Google unveils new Nexus 7, Chromecast, and a new version of Android Jelly Bean

Google Inc. at a breakfast event in San Francisco with the head of Android and Chrome, Sundar Pichai has unveiled two expected products and one surprising (in a good way) product.

The new Google Nexus 7

“The new Nexus 7 is designed so that it’s profitable for all the people involved. Retailers, us, everyone included,” Pichai noted at the event. “We really focused on simplifying core elements and decided on black-on-black … added a few glossy details and it feels great in your hands,” he said.

The Google Nexus 7 tablet was launched and most of the specifications were correctlystated in earlier leaks. The 7-inch screen tablet as expected comes with a Snapdragon quad-core processor of a speed of 1.5GHz and a RAM of 2GB.

It is two millimetres thinner than the previous version of the Galaxy nexus 7 and 23 grams lighter. It possesses a screen resolution of 1900 × 1200. To give it a special display, it possess a 323 dpi (density per inch) screen compared to 216 dpi of the previous version. This is the highest for any tablet on the market at the moment.

The rear of the device is equipped with a 5megapixels camera while the front camera is 1.2 megapixels. It weighs 317.5g and has dimensions of 7.9 × 4.5 × 0.3in. The battery can last for nine hours of video playback and 10 hours of web browsing.

It is priced at $230 (N36,500) for the 16GB version and $270 (N43,000) for the 32GB (these are Wi-Fi only versions) which makes it a great value for the money. It is expected that a 4G LTE version will be in the market later with a price tag of $349. It has Bluetooth 4.0 and a micro USB 2.0 port for power and data transfer. The new Google Nexus 7 runs on another new product which is the latest version of Android Jelly Bean 4.3.

Android Jelly Bean 4.3 comes with new features like multi-user interface that allows two people to use the same device, run different applications, and use different settings on the single device. It also supports restricted profiles which allow some apps to be blocked from other users as a good way of parental control.

Chromecast

It also has support for Bluetooth smart devices, background Wi-Fi location, more language support and easier text input. One of its distinct features is that it allows 1080p Netflix streaming HD for better video quality. The latest version of the most popular Android Jelly Bean OS comes about nine months after 4.2 was released.

The new Google Nexus 7 will be available from the 30th of July. The head of Android and Chrome, Sundar Pichai indicated that 70 million tablets will be activated by the end of the year 2013 compared to 10 million at the end of 2012.

Of all activated tablets, Google claims half of the population runs on the Android Operating System (OS) while Nexus claims 10% of the tablet market. “By the end of 2013, people will buy more tablets than computers,” he said.

The surprise package of the event however is a 2-inch dongle which will allow you to transfer your data to your TV through Wi-Fi. The new device which is called Chromecast run on a simplified version of Chrome OS.

Chromecast runs on both Android and iOS which means iPhone users can also benefit from this Google tech. The device allows users of smartphones or tabs to stream youtube videos on TV. It also displays a web page on TV which makes the mobile experience more enjoyable when you’re in the comfort of your home. Meanwhile, you can access other applications on your smartphone or tablet after connection with the Chromecast.

The device is HDMI-CEC compatible, and it uses 2.4GHz 801.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi. It will cost users $35 to use this service and it is only available in the US for now though Google has stated that it will make it available in other countries as soon as possible. A good Wi-Fi connection is needed to enjoy this service fully.

Stay tuned as we bring you more pieces of info as soon as we get them.

Posted in Gadgets, Google, Tablets