Nexus 7
By Ogunleye George.
As the tablet war rages on, one clear point about the whole idea of tablet computing still boils down on flexibility both in terms of encompassing feature and affordability.
Tablet vendors are trying as much as they can, to make the device weigh less as possible and at the same time increase the processing power. The issue of weight is one key factor people consider before choosing which tablet to buy because palmer fatigue and discomfort could result from prolonged hands-on use.
This media-centric Android tablet berths Google’s drive to go toe-to-toe with likes of Samsung and Apple, who are big players in tablet computing. Google’s acquisition of Android has tremendously stepped up the possibilities and productive features of the mobile in the operating system.
Unlike the Amazon’s Kindle whose software is built onto off-the-shelf hardware, Google has succeeded in crafting a tablet experience around Nexus 7 with latest version of Android, 4.1 “Jelly Bean”.
The OS platform is tourist friendly allowing detailed use of Google’s Map without internet connectivity.
Google did not only dish out features that could outwit its competitors but also made the slate extremely affordable and a worthy alternative to the likes of Kindle Fire and Nook tablet.
The 7-inch scratch-resistant Corning glass display of the Android Jelly-Bean powered device packs 1280-by-800 pixels resolution, a notch above the other tablets but just slightly lower than that of iPad 3 which is 264 pixels-per-inch screen density. 1.2MP camera is buried in the front bezel of the device offering the option for video calls (via Google Talk and Skype), however it lacks a rear camera.
The Nexus 7 tablet is powered by a quad-core Tegra 3 processor with 1GB of RAM, giving it similar processing power as the Asus transformer Infinity. The tablet’s 4,325mAh battery could power it for up to 9 hours of active use and up to 300 hours of standby if it is solely used as e-book reader lean.
The leather-like backside gives you a solid grip, with huge Nexus embossed in it. The ultra-pad is about half the iPad 3’s weight. However, unlike the Nook Tablet, Nexus 7 is void of expandable storage via microSD and only comes with optional internal storage capacities of either 8GB or 16GB. One suspicious reason why the microSD slot is absent could be drawn towards Google’s push towards strengthening its cloud-based computing platform; it also makes the slate less bulky.
The nexus 7 slate has wireless Bluetooth connectivity, GPS and also features a built-in microphone; these features are lacking in both the Nook tablet and Kindle fire. Its near-field communications capabilities (NFC) give room for seamless sharing with another NFC-enabled Android device, thereby allowing users to beam contents like photos and videos to each other directly.
Google's ability to control the hardware, software, and app ecosystem puts the Nexus 7 at the top list of best buy. Although, the nexus 7 is not competing directly with Apple’s iPad, as it aims at fizzling with smaller tabs of its kind, mainly those on Android platform.
However, Google’s revamping of the Google Play app store (Android market) reveals the competing stride to rival Apple’s iTunes by adding TV, magazines and movie purchasing to the Play Store. Nexus Q, a hub that streams music, movies, videos, and TV is another invention that could muscle Apple TV.