
Nexus 7, Made for Google Play - sindhiparsani
https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_7_8gb&feature=single-wide-banner
======
btipling
It ships with Jellybean... I've been waiting for the Samsung 10 inch tablet
with the stylus, but it's already out of date and hasn't even shipped yet. I
don't want a 7inch tablet and it is going to be years by the time a Jelly Bean
10 inch tablet comes out and by that time there will already be a new version
of the OS! I already have a Fire and I can't read magazines on it, it's too
small. I'm just going to give up and get an iPad.

~~~
UnFleshedOne
You mean they should stop working on the OS to save you some "not the latest"
anxiety?

~~~
btipling
Tablets are expensive. I cannot afford to buy a tablet every year. So I want a
tablet that is future proof. The 10 inch tablets that others will release this
year will have an outdated operating system on them and will still cost many
hundreds of dollars. I do not want to spend hundreds of dollars on an outdated
operating system. I love Android, but this terrible to the extreme.

~~~
jamesaguilar
I love that people accuse Apple of planned obsolescence in the phone market
when Google releases operating systems that don't even work on devices that
came out in the current year.

~~~
warfangle
"don't even work on _other companies_ devices _that they have no control over_
"

Fixed that for you. The Nexus (minus the G1) line of phones gets regular
updates - my old Nexus One was always updated within a few weeks of a new
version of android coming out. If you want updated OS software on your phone,
be smart about which droid phone you get. Ain't goog's fault Samsung won't
allow updates to Phone #4123.

~~~
jamesaguilar
I'm just a user of _Google's_ Android OS. My three-year old Windows and Mac
computers still get the latest OS versions, as do my iPhones. I don't care
about the particular reasons why my phone with _Google's_ Android OS doesn't
get updated. I just know it doesn't. Those are Google's problems, not mine. My
problem is that I own an Android phone that is not on the latest version.

> be smart about which droid phone you get

My solution to this problem is to get an iPhone. Even the phones Google makes
don't have the kind of update longevity Apple's do. The Nexus One did not get
ICS, much less Jellybean. The 3GS _is getting_ iOS 6.

~~~
wvenable
You didn't buy your OS from Google. You didn't buy your device from Google.
Your phone doesn't have the latest OS because your device manufacturer isn't
giving it to you.

~~~
jamesaguilar
Yeah, I don't really care. It is Google branded, was developed primarily by
Google, was marketed as "Google Android" and/or "Android by Google" at various
times, has Google apps, has a store run by Google where I get more apps, and
has Google's name associated with it in every news article I find about it
online. It's a Google device to me, Joe Average Consumer. Your technicalities
don't mean jack to me.

Also, everything you said in this comment applies likewise when I get a laptop
with Windows installed by an OEM. Are you prepared to argue that a Windows
computer is in no part a Microsoft product and that Microsoft would not be
responsible if the OS failed to update on my laptop?

~~~
marekmroz
Your Windows OEM analogy does not hold since the OEM does not develop nor
integrate their own version of Windows. More importantly, Microsoft has full
control over update channel. Not so with Android.

> Would you like to address that or are you going to concede it?

It is not a sword duel you know? Between this and throwing "I don't care's"
around you really come off argumentative

~~~
jamesaguilar
> Your Windows OEM analogy does not hold since the OEM does not develop nor
> integrate their own version of Windows.

For the most part, the extent of this with Android is providing drivers and
firmware for an individual phone's hardware, plus a few crapware apps to run
on the desktop. This happens all the time in the Windows ecosystem too. I
think the analogy is holding up just fine.

I am argumentative, so it is reasonable for me to come off this way, although
you're right that I should chill a little. I dislike the double standards that
people have with respect to Google and other companies on this subject.

~~~
wvenable
But, of course, you're wrong since there is no double-standard. Microsoft is
no more responsible than Google is with regards to their software installed on
hardware you buy from a manufacturer.

~~~
jamesaguilar
I would be very surprised if the average Joe feels this way. To double check
my theories, I just asked three engineers where I work and they all seem to
believe that Microsoft has an obligation to support new, high-end laptops in a
near-term OS bump.

~~~
wvenable
Microsoft has no such obligation; but you might certainly _want_ that. But we
all want stuff. Do a bunch of engineers want Microsoft to release an OS that
supports their new laptops -- of course. So what.

The thing is, this happens all the time. My Dell laptop came with Vista and it
doesn't "support" Windows 7. You can't get 7 drivers directly from them. It
runs 7 just fine (in fact better) but you're on your own to get it working.

~~~
jamesaguilar
> Microsoft has no such obligation

You and I are using different meanings of this word. Presumably you are
referring to a legal obligation, or a moral one. I don't recognize the
existence of morality and I suspect that, unless they have a "Windows 8 Ready"
tag on the machine, no legal obligation would exist either.

The "obligation" I am speaking of is an expectation formed in the minds of
average consumers to the point where they consider it a fault on the part of
the software manufacturer when the expectation is not met.

> Dell ...

How old was the machine? There's a big difference in most consumers'
expectations between failing to support N-year old devices and devices that
are _currently selling_.

~~~
wvenable
> The "obligation" I am speaking of is an expectation...

Obligation is a legal or moral term -- you can't use that term otherwise. An
expectation is not an obligation. If you expect free cookies from me because
I've been giving you free cookies every day for the past week, that's fine.
But I'm not obligated to give you free cookies today. If Bob gives you free
cookies and I'm now sitting in Bob's desk, you might expect free cookies but
I'm not obligated to give them to you.

Microsoft provides updates out of the goodness of their heart. You might
expect them to continue giving updates forever. They're not obligated to do
that. And because they give updates, Google isn't obligated to do it too.

If you'd like your expectations to be met, find Bob and he might give you some
cookies.

~~~
jamesaguilar
I guess we have reached an impasse. We'll see how well this approach works out
for Google in the long run. I'm inclined to suspect it is hurting them as it
would probably hurt Microsoft if they started breaking backwards compatibility
with every OS release. But reality will have to be the arbiter of whether this
theory is correct.

Also, IMO, the term social obligation is pretty well understood. It's an
expectation of your behavior by others.

~~~
wslh
I loved this thread. I am beginning to hate Google. I don't care about words
and explanations: I remember updating my iPhone "1" a little while after the
Apple event, While just updating my Samsung Galaxi SII to ICS a few weeks ago
with shitty Movistar stuff bundled and where they even removed the "native"
browser and you must go to the search option tocopen it. Sure I can now
install Chrome but I discovered that Opera works better than Firefox and
Chrome! (hilarious? I can't submit to HN with these last two). And everyday I
trigger vlingo shit because I pressed two times the home button and can't be
disabled! (vlingo posted a solution that don't work on their websites).

I don't want a Ferrari that is not leaving its potential.

------
ivanbernat
> Sorry! Devices on Google Play is not available in your country yet.

At least show me what it looks like!

~~~
why-el
Was exactly what I thought. I know its a google search away but at least show
me specs/pictures so that I know whether to wait few weeks or just get your-
competitor's tablet.

~~~
rplnt
I'm pretty sure the price will be at least $400 in my region. So the super low
price factor won't help me. Other thing is most of the new play content
(music, movies, tv series and magazines at the minimum) won't work here as
well.

------
alaskamiller
Ships in 2-3 weeks. Pre-order page here:
<https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_7_8gb>

As an iOS guy for years, I look at this as finally having an equivalent of an
iPod touch to play with in the Android ecosystem.

Who knows, maybe I'll be convinced to switch off my iPhone.

~~~
endemic
Agreed. The price is low enough that I pre-ordered one on impulse, just to
play around with and possibly use for development.

------
confluence
Just bought the 8GB version.

I don't know about anyone else, but I think the 7 inch form factor is much
malaligned. It fits perfectly in between my smart phone (Galaxy Nexus) and my
(relatively) massive tablet (Transformer Prime), and gives me a Kindle sized
form factor for TV/Film/music (which as much as I love my wonderful Kindle - I
sorely need content on the go). I didn't get the Amazon Fire - felt like it
was too locked down.

The G7 is cheap enough for an impulse buy, and honestly the Android
fragmentation has been greatly overstated - most apps work for the 95
percentile use case - and seeing as how massive the Android market is - I'm
surprised that it isn't even more fragmented.

All in all, I'm quite sure that this and the Nexus Q (despite it's rather
_unique_ design) will be winners in their respective spaces.

This is not an iPad competitor. It's a Kindle for the rest of your content -
without the lockdown.

------
dchuk
Just ordered the 16gb version. I'm not much of an android guy, but for that
price and the fact that it's pure android (not manufacturer customized shit)
and it's running the newest OS update...meh, why not.

~~~
MartinCron
I just did too. I hope that I don't regret this decision like I did the Kindle
Fire. It seems that $200 is my price point for impulse-buying tablets. If
Microsoft can manage to get their Surface out for $200, I guess I'll have to
get one of those, too.

~~~
greedo
$200 for the Surface? Sure, in Bizarro World.

~~~
gvnonor
Never say never. If someone had told me that i'd be able to buy a high-
end(processor and brand) tablet for $200, I would've laughed in their face.

~~~
tomkarlo
According to Microsoft, Surface pricing is "expected to be competitive with a
comparable ARM tablet or Intel Ultrabook-class PC" (paraphrasing from the
original presentation.) It's pretty clear that's closer to the $800 mark than
the $200.

If they want to compete with the iPad, they'll need to get down into the
$500-$700 range, but I doubt they'd be giving that kind of price guidance if
anything under $400 was remotely possible in Microsoft's own view - their
estimate is probably a "best case" outcome given how incredibly fuzzy they
were about it. (Arguably they could deliver at $1000 and claim they're still
"competitive" with an Ultrabook.)

~~~
noveltyaccount
To clarify that, the RT version will compete with ARM tablet prices; expect
~US$500. The Pro version will compete with Intel-based ultrabooks; expect
~$1200.

~~~
MatthewPhillips
$500 is the price of 16GB tablets, Surface's minimum is 32GB.

------
npsimons
I have to say, 7" is enough for me. I've got a Samsung Tab 7.0 from work, and
it fits in my pants pockets; can't see that happening with anything bigger.
Also, it's just about the right single-hand holding size and weight (anything
bigger/heavier would be too much). What gets me about this offering from
Google is the storage. 8GB and no microSD? Seriously? Some of us don't have
24/7 high-speed connectivity, and even if we did, we don't necessarily want to
use the cloud.

------
awolf
The 7" form factor: big enough to be a pain in the ass to carry and small
enough to be useless for most tablet stuff anyway.

In my opinion, a mobile device should have a keyboard big enough for me to
type using ten fingers, or it should fit in my pocket. Using something in
between baffles me.

~~~
objclxt
It's a Kindle Fire competitor. Without doubt. Having played with one at one of
the IO Extended events today, and given the massive emphasis on the play store
and video/audio/written content being made available Google are definitely
making a play for Kindle territory here.

Like you, I'm pretty ambivalent on the 7" format, but that isn't stopping
people from buying Kindle Fires...

~~~
falcolas
I'm a Kindle Fire and an iPad owner, and I love my Fire.

It's large enough to read on comfortably, and about the weight of a similarly
sized high quality book, meaning that it is light enough to handle for a long
time without trouble. It carries by hand very easily, and just doesn't get in
my way.

The iPad (v3, btw), in contrast, is bulky and heavy to carry around and hold.
The keyboard still isn't big enough to touch type on comfortably, and I am not
able to produce content on it with a reasonable speed (after 1mo of use, I
gave it to my wife). When I need to create, I usually ended up using my
notebook computer, due to the size limitations and difficulty of using the
keyboard while holding the device anyways.

In the end, the Fire is the perfect size for portable media consumption, and
the addition of an unlocked (and high quality) operating system makes this new
offering by Google a no brainer for me.

~~~
awolf
>The keyboard still isn't big enough to touch type on comfortably

The iPad virtual keyboard is the same size as the keyboards on all MacBooks.
Size is not why you're unable to type fast on the iPad.

------
pedrocr
"Sorry! Devices on Google Play is not available in your country yet. We're
working to bring devices to more countries as quickly as possible. Please
check back again soon."

Anyone have a screenshot perhaps?

~~~
lunarscape
Same here. I just used a proxy site I picked at random and it works:
<http://www.uswebproxy.com>

~~~
pedrocr
Thanks. Turns out the corporate VPN routes to the Internet somewhere where
this is available. This is probably a better link (seems to work everywhere):

<http://www.google.com/nexus/#/7/specs>

The UX of putting up this ugly banner is pretty crappy. It would be fine if
this was splattered on top of the page or covering the ordering buttons but
you could still see what devices are available. I think I've even gotten some
form of Google Play advertising (an email perhaps) that directed me to a link
that then showed me this.

------
Cd00d
Is this a Kindle killer?

I have the original iPad (twas free!), which I've really loved, but the cost
is significant compared to the newer 7" tablets. I use the 3g a ton, but
suppose I could fix that with a personal cellular wifi solution.

But, being a Kindle (e-ink) user since inception, I've always felt that if it
were my dollars talking, I'd go with the Fire. I can't justify the cost of the
iPad, but could with the Fire.

Anyone who's really in the market look over the specs and have an opinion re:
google vs. amazon in the small tablet market?

How great is it that these three tech giants are all making desirable media
toys? Being a fan and heavy user of all three company's products, I'm happy to
see them each working to innovate something more exciting than a browser war.

~~~
colkassad
If there were a "Trade your Kindle Fire" button on that page I would click it
in a second. I like my Kindle Fire but it has issues. I'd kill for just a
hardware volume control. It's hard to say without handling one, but my guess
is to choose the Nexus over the Fire.

~~~
Cd00d
Thanks for that. I had no idea the Fire lacked a hard volume button. I almost
compulsively use the one on my iPad, as I find quantified increments far
easier than sliding my fat finger over something my fat finger is blocking.

~~~
MartinCron
Not only that, but the soft volume controls aren't uniformly available. When
you're watching a movie in Netflix, you have to stop the playback to adjust
volume, but you can't hear the volume until you start playback again. Just
painful.

Note: this experience may have been fixed, I haven't used my kindle fire for
watching movies in months, for obvious reasons.

~~~
DiabloD3
Its been fixed upstream by Netflix.... but why didn't you just change the
firmware on your Fire to ICS like I did? Standardized soft vol avail
everywhere.

~~~
ConstantineXVI
Because not everyone wants to make up for Amazon's [or any other OEM] R&D
failures by wasting hours of their time wiping out their software?

------
Splines
No SD card slot? Urgh. 8/16GB is not a lot of room, especially for a tablet
that is not going to be online all the time.

~~~
guynamedloren
but nobody complained when the original ipad didn't have one (with same
internal storage).

~~~
janardanyri
No, the original iPad was 16/32/64GB, just like the current one. That's why
there is no gnashing of teeth. (I have a 64GB original iPad and never have
hurt for space.)

~~~
Samuel_Michon
Indeed. From Apple's press release of January 2010:

 _"iPad will be available in late March worldwide for a suggested retail price
of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, $699 (US) for
the 64GB model."_

[http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/01/27Apple-Launches-
iPa...](http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/01/27Apple-Launches-iPad.html)

------
frazerb
I struggle here with Google's business model, and the impact their efforts
have on other Android tablet vendors. At this price point the profit (if there
is any to speak of) must be wafer-thin.

But Google can handle such wafer-thin margins because the secondary markets
that this tablet secures for them. No other Android tablet vendor can enjoy
the same control over the underlying OS, the same footprint in terms of Apps
ecosystem (and importantly the revenue derived from this), the same intimacy
between online applications/services and hardware. All these things mean
Google can 'get away' with pricing this tablet as cheaply as they do.

But where does that leave Samsung, LG, and the others ? The big risk for us as
consumers here is that Google will in fact reduce, not increase, the amount of
credible competition against Apple by jeopardizing the competitors' capacity
to derive profit from tablets.

~~~
AncientPC
The PC hardware industry profits are already razor thin, while the laptop
industry is marginally better. This doesn't mean an ecosystem can't exist.

Amazon retail / grocery stores are another example of an industry that
survives off volume to make up for razor thin profit margins.

------
lbotos
I haven't been following much of android development but is it starting to
look like WP7? I only say this because both of the screenshots on the page
look very very much inspired by WP7.

[https://lh3.ggpht.com/3Pu3EHP1QUr9oI-
YdIPQE5BxWYVGZ_DzPwhReS...](https://lh3.ggpht.com/3Pu3EHP1QUr9oI-
YdIPQE5BxWYVGZ_DzPwhReSX9XSBRckTHFrBr6PV8DDQIY7S8usk) \- Metro-esque

[https://lh4.ggpht.com/p-eZmyce7_T2-_eOwltQxU6glPj6f53kDXvDvN...](https://lh4.ggpht.com/p-eZmyce7_T2-_eOwltQxU6glPj6f53kDXvDvN8GPzRZXY4qe_pxHBdmXmtJeyRIZ8qA)
\- Big airy sans, open spaces, riding the line of minimalist, etc.

~~~
mtgx
Google started that design language quite a while ago with Google+ and all the
new designs for their services. The big images thing came a long time ago in
the Chrome Webstore as well:

<https://chrome.google.com/webstore>

Why do people have to immediately associate something with something else even
if it's only 5-10% similar?

~~~
lbotos
Metro:
[http://andrewtechhelp.com/images/stories/windows8devpreview/...](http://andrewtechhelp.com/images/stories/windows8devpreview/MetroAppBar.png)

Google:
[https://lh4.ggpht.com/p-eZmyce7_T2-_eOwltQxU6glPj6f53kDXvDvN...](https://lh4.ggpht.com/p-eZmyce7_T2-_eOwltQxU6glPj6f53kDXvDvN8GPzRZXY4qe_pxHBdmXmtJeyRIZ8qA)

If I remove the "Google" logo from the second image would you think it was
just Google's design language? Design doesn't happen in isolation. It's a
product of everything that influenced the designer.

I thought it was interesting because:

1) They look to be headed the same direction as microsoft. 2) The images they
chose to use to showcase their new tablet look to be "metro".

------
guynamedloren
I loooove Google, but I can't get over this "Play" nonsense. I get that it's
short and (maybe) easy to remember, but it just sounds stupid. They certainly
could have come up with a better name than that.

~~~
biot
I thought RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook name was brilliant. To the consumer
market, they read it as "play book" and think of all the fun things they can
do while playing with it. For the business market, they read it with the
sports metaphor as a "strategic playbook" which fits their purposes well.

~~~
rmckayfleming
Anecdotally, they've also done relatively well here in Ontario ever since they
dropped the prices to 200$ and up. Many of my friends and family have one (no
Kindle Fire up here).

------
programminggeek
Android's UI as a "media consumption" device is terrible compared to what
Kindle Fire and Nook have done. The average user (say your parents), aren't
going to go to the Google Play Store (which is a terrible non-obvious) name to
buy books, movies, apps, etc. unless you explain to them that you have to use
the Play app to download content.

Kindle Fire nailed the obviousness of this with the top bar being labeled with
Movies, Music, Apps, Books, Web.

Nexus 7's home screen widget is a poor attempt and trying to shoehorn media
discoverability into an OS that isn't built for media consumption, it's built
for phones primarily.

You could make the same arguement for iOS, but iTunes has already trained
users that you go to iTunes to get content or you go to the obviously named
App Store.

Make it easy, make it obvious. Nexus 7 is a small step in the right direction,
but it needs work.

~~~
ajross
I think the first point is pretty suspect, and definitely not a trait of the
"average user" (who, on a tablet, remains a techie early adopter). You get
content the same place you get apps. You're saying that the "average user"
can't download an app, either?

I tend to agree that "Play" as a brand is a terrible name, though. But then I
feel that way about most marketing, and find my intuition there routinely
wrong. So I won't judge.

~~~
cheeze
My grandmother and parents all have iPads. No, they wouldn't be able to
download an app unless it was blatantly obvious (see: app store).

~~~
ajross
That seems to be getting pretty far off into silly now, though. Your
contention is that grandparents with iOS devices can download apps (and
presumably view media) there, but not on Android, precisely because the "app
store" is called "Play Store". Really? Is there any research at all that bears
this out?

~~~
lmm
It's not silly. Even as a fairly serious tech guy, the first time I saw "play
store" I thought "what the fuck is a play store?" (and, half an hour earlier,
"where the fuck did the market go?"). Because I'm a tech guy I have the
confidence to click random things and see what they do (plus I could put two
and two together in this case), but I'm pretty sure my parents wouldn't;
they'd just stay away from the strange icons, and stick to the ones they
recognize, like youtube and browser.

~~~
ajross
Getting sillier by the hour, it seems. You're taking one usability problem
(that the upgrade from "Market" to "Play Store" is non-obvious) and trying to
use that to reason that once someone uses "Market" they will _never_ be able
to use "Play Store". Ridiculous. Among other things, how did they find
"Market" in the first place? I don't see how that's any more or less obvious,
frankly -- the words are synonyms, for goodness sake. People find videos in
something called "iTunes" after all.

This fixes itself the instant someone asks "where do I get an app?". Please.

Is "Play" a bad product name? Sure. But you're attributing powers to it that
it simply doesn't have.

------
dt7
£159/£199 in the UK... very reasonable I think, compared to the current prices
of Android tablets in the UK.

~~~
al_james
Yes, nice to see there is not a huge mark-up for the UK prices. $199 is £127 +
20% tax = £152... Close enough.

~~~
bonaldi
... except that they add the tax on top of the £159. It's actually £168 here,
I've just discovered.

~~~
pja
It's an extra £10 shipping. VAT is already included in the price.

(Although £10 for shipping is a bit steep tbh.)

------
georgemcbay
meh.

I don't really like the 7 inch tablet form factor (even as an 'Apple hater', I
think Jobs was spot on about 7 inches being too small). Also lack of any sort
of SD option is just another reinforcement of Google blindly walking down the
path of Apple.

I guess I'm sticking with my OG Asus Transformer TF101 for now. I was hoping
that with Asus' involvement in the Nexus there would be a transformer/hybrid
variant (for more money of course), but they seem to just be trying to attack
the Kindle here.

It seems more likely than ever that my next hybrid tablet/netbook will be
running Windows 8 instead of Android. Pseudo-ironically at least I'll be able
to write Go code on that device.

~~~
protomyth
It seems like there is really 3 form factors: 1 hand operation, 1 hand hold /
1 hand operate, and big tablet. It seems once you get past being able to hold
it in one hand comfortably, you might as well go for the 10".

------
peapicker
It would be almost a must-have if it supported a user-supplied microSD card.

------
estel
It's curious how the Nexus 7 seems to be using a phone ui rather than a tablet
one; it seems to make for a lot of wasted screen space.

~~~
myko
Yeah, one of the major UX failings of the iPad is the way the notification
shade is handled. It seems extremely out of place on a tablet. I'm surprised
the Nexus 7 seems to have a similar style shade.

Also centering the buttons in landscape mode? Seems like it could be
inconvenient.

------
Johnyma22
I don't want Google to provide my hardware. They control too many things
already.

~~~
jiggy2011
afaik it's made by ASUS so I don't imagine how it would be much different from
buying something ASUS branded. Besides if they have control of all of the
software already I don't see what difference the hardware would really make.

------
guelo
Nexus One, S, Galaxy, 7 and Q

Pretty confused branding I think.

~~~
bconway
At least they're not reusing names, that's a start.

iPad, iPad 2, iPad.

------
veidr
One of the things I hate about Google Play is:

    
    
        Sorry! Devices on Google Play is not available in your country yet.
    

I agree; that _is_ sorry. They even show me this when I log in, go to the 'My
Orders' screen, and click on the Galaxy Nexus I just bought from them this
month (when I visited the US for WWDC).

I was going to ask for a summary, but this is good enough:
[http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/27/3120992/asus-
nexus-7-andro...](http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/27/3120992/asus-
nexus-7-android-tablet-hands-on)

------
donniezazen
Do any of you use a 7 inch tablet as a distraction-free writing device? I have
got a 10.1 tablet that I use for reading and writing. A smaller tablet will be
more friendlier for reading.

~~~
lmm
I use my 10-inch transformer as a writing device, if by writing you mean
typing (I wrote a novel on it, if by novel you mean 50000 word work of prose
fiction). Honestly I think the "distraction-free" aspect works against it -
forcing me to move out of google docs and into something else to check train
times or skype messages makes me less productive, not more. But ymmv.

------
pja
Seriously? £40 for an extra 8Gb of flash with no SD card slot? That's reaching
iPad levels of customer value extraction.

Otherwise, looks like a nice piece of hardware: Tempted to grab one.

------
esutton
Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ unlocked is now 350 through the play store

------
deedubaya
"I've already taken it on a camping trip to read books"

What a bunch of nerds. Tell me about something exciting you actually did with
your new product.

~~~
lmm
I took it out clubbing to take photos of my friends puking, that cool enough
for you?

------
drawkbox
Looks like a solid Android gaming device. The Kindle is pretty nice in that
aspect. There still is really no competitor to the iPod which holds down
almost half of handheld gamers on the iOS platform. Android has no match for
that still really being solely phone based for the smaller devices for the
most part.

------
kennon
Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if this is selling below manufacturing
cost? At least, I thought that was the case with the Kindle Fire, which has
less impressive specs?

Either way, could be interesting times ahead if Amazon, Apple, and Google are
all marking out their tablet+store territory...

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troels
Pff. I was expecting a remake of this:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvUYYUd-Ye0> \- and then it's just another
phone.

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tiger0915
sweet jesus thats a big bezel

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no_more_death
You can't get a quad-core _desktop_ for $200! This tablet is a powerhouse.

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nsns
Am I missing something? Why is this made by Asus and not Motorola Mobility?

~~~
ConstantineXVI
The acquisition closed a little over a month ago; communication during a
buyout before it's approved is seriously restricted. A month isn't anywhere
near enough time to get a product from scratch to market. Besides the
logistical issues, Google's stated that Motorola doesn't get special
treatment, so going by their word, Motorola has to compete for Nexus bids just
like everyone else.

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mindslight
You know the tech world is in a sorry state when "Made for Google Play" is
openly touted as a _good_ thing. Where's the mobile platform that aims to be a
_computer_ instead of the next TV?

------
hollerith
Is the case metal or plastic?

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mayneack
No HDMI?

~~~
kevhsu
MHL compatible probably. (The Galaxy Nexus is...) $15 adapter from monoprice.

------
recoiledsnake
Looks like even Google is afraid to directly take on the 800lb. gorilla that
is the 10" iPad at the $500 price point. Xoom, Touchpad, Playbook(7") and
countless others seem to have bit the dust trying. HTC and LG have even
temporarily quit the tablet market to stem the bleeding. Wonder if ASUS is
seeing volume on its Transformer line. Also, does anyone know how the Galaxy
Tab is doing?

Even Kindle Fire's sales are slowing, so lets see how the market reacts to
this. Unlike phones, which are must-haves, people have a lot of discretion
when it comes to owning a tablet or not. Sadly, the only real competition to
take the iPad head on this year seems to be the Surface and we'll have to wait
and see what the price is.

~~~
keltex
"Even Kindle Fire's sales are slowing"

You have any evidence to back this up? Seems like just the opposite is
happening:

<http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/06/26/kindle-fire/>

~~~
scubaguy
The article says

"According to a recent report from Pacific Crest Securities, a Portland,
Oregon-based investment bank, orders for components used in Amazon's standard
e-readers have fallen 75% from the bank's previous expectations."

~~~
AncientPC

      - Kindle Fire: Android Tablet
      - Kindle Everything Else: E-reader
    

> But while Kindle sales may be falling, demand for the Kindle Fire is
> climbing, with requests for components up nearly 60%.

The article is about how Kindle Fire may be cannibalizing sales from the
e-readers.

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rsanchez1
The Nexus 7 just made the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet obsolete. I've been
holding back on buying a Kindle Fire, but I think I may just pull the trigger
on the Nexus 7.

------
kadjar
"your own copy of Transformers: Dark of the Moon"

Oops! Accidentally a word, there.

~~~
keeran
I always think 'side' should be in there, but it isn't :)

<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1399103/>

~~~
SoftwareMaven
Wow! I have seriously _never_ noticed that. My brain has always just filled in
Dark _Side_ of the Moon. It wouldn't surprise me if they wanted it to be that,
but some copyright/trademark issue with Pink Floyd prevented it.

