Google on Wednesday launched the new version of the Nexus 7 tablet, featuring a now Full HD resolution 7” screen, a 2mm thinner design and 50grams less heavier than the earlier Nexus 7 device. The device will be available in Wi-Fi and LTE versions, and while the basic model of the device will cost a whopping $229 in the US. The tablet launch, as expected by many in the android webosphere, coincided with the launch of yet the latest version of android (Android Jelly Bean version 4.3). In addition to the improvement in screen resolution and the better, slimmer design, the tablet has also received a bump in internal hardware features. It is powered by an impressive quad-core 1.5 GHz Snapdragon Pro Chip and an andreno 320 Graphics Processing Unit. According to claims by Google’s vice president of Android product management, the new processor will be nearly twice as fast as the older model of the device. On the other hand, the graphics performance rose four times in the new model. Although the basic model of the Nexus 7 tablet comes with 2GB worth of RAM and 16GB internal storage capacity, a model with 32GB will also be available. The rear camera will be able of capturing 5MP high quality images, while the front camera sports a cool 1.2MP. Head of android, chrome and Google Apps division of Google, Sundar Pichai, said that the Nexus 7 (older model) has been a huge success since it was launched last year – accounting for 10% of all tablets sold in the last one year. “So far over 70 million Android tablets have been activated across the world,” said Mr. Pichai. During the event, Google also did announce Chromecast, which is a tiny dongle that can connect to any HDMI-port installed TV and allow users to stream videos from an iOS or android device onto the big screen.
