By Tech Powered Dad | July 18, 2012
I’m one of the first to hop on board the Google Nexus 7 train. If you aren’t familiar with it, this is the first tablet from Google, manufactured by Asus. Over the last few years, Google has had a history of partnering with handset makers with its Nexus line of phones. The Nexus line always gets the best new operating system updates of Android first, and the Nexus 7 is no exception, as it ships with Android 4.1, Jellybean.
The Nexus 7 starts at $199 for the 8 GB model, another $50 for 16 GM. It’s WIFI only. At that price point and a 7″ display, it’s clearly designed to take market share from the Amazon Kindle Fire. There are already plenty of rumors that Amazon is well into the process of giving the Fire a much needed update as well. There are also rumors of a 7″ iPad mini on the horizon. These budget tablets make very little money up front for the manufacturers. In fact, there are reports Google may be selling the Nexus 7 at a loss. Instead, Google and Amazon make their money on the content that gets purchased for the devices: eBooks, movies, musics, etc.
I hope that the cheaper tablets might also have the unintended consequence of making them more accessible to students, though. To this point, the iPad has been the most popular school tablet, but at less than half the cost, these newer Android tablets have a chance to make a mark.
To mark the arrival of the Nexus 7 at my house, I’m hoping to convince my wife, to whom I gave it as a birthday present, to let me use it for a day. I’d like to try to ditch all of my other electronic devices for a single day and try to use just the Nexus 7 in its place. If I can pull it off, I will let you know about my adventure.