Amazon shook the consumer electronics market last year when it introduced the first sub-$200 tablet, the Kindle Fire. Many were skeptical of the online vendor's foray into electronics, but some saw it as a stroke of genius. By leveraging its vast library of online titles, Amazon set itself up to compete on content with the industry leader, Apple.
The Kindle Fire was an instant hit by combining Amazon's library of e-books, music, and movies with one of the lowest tablet price points featured quality technology, and it was strange then that few companies tried to replicate Amazon's model. Tablet manufacturers are still trying to compete with Apple, releasing products with specifications close to or better than the iPad. The result has been that few tablets under $400.
Perhaps only one company, Google, possesses the resources and the content to offer a tablet capable of taking on the Kindle Fire.
The first Google-branded handset, the Google Nexus One, was manufactured by HTC and was the first to be sold directly by Google to consumers. It served as the template for other Google devices like the Nexus S, the Nexus ONE, and the Galaxy Nexus. With each product, Google partnered with an established device manufacturer, focusing its own efforts on the user interface and optimizing its Android operating system for a particular device.
Google finally introduced its first branded tablet, the Nexus 7, at its I/O conference June 27 with a price tag of $199, meaning it will compete directly with the Kindle Fire. The Android OS, particularly Honeycomb, had long been used by iPad competitors. The Nexus 7 tablet also included the latest version of Android, 4.1, or Jelly Bean.
Like the Kindle Fire, the Nexus 7 offers specifications comparable to other tablets while also taking advantage of the rich library of applications that were available through Google's Android Market. Featuring a seven-inch display, the Nexus 7 also uses Nvidia's quad-core Tegra 3 processor while also sporting 1GB of internal RAM and the option of up to 16GB of storage.
The combination of a high-end processor, a multitude of applications optimized for Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and a $199 price tag for the 8GB model gives Google a chance to make a dent in the tablet market. Early indications are that the pre-orders for the Nexus 7 are substantial. If Google succeeds with the Nexus 7, the pressure will grow on Apple to introduce its own seven-inch model, the protests of the late Steve Jobs notwithstanding.
Click on the image below for an in-depth look inside the Nexus 7.
The Google Nexus 7 tablet as manufactured by ASUS.
These tear downs are always fascinating as you get a first hand glimpse at what actually goes into these electronics devices. I's amazing how much can be packed into such small real estate considering that the footprints are getting increasingly smaller and the total packages much more streamlined. I've been reading reports that Apple is working on a smaller, sleeker iPad. Let the games begin!
Beth, it is amazing what they pack inside. What is really amazing is what they pack in the chip. This one has a quad core CPU and a graphics processor. That is harder to see, though.
As for Apple, it will be interesting to see how they price it. In the PC realm they have always had a higher price point. Since there were no "clones" they could do that. They had some nice features, but these were often not really necessary. For two to three times the price, it is not worth it. This has limited their market share. Recently the MAC has been suffering in sales.
In the tablet market, they defined the market. On the other hand, the utility of the tablet is somewhat limited. I don't know too many who have gotten rid of their laptops when they bought a tablet. To me the smaller tablet is a good deal. I would want such a device for reading and web surfing, not much more. I know a guy who sold his iPad and kept his Kindle. He uses the Kindle to read books and it fits in the back pocket of his jeans if he needs to put it somewhere.
I agree with the fascination factor, and would not be at all surprised to see Apple come out with a smaller, sleeker tablet at the $200 price point.
I have a first-generation iPad, a Kindle Fire, and a MacBook Pro. In my opinion, the Mac wins, hands down. Call me old-fashioned, but I still prefer holding a book in my hands.
I'm totally with you, Jenn. My kids both have Kindle Fires, which they love, my husband lives on his iPad and I am not one single bit jealous. I love my Macbook laptop. Tablet form factor is too small for my liking and with my work, I'm too keyboard dependent. I also like to read a real book!
Allan, for a fair price of $199, I feels Nexus 7 is worth. But I don't know how Google is able to deliver it for such a lower price by meeting all its specifications. Amazon has a different policy, even though they are selling Fire for $200, they are selling many items from Amazon.com through Fire. So they are considering Fire as a platform for business with customers. Google have any similar plan through Google play?
My first computer had windows 2000. (Yes I was in high school back then) I fell in love with windows (blue screen aside) then i learned about Linux and started using Ubuntu (very slim OS runs wonders on my old windows machine even to this day). For about 4 years now I have played with Linux too. While they do not have the same amount of software available Linux is still a good OS. However with the craze of tablets and smart phones android is becoming a great buy (sorry apple I still don't believe that a billion useless apps are a good enough reason to purchase your overpriced hardware which you build with slave labor or almost slave labor) the Google app store while still maturing it is great. Everything is slim and basics. I assumed that eventually we had to take a step back and stop ourselves from building larger slower clunky software!!! This is it "Android". The hardware is great too however its largely so succesful due to the software.
Is this teardown another 'resolutely broken' piece of hardware? I'm still waiting for them to come up with one that can be repaired/reassembled by a yuck like me. Particularly that front glass. I have just seen so many of these tablets and phones junked on account of a cracked screen. Sure, $200 bucks is 'cheap', but it still breaks your heart when you drop it and have no options.
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