 I/O Developer’s Conference. The tablet itself is manufactured by ASUS, a leading Taiwanese computer and electronics company. The Nexus 7 is aimed at the lower price market to compete in the $199 - $250 range. Therefore, it is not meant to be an “iPad-killer”. The media tends to incorrectly compare devices that are designed for different markets. The Nexus 7 is currently a hot selling item as most retailers including the Google Play Store cannot keep it stock fast enough. So is this device worth it?



The Nexus 7 comes in two flavors: $199 with 8GB of storage and $249 with 16GB. For a limited time, Google also provides a $25 credit to the Google Play Store when you register. Our review tablet is the 16GB. Although it is a personal choice, 8GB may not be sufficient for most people. There is no micro-SD expansion slot.

Although Google continues to make improvements to its Android mobile operating system, users of devices designed to run it are still a few steps behind. According to the latest stats released by the search engine giant, only 10% of Android device owners are running version 4.0 of the software, also known as Ice Cream Sandwich.



The most-used variant, Gingerbread (Android 2.3), was released in December 2010 and has an install base of 64%. After that is Froyo (Android 2.2) at 17.3% and Eclair (Android 2.1) at 4.7%. Ice Cream Sandwich debuted in October 2011 on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and, according to Google, is compatible with any device that's able to run Gingerbread.

That said, there's a good reason why all those devices that should be able to run it aren't: fragmentation. Hardware manufacturers actually need to tweak Android releases in order to make them work with each individual device, which means that older handsets and tablets are pretty low on their priority lists. What's more, cellular carriers have to agree to roll out each version of Android to each device individually. Time will tell if Android 4.1, aka Jelly Bean — which made its debut on the new Nexus 7 tablet from Google — fares better in this regard than its frozen-snack-themed predecessor.