Google Nexus 7 tab
letThe very latest news from Google I/O 2012
Google gave us what we wereexpecting at I/O 2012 (Nexus 7, Jelly Bean), and then some (Nexus Q, Google Glass). There were also a few tidbits about Google Play and Google+. But the big news remained the new hardware announced by Google, and that kicked off with the Nexus 7.
Google Nexus 7 tablet
The Nexus 7, imagined by Google and built by Asus, was leaked just hours before Google I/O kicked off, with specs, pictures and even a video making the rounds. The big deal was obviously the price. With Amazon’s Kindle Fire beating all other major Android OEMs on price, the Asus-manufactured Nexus 7 was announced at a launch price of USD 199. Given that it’s a Google/Asus product, it will likely make its way around the world, unlike the Kindle Fire.
Touted as the first 7-inch tablet with a quad-core processor, the Nexus 7 is running an Nvidia Tegra 3 under its hood, supported by a GeForce GPU. Google showed off the tablet’s portability as both an e-reader and a media device. Available in two variants, 8 GB and 16 GB, the tablet’s biggest expected drawback (at least for the WiFi-hotspot-lacking countries of the world) will be either the absence of 3G connectivity or the lack of external storage support. This will also be the first product to ship with Jelly Bean.
Jelly Bean Android 4.1
Not as major an update as Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean’s merely sporting a ‘.1’ add-on to ICS’s ‘4’. However, JB features some interesting improvements and additions, starting with Google Now. This one is a location-aware app that collates information based on where you are and what you like.
For example, if you happen to search for sushi restaurants rather frequently, Google Now will have a ready list of the sushi restaurants closest to you. Also, if you happen to be following the football action in Poland and Ukraine, Google Now will pull up the latest scores from Euro 2012 every time you open the app.
Also new to JB is an offline voice search function that works pretty well if you talk to it like you’re talking to a phone, not like you’d talk to a person. The voice search function will return location-aware results as well, if asked for them. Think of it like Siri, but with a more visual approach. The Notification Bar has been greatly improved and you can now expand messages to reveal text too and not just the number of new messages, emails, etc.
Then there’s the massively improved home screen arrangement, where you can move a widget or icon around and the other widgets and icons will move around to make space for it. Finally, there's also the Project Butter UI, which supposedly triple-buffers frames for a more fluid experience.
Nexus Q
Even the Nexus Q received an unscheduled launch on Google’s Play store. There’ve been rumours surrounding Google’s foray into home entertainment for a while now, and the Nexus Q is the realisation. It hooks up to your TV and home entertainment system to stream content from the Google Play store straight to your TV. The big drawback, obviously, is that you need an Android device (phone or tablet) to use the Nexus Q, which begs the question: why does it cost USD 299 if it needs an Android device to work in tandem with it? As of right now, however, neither the Google Play store (for media) nor the Nexus Q are available in India.
Google Glass
In a brilliant show of...well, showmanship, Sergey Brin got on stage to introduce Google Glass by showing a live video that started with a zeppelin full of skydivers high above the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The skydivers (all equipped with Google Glass sets capturing first-hand views of the dive) jumped out of the plane, and landed on top of the Moscone Center. They then handed a package over to some bikers who eventually delivered it to Brin on stage, but not before executing some stunts and a nifty rappelling maneuver.
The package? A bright blue set of Google’s Glass Explorer Edition, a program that’s being opened up to those in attendance at Google I/O 2012. Attendees can purchase their own set of Google Glass for USD 1,500. A steep price, but given Google’s expectations for developers (not to mention that each developer present got their own Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 7, OTA JB update and Nexus Q), it’s a pretty awesome deal.