According to a report from DigiTimes, shipments of a brand new upgraded Nexus 7 have already begun. This version of the device will have a lovely new 1920 x 1200 display on its front along with a new set of innards – retaining the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor too, we must expect.

This same tip suggests that this new display is a low-temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) panel that, again, sits at 7-inches diagonally. This means that this device will have 323.45 PPI, that being significantly sharper than the “Retina” panel on the standard 9.7-inch iPad. Meanwhile the sharpest display on a mobile smart device on the market today remains 468.7 PPI, that coming from the HTC One.

The new Google Nexus 7 will continue to be made by ASUS, of course, and the same source as mentioned above have said AU Optronics are the team behind this generation’s displays thus far. Future users can expect this device to be appearing right around June 10th – though there’s been no official confirmation of this from Google thus far.

If you’re wondering what the big deal is with this device, look no further than this Conduit HD review. Or if you want to look a little further anyway, have a peek at this Real Boxing review, it and the other game having been demonstrated on the Nexus 7, nearly a year after its initial release – still kickin!

At the 21-second mark in the video below, you’ll see an iPhone 5 to the right, with a 7-inch tablet to the left. Our first assumption is that it’s the normal Nexus 7, but the glowing, oscillating notification light tells us that it’s not your ordinary Nexus 7, but possibly the next-generation Nexus 7 that Google didn’t announced during the keynote.

Obviously, this raises more questions than it answers, including why this is in the video, and why didn’t Google announce a new Nexus 7. It’s possible that Google had plans to launch a new Nexus 7 and went ahead and put it in the video above, but then they may have scrapped plans to announce it during the keynote.

Or it’s just possible that Google just put a notification light on the Nexus 7 in post-production of the video to simply demonstrate Hangouts’ abilities, but that seems odd on the face of it. We also see a second angle of the alleged new Nexus 7 tablet right after the 21-second mark where a girl picks up the tablet to reply to a message. We can’t really make out if the tablet she’s holding is different from the current Nexus 7, but we weren’t expecting Google to completely redesign the tablet anyway.

We’ve heard in the past that the new Nexus 7 would sport a full 1080p HD display, along with a Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core processor and Android 4.3, which would be magnificent, but it seems that wasn’t the case during the keynote, and Android 4.3 was a no-show as well. Maybe they’ll pull a “one last thing” towards the end of the conference this week, but we’re not counting on it.

VIA: Android Community

SOURCE: AusDroid

Just this morning it was suggested by Sundar Pichai that Google’s Android and Chrome operating systems would not be converging – at least not any time soon. That said, it’s very possible that they will be overlapping on a larger level sooner than you might expect. Google TV, as well, has been rumored to be converging with Android on a greater level ever since Android 4.2 Jelly Bean was given Miracast wireless transmission abilities.

Wireless Projection with Miracast

Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and higher has the ability to allow your phone to project its display’s contents to machines that work with Miracast. This Miracast term refers to a standardized system for displays – and boxes you hook up to displays – to accept wirelessly projected image information. Have a peek at our original guide for this system entitled How does Android 4.2 Jelly Bean Wireless Display Mirroring Work? and you’ll find the following passage:

“With Miracast being an “industry standard”, you can expect many brands to pick it up soon if they don’t already have it integrated now. Miracast is a technology that’s built in to devices – it’s not a device in and of itself. Miracast certification has begun for devices of many kinds, so you can expect not just displays to have it integrated, but receivers that will plug in through your HDMI port instead – this working for legacy displays.”

The video you’re seeing shows some Texas Instruments device action with Miracast back well before Android 4.2 came along. This very basic demo shows the same functionality built in to Jelly Bean here and now. Point to take home: Miracast has been around long enough, it’s high time for it to be adopted on a grand level.

There aren’t very many Jelly Bean-compatible wireless display devices out on the market right this second. Google will very likely lead the way with a Google TV device – maybe even a Nexus Google TV product. If Google shows faith in Google TV with a product they give to developers at the conference, it’s possible that confidence will grow in the market’s mind.

On the other hand, the Nexus Q never took off. One of its fatal flaws was the relative lack of opportunity developers had to work with it right out of the gate. A very different situation would unfold if Google gave away a Google TV product with Miracast technology built-in.

Nexus Device Refresh: Nexus 7, Nexus 10

The Nexus 10 is a 10-inch display-toting Android tablet that hasn’t seen one whole heck of a lot of press since it was first delivered several months ago. The Nexus 7 has, on the other hand, seen significant success in the market due to its low cost and relatively well-balanced specifications – one year after it was given away at Google I/O 2012, it remains a top search term in Google for those looking for news updates.

The Google Nexus 7 has been tipped on several occasions – several quite recently – to be getting a refresh in the form of an advanced display. It has also been suggested that the Nexus 7 would be getting a new processor in the form of a Qualcomm Snapdragon, though the exact power within has not been clarified.

The Nexus 10, on the other hand, has not seen one whole heck of a lot of action anywhere – not compared to the Nexus 7, anyway. If Google does refresh the Nexus 10, it will be as a bit more of an afterthought next to the Nexus 7, not as a major news item on its own. Expect both of these tables to be mentioned – at least in passing – during Google’s major initial keynote.

Google’s one major keynote will take place on Wednesday, May 15th at 9AM PST. SlashGear will be in attendance and will be delivering you up-to-the-minute details throughout the 2.5-hour session.

Featured Sessions

This convention is home to numerous break-out sessions and talks from those in-the-know across the developer universe. These sessions revolve around Android and Chrome, of course, but there are many mini-events that have to do with specific apps and services too. Some of the highlights that indicate Google and the greater industry’s aims here include:

• Android: Enchant, Simplify, Amaze: Android’s Design Principles
• Chrome: JAM with Chrome
• Google+: Google+ Platform Overview
• Search: From Structured Data to Knowledge Graph
• Maps: Google Maps: Into the Future: Wednesday, May 15, 12:00pm
• Cloud Platform: Ushering in the next generation of computing at Google I/O
• Women Techmakers Session with Susan Wojcicki (SVP, Ads), Anna Patterson (VP, Knowledge), Johanna Wright (VP, Search and Mobile), Jean Wang (Staff Hardware Engineer, Glass), and Diane Greene (Board of Directors, Google).

Oddities SlashGear will also certainly be checking out include a Google+ AirShow and a Data Sensing Lab. The Google+ AirShow will allow users to check live streaming cams attached to blimps flying above the Moscone Center. The Data Sensing Lab will be visualizing environmental data from the area, lying it over indoor maps in real-time: this includes motion, noise level, humidity, pressure, and temperature.

Glass

Though we’ve not heard anything specific about what advances will be spoken of surrounding Google Glass, this year will mark the one-year anniversary of the moment developers were offered the opportunity to purchase a pair of the futuristic face-based computers. We’re expecting that our journey to and through the San Francisco-based event collection will be clad with more than a few Glass-faced users, that’s for sure.

Join us starting tomorrow – SlashGear will be scoping out the event center early and making sure we’re on top of the situation from start to finish! Make sure you hit up the SlashGear Google I/O portal throughout the week!

It was just one year ago that Google I/O 2012 revealed the Google Nexus 7 originally, giving it there to every developer attendee so that they might develop games and apps for the device with ease. That original Google Nexus 7 remains on sale today with the specifications it came with in the first place.

The original Google Nexus 7 worked with a 7-inch IPS LCD display at 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, that ending up bringing on a 216 PPI screen density. This device was 198.5 x 120 x 10.45 mm large and was released in both wifi-only and 3G-capable iterations, having Bluetooth, NFC, and GPS inside. The original Nexus 7 worked with 8GB of internal storage – this was quickly upgraded to 16GB of internal storage in the smallest, standard model, while another 32GB internal storage iteration was released as well.

Perhaps most important of all, this original Nexus 7 was – before it was scooped up by Google – an ASUS/NVIDIA collaboration. As a low-cost quad-core processor-toting tablet, NVIDIA had it announced at CES 2012 with ASUS without a formal release date. This device was quickly spotted by Google and brought on as an exclusive release under the company’s Nexus brand. Fun fact: we also predicted this collaboration – albeit with the wrong price attached.

This ASUS Eee Pad MeMO was announced with NVIDIA’s own Tegra 3 quad-core processor inside and continued to carry that processor through to its re-naming as the Google Nexus 7. In an analyst report with 9to5Google by Mingchi Kuo from KGI securities today, the new Google 7 tablet will be bringing with it a quad-core Qualcomm processor.

The processor this new Nexus 7 is tipped to bring with it is the same APQ8064 Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor carried by the Google Nexus 4, the current hero smartphone for Google (manufactured by LG). This would be a relatively major blow to NVIDIA as the Nexus 7 allowed their chipset to reach a relatively large cross-section of users over the past year.

This new Nexus 7 would be manufactured by ASUS as the first iteration was and will have 7-inch LTPS display with 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution. That puts the density of this display at 323 PPI, far greater than the original device. This new Nexus 7 is also suggested to be coming with a thinner bezel than before, Qi standard wireless charging, and a back-facing camera sitting at 5-megapixels strong.

We’ll know one way or the other next week – if Google is aiming to re-introduce the Nexus 7 with new specifications for this year, Google I/O 2013 is the ideal place to do it. Stick with SlashGear in our Google I/O portal for more information on the event and head to our Facebook event page to sign up to remind yourself to join us!

Google Play lists a ship date of April 5 in India, and while it’s certainly not the cheapest tablet that residents of India have access to, it’s great that Google is making its products available in such a large country. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how well it sells in a country like India.

However, the Google Play store in India only offers apps, games, and books, so users in India will certainly be limited to the amount of content that they’ll be able to stuff onto their new Nexus 7 tablets, but hopefully we’ll see movies, music, and more goodies come to the country. In the meantime, you’ll be limited to apps, games, and a bit of reading if that’s your thing.

Of course, Google I/O is coming up quick, so we could see Google announce availability of more of their products in more countries, India included. Google I/O is set for May 15-17, which is just a month-and-a-half away roughly, and tickets for the event sold out in under an hour, so it’s going to be a hot conference, just like last year.

[via Android Police]

What you’re seeing here is a rather radical environment in which your mission is to destroy a mysterious and other-worldly enemy with a dynamic user interface available right from your touchscreen device or wirelessly with your own Bluetooth-connected gaming controller. You’ll be using pistols, machine guns, and a fabulously strange “All Seeing Eye” device (ASE in the game) to explore this strange new world and puzzle solve as you blast through the opposition. Below you’ll see the game running on the Google Nexus 7, the ASUS-made tablet working with NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 quad-core processor under the hood.

You’ll be able to control your gameplay from start to finish with control options everywhere from flipped tapping to auto-fire mode. You’ll be able to change the layout of the buttons and controls, change the way you target and move, and you’ll have – specifically – GameStop Controller support as well. This is the more “traditional” way to play the game, they say, with Bluetooth-connected blasting on your side.

The weapons you’ll be using number to 18, unique firing modes and actions for each, with the ASE to back you up from start to finish. You’ll be destroying your enemies which number to 14, for starters, both human and alien creatures coming at you not just from straight up in front, but below and up above as well. Head down the stairwell, watch out for snipers up on a second level, and toss grenades all around.

And the best part is the graphics have been given a bump between the original Wii version and here with NVIDIA’s Tegra SoC. With the Tegra 3 quad-core processor you’ll be blasting up and out with what the Chief Creative Officer of High Voltage Software, Eric Nofsinger, calls “console-quality visuals on mobile devices.” This includes enhanced lighting in all your darkest corners, higher resolution graphics than ever before, and “much-improved” visual fidelity compared to this game’s original release.

This game will be available to you immediately if not soon from the Google Play app store through the NVIDIA TegraZone with a rather unique pricing structure. You’ll be able to download the game for free, and the first two levels are completely free. After that you’ve got the option of buying the whole rest of the game at once for $4.99, or you can buy each of the two halves of the game for $2.99 each. At the moment we can’t imagine why you’d only want half the game, but to each their own.

Have a peek at the timeline below for more Tegra-enhanced games available in the NVIDIA TegraZone right this minute, and don’t forget to hit up our own massive Tegra Hub too for more NVIDIA mobile action than you can handle!

With NVIDIA’s contribution to the development of this game – optimization for the Tegra platform, that is – “The power of the NVIDIA Tegra processor on so many Android devices means that the game’s graphical polish and impact are being taken to a whole new level.” That comment comes direct from Remi Koscielny, CEO of Vivid Games. What we’ve seen thus far is a powerhouse of a game that’s ready to show the multi-core processing excellence of today’s most advanced devices like a pro.

What you’re seeing here is a game that comes with a variety of features surrounding one good time of a face-bashing time. You’ll find Unreal-powered graphics as well as motion capture that’ll be breaking your eyeballs with how painful it is – including blood and sweat right up off your athlete. You’ll be breaking down your opponent in this game’s career mode which includes over 30 fights – and three belt titles – you’ll find out exactly what kind of challenge that is when your right in the thick of it.

You’ll find mini games in this build made to train your boxer between matches – heavy and mini bag and skipping rope, too! In-game mini-games appear also, KO and Clinch hone your skills for energy boosts on-the-go. You’ll be unlocking new equipment, opponents, and customizations all along your journey to the top belt – hair, skin, tattoos, and clothing are all up to you to change up as you box out.

This game is available right this minute on the Google Play app store through the NVIDIA TegraZone. You’ll be tossing down $4.99 USD and knocking out all your favorite opponents in a variety of venues all night long – knock em out! And don’t forget to hit up our massive Tegra Hub right here on SlashGear while you’re at it!

BONUS: This game has been previewed by NVIDIA in a variety of ways in the time between CES 2013 and now – it’s such a killer game that they just can’t put it down! Have a peek at our hands-on with Real Boxing on NVIDIA’s Phoenix Developer Platform as well – that’s the Tegra 4i inside!

This device is being shown in each of the three major sales locations for the device on Google Play, both in the USA and across the sea in both the UK and greater Europe. The price remains relatively similar depending on where you’re grabbing it from – so similar, in fact, that you’ll want to pick one up in the store that resides inside your own land mass, without a doubt.

For the USA version you’ll be dropping $29.99, in the UK you’ll be paying up 24.99 in English Quid, and across the Euro mass you’ll see 29,99 EU, as it were. The device remains essentially the same no matter where you’re purchasing it, save the wall-plug, of course. If you’ve seen this device before this release, you’ve quite likely been paying $10 USD more (or that’s what we’ve seen in general, that is).

This device is quite simple, only holding your Nexus 7 upright and charging it just so long as you’ve got the cord out the back plugging in to a power port. And that’s it, that’s all, that’s all there is! Have a peek at the Nexus 7 timeline below to see other recent happenings surrounding this lovely tablet device.

We knew a Ubuntu tablet version would be coming, but it’s nice to finally see it in its official form, ready to be consumed by various tablets. In fact, the new OS will be available in a developer preview form for the Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 this Thursday. This is the same day that Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 users will be able to grab the smartphone preview as well.

Just like the smartphone version, Ubuntu for tablets is optimized completely for touch, and it relies on screen-edge gestures for navigation rather than physical buttons. For the most part, everything looks to be the same, except for the obvious change in screen size when using the tablet version — the interface itself is pretty similar to the phone version.

Canonical moving towards smartphones and tablets is a big and bold move for the company, but it’s nothing too surprising, and frankly it was expected at some point, with more and more users switching over to tablets and smartphones for computing needs. While Ubuntu for mobile devices may not gain a ton of market share, we sure that open-source enthusiasts and computer geeks of all kinds will take advantage of the new OS on their smartphones and tablets soon.

According to users on Reddit who say they’ve received the update, the problem with Bluetooth audio streaming has been corrected somewhat, although it is being reported as still having occasional issues. One user reported that after updating, the Bluetooth still disconnects when the network changes from wifi to the mobile data network.

Per the screenshots Android Police has up, the update is build number JDQ39, and is 47.6MB. Users are receiving the update over the air, although many still haven’t had it arrive yet. Still, screenshots have cropped up showing the update on the GSM Galaxy Nexus, the Nexus 7 tablet, and the Nexus 10 tablet, so users with one or more of those devices will likely see the update within the next day or so.

Not much else is known at the moment, since nothing official has been posted. According to the system update screen that users have seen, the 4.2.2 update is said to improve “performance and stability.” Users can set up their own accounts on the devices for customizability, and there’s Gesture Typing for typing words by sliding one’s finger across the keys.

[via Android Police]

Google added a new page for the Nexus 7, specifically for the new T-mobile version. It’s the same 32GB unlocked version as before, but this time it comes with a T-Mobile SIM card. So, just as with the AT&T version, you can now open up your tablet the minute you get it and connect right away to T-Mobile’s HSPA+ network.

Sadly, though, a 32GB version is only available for those wanting a T-Mobile variant, but we’re hoping a 16GB version will come to T-Mobile eventually. Google has a special relationship with the carrier, offering the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 only on T-Mobile, so we wouldn’t be surprised if the company brought more versions of their products to the carrier.

In related news, T-Mobile announced today that the Nexus 4 will be more widely available in its larger retail stores across the US, and the device will eventually reach all of the carrier’s retail stores in the coming weeks. Furthermore, the Nexus 4 will become available once again from T-Mobile’s website starting January 23.

[via Phone Scoop]

The dock is now listed on the ASUS Japan website along with a price – 3,480 yen – in addition to a note reading “I am currently out of stock.” Over at B&H, however, users can place a pre-order for $39.99, with the retailer noting that the expected availability will be on January 10. The device isn’t currently in stock, however, and so the expected availability date isn’t set in stone.

Previous reports have said that the dock would begin shipping on January 10, however, so the numbers are matching up thus far. The dock is the first official one available for the Nexus 7, and while it isn’t anything extraordinary, it offers all the things one could want in a tablet dock.

The Nexus 7 dock features a micro USB port and a standard 3.5mm stereo output port. It’s not very big at 8.6L x 2.6W x 1.2H-inches, and weighs in at just under 10 ounces (280 grams). It requires the tablet to be running Android Jelly Bean 4.2. According the Japanese Asus website, users have to keep the dock plugged in when using audio output. If you have a Nexus 7 and are in the market for a dock, you can pre-order the device online and expect to receive it in the relatively near future.

[via Android Community]

The seven-inch Android-powered tablet built by ASUS from a partnership with Google was the premiere launch device for Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and it’s now been unofficially webOS-ified thanks to the tablets open-source roots. While it’s a mostly unstable port at this point, a few key features appear to be working just fine, including the WiFi and web browser.

webOS Nation notes that the developer behind the Nexus 7 port got it up and running in about a week over his winter break from college — not a bad feat if you ask us, and it makes us forgive the fact that it’s not quite a stable build yet, since a lot of the essential features are still missing.

While there’s no doubt that webOS on the Nexus 7 is a downgrade in functionality compared to running full-blown Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, it’s nice to see webOS continue on, even if it’s in an unofficial manner and only runs on a few devices currently. Hopefully we’ll see more from the Open webOS team in 2013.

[via webOS Nation]

Now that the smartphone version is well established in the Android handset environment, the development team behind Flipboard is ready and willing to push forward to the full-sized tablet universe. This version supports both portrait and landscape modes, and is able to flip back and forth between tablet and smartphone modes for those of you with mid-size tablets like the Nook or the Amazon Kindle Fire. The Google Nexus 7 has been one of these in-between choices for Flipboard for some time now as well – now you’ve got two choices instead of one!

Flipboard is an app, for those of you that’ve never utilized it, that takes on the news you read every day – SlashGear, for example – and makes it into a fabulously easy to read and take-in experience that’s also rather simple to interact with. This is not your standard RSS feed reader – though it does interact with feeds if you want – it’s made to be a source for discovering new news sources as well. This optimization for tablets with Samsung goes something like this, per Flipboard’s press release: “And having worked with Samsung over the last year, Flipboard is optimized for Samsung’s tablet devices.”

This update is available on the Google Play app store right this minute for free – absolutely for free, imagine that! You can log in and look up SlashGear and Android Community right out of the gate and get your daily technology news in a whole new modern-cut styling everyone will love!

Today we’re seeing a set of photos on Picasa found by Nate Hoffelder at The Digital Reader, the same fellow who tipped us off to this pattern. What happened with several devices – both the Nexus 7 and the Nexus 10 included this year – is that several steps are taken by whoever is in charge of what we’ll call “Pre Announcement Press Leaks.” Imagine yourself falling into that role – then dismiss the idea that we’ll ever get confirmation that such a position exists because it would more than likely be a role that’s less than lawful.

What happens first is the device is made – of course. Next the specifications and a possible release date is leaked to the publication Digitimes. After that, a set of benchmarks is posted online (very basic benchmarks, mind you). Finally several photos are taken with the device and are posted to Picasa from an account that’s been used repeatedly for test photos – in this case it belongs to “ASUS ASUS”.

The photos in this album were taken yesterday and posted with a camera capable of a photo thats 1280 x 720 pixels from a device called ME172V. This name “ME172V” can be traced back to the benchmarks we saw near the end of November complete with specifications immediately before it.

At the moment we’re looking to deal with a $99 USD price point on a 7-inch tablet that’s got a 1024 x 600 pixel resolution display and a processor clocked at 1GHz – at the moment it’s not been clear whether this processor has more than one 1GHz CPU. The Nexus 7 has an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor and costs at least twice the amount that this rumored tab does – perhaps a lower-powered associate is in the mix?

It’s quite likely that we’ll be seeing this machine showing up at CES 2013 either at an NVIDIA event or at a surprise showing from Google. Stay tuned to SlashGear to get the full run-down on whatever it ends up being through our fabulous CES 2013 tag portal, and see you there!

[via Android Community]

All you’ve got to do, SlashGear readers, is have a peek at any one of our multiple Holiday Gift Guides for 2012 and let us know which device you’d like to have more than any other! Though it might make sense to simply say Nexus 7, it’s not going to affect your chances one way or another to say anything else! Have a peek at our full Nexus 7 review if you’re unaware of the excellence of this device. To make an entry into this contest you’ve only to follow the rules as follows:

1. Visit our [SlashGear 2012 Holiday Gift Guide collection] and check out every different set we’ve got, from Audio Equipment to Oddities, Tablets, Computers, and back again!

2. Pick your favorite device and post it in [this Facebook thread] along with a link to the SlashGear post and your reason for choosing it! (If you’ve not already done so, you’ll need to “like” SlashGear on Facebook to make the comment in the first place!)

3. Cross your fingers and hope that your entry will be chosen!

This giveaway starts on Monday, December 17th, 2012 and runs until Wednesday, December 28th at midnight. We’ll pick a collection of our favorite entries and from that set we’ll choose five winners at random, three of them in the next three days then two more on the 28th – we’ll announce the winners as soon as we get in contact with them – be sure to have your Facebook settings open to messages from SlashGear!

Competition is open to residents of the US only, over the age of 18. One entry per person. Family members of ASUS, Google, NVIDIA, and SlashGear/Android Community are not permitted to enter. Competition entries are only accepted via the specified SlashGear Facebook page; entries left in the comments section of this or any other post will not be recognized.

The winners will be contacted by an Android Community/SlashGear staff member upon being selected and will be expected to respond to that staff member; they will be expected to respond within 24 hours else their prize may be forfeit and another winner selected. Editors decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Winners agree that their name and details of their entry may be used for promotional purposes by, but not limited to Android Community, SlashGear, and NVIDIA.

Prizes consist of a pack including one Google Nexus 7 + mobile tablet and a $25 Google Play gift card. There are no other alternative for prize winners unless this prizes become unavailable, in which case SlashGear reserves the right to substitute another prize of equal or greater value.

Giveaway provided by SlashGear. Prizes provided by Secret Santa for SlashGear readers! Any questions regarding this giveaway should be directed to giveaway [AT] slashgear.com.

The Galaxy Note tablet includes the S-Pen and has a 10.1-inch display. The tablet is available on three different plans with varying subsidies. The tablet with 8 GB of monthly data allotment is available for £99.99 on contract for 24 months at £35.99 monthly. If you opt for the tablet with the 5 GB monthly plan, you will pay £199.99 and £30.99 monthly.

The 3 GB monthly data allotment plan will cost £25.99 monthly with £249.99 upfront for the tablet. All of those plans include Wi-Fi hotspot access. The Nexus 7 bundle for 8 GB of data will cost £29.99 upfront and £35.99 per month. The tablet bundle with 5 GB of data will cost the same £29.99 upfront with monthly access costing £30.99.

The final plan will give you 3 GB of data with the tablet bundled costing £49.99 upfront and £25.99 monthly for the service. All of those plans for the Nexus 7 tablet are on 24-month contracts and include Wi-Fi hotspot access. Currently the EE 4G service that these tablets operate on is available in 18 towns and cities with more coming by the end of the year. EE expects to cover 17 additional UK towns and cities by March of 2013.

The subscription will get you access to the full site, as well as the mobile apps, but you can also bump up your subscription to include the physical newspapers if you want. The subscription alone would cost you £300, but if it’s worth getting a Nexus 7 for 75% off, we don’t see what the problem is, especially if you actually plan on using the subscription and getting all your money’s worth.

The Times, which is one of the only major UK newspapers to keep its content behind a paywall, offers three different types of subscriptions. The Digital Pack is their basic plan at £4 per week, and it gives you access to the full site, as well as tablet and smartphone apps. The Classic Pack costs £6 per week, and that gives you physical copies of the paper, access to the full site, and access to the smartphone app. The Ultimate Pack costs £8 per week, and that comes with everything, including access to the tablet app.

If you were already planning on getting a subscription to The Times, we can’t think of a good enough reason not to take the deal and run while you still can. The Nexus 7 is one of the most popular Android tablets on the market right now, and for good reason. It comes packing with Jelly Bean, and a beautiful 7-inch display with a 720p resolution.

[via Android Community]

The results here tell just enough to get our rumors in order, starting with the name – and that code just allows us to pull up a keyword other than the “$99 Nexus” we’ve had thus far. We can also see that this unit is using a 400MHz Mali GPU, has a 1GHz CPU core – without mention of how many cores there are, of course, and a screen resolution of 1024×600 pixels.

In reality the much more likely situation is that ASUS is simply creating a low-cost 7-inch tablet for low release. This model will likely be sent across the earth to places where a much faster processor isn’t as necessary and where it’s much more important to have an extremely “low” price point. ASUS has seen significant success with the Nexus 7 at a low price point with deep connection to Google – no reason why they wouldn’t continue that trend across the planet.

This machine also has a microSD card slot – this essentially knocks it out of the running for a Nexus machine unless Google has a big change of heart on how a 7-inch Nexus should be accessible. The most likely situation here is that this is indeed an Android-running tablet from ASUS but that Google wont be using it as a Nexus – you’ll be seeing it on the market in a limited release outside the USA in the next several months.

[via Digital Reader]

This game has 22 levels, 24 puzzles, and 2 worlds per pack. There are two packs – that’s two applications, the second relying on the first to work – each of them with their own set of 22 levels, 24 puzzles, and 2 worlds. Worlds include Jungle of Amazonas, Mountains of Himalaya, Ruins of Egypt, and the Lost continent of Maralidia, and you get your bird companion Sasha the whole way through. This game takes what the original PC and console iterations brought forth and makes a miraculous re-creation here for the mobile environment.

You’ll be working with our good grave-robbing buddy and his fine feathered friend through this lovely collection of levels AS him or the bird. For bird controls you’ll be using your tablet or smartphone’s entire bulk to fly upward or downward – it’s no easy task! Avoid flying too low into the dust – you’ll get lost!

A couple things you may want to look out for before tossing cash towards this two-part beast download of a game: you need 1GB of space on your device for each half of the game. This is no small requirement, especially if you’ve got an 8GB Nexus 7. You’ll also want to be sure you have the first part of the game before you buy the expansion, as the expansion does not work without the first part. You’ll also want to be aware that this game works ONLY on devices running an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor – if you don’t know if your device does, generally Google Play will tell you, but in this case it appears that it’s only after you’ve made the download that the game itself lets you know – be careful!

This game is intensely immersive, full to the max with mind-bogglingly difficult puzzles and high quality graphics you’ll be surprised your mobile device can work with. It would appear that Fatshark has a winner on their hands as far as gigantic Android games go – just so long as you’ve got the space and patience for it: you’re going to go nuts with puzzling levels of death from start to finish!

The 3G-enabled tablet is shipping now, and Google says that it’ll take 3-5 business days to reach your front door. The Nexus 7 has a 7-inch 1280×800 HD IPS display (216 ppi) with an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM. It also comes with 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, and even NFC capabilities.

The Nexus 7 runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean out of the box, but it’s upgradeable to Google’s latest Android version, which is 4.2 Jelly Bean. The tablet weighs just 0.75 pounds and is only 10.45mm thick, which might not be as impressive as the iPad‘s thinness, but for a $300 tablet, you still really can’t go wrong.

The 3G version of the Nexus 7 is shipping now, and it costs $299. This will get you the 3G, as well as 32GB of storage, and an AT&T SIM card, but the tablet comes unlocked out of the box and is compatible with GSM, UMTS, and HSPA+ networks. Get it now in the Google Play store while it’s still hot.

Google has introduced a new price protection program for devices on the Google Plus Store. The program is pretty straight forward: if Google reduces the price of a device on the Google Play Store, it will refund you the difference provided you purchased the product within 15 days of the price drop. In order to get that refund, you’ll need to file a request with Google within 15 days after the price cut goes into effect, which you can do here.

This means that if you purchased a 16GB Nexus 7 on or after October 14, 2012, you can request that Google refund you the difference in price. Google says that if your purchase is eligible for the price protection program, you’ll have your refund within 14 days. Not too bad, and and we’re thinking that this program will make those who purchased a 16GB Nexus 7 in the lead up to its price drop happy.

It seems like this will be an ongoing promotion, so future price drops might be covered price protection. Were you one of the folks who purchased a 16GB Nexus 7 right before the price drop? If you are, will you be taking advantage of Google’s price protection program?

There are some stipulations, though, that you must meet in order to claim your voucher. First, you obviously would’ve had to purchase a Nexus 7 before October 29, which was the day that Google announced the price drop. Also, you have to register your Nexus 7 with ASUS and provide your proof of purchase.

Towards the end of October, Google announced a 32GB version of the Nexus 7, as well as 3G HSPA+ capabilities. They released it a price of $249 while bumping the 16GB model down to $199 from $249. Obviously, those who bought a Nexus 7 right before that date are most likely pretty upset, but ASUS is doing their part to make at least some of its customers happy.

In order to claim your voucher, you must submit all the required info by November 30, and the voucher itself is good through December 31. However, the voucher can only be used at ASUS’s online store. We’re not sure if ASUS will be bringing a similar program over the US, but it could just be a matter of time.

[via The Verge]

This game is out on the TegraZone and available for download on the Google Play app store for $2.99 – not one whole heck of a lot of cash when you see what this beast is capable of. Back when it was first available as a disk for your computer and Dreamcast, you’d have been shelling out several times that amount just to play in your home. Now you’ll be carrying around this masterpiece on any Tegra 3 toting device you own: Nexus 7 anyone?

The bad guys in this game are called the G’neg, ready to bust your skull open at the drop of a hat, and to defend yourself you’ve got a clone army of “Expendable” units. No relation to the muscle-sploitation films of recent years, mind you, these Expendable clones are made to be your representation on the battlefield, and you just get one at a time. Your prime directive is to leave no survivors, and your secondary mission is to destroy everything – everything!

Also of note: this game was originally designed and made by RAGE NEWCASTLE, a part of RAGE SOFTWARE PLC, but was taken over by license by Funbox Media – they’ve made it possible for you to continue the fun today. This game runs on all sorts of chipsets, but NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 processor has “all new effects tuned for Tegra hardware”. You’ll be seeing unique water effects, masses of extra particles, and advanced extra shadowing in the full deep dive with NVIDIA!

Check the rest of the NVIDIA TegraZone game collection in our NVIDIA TegraZone tag portal right this minute!

In tests up against the Google Nexus 7 and the Amazon Kindle Fire HD, Dr. Raymond Soneira of DisplayMate found that Apple’s competitors provided sharper displays, making it clear that they, “both have considerably sharper displays with 216 Pixels Per Inch, and they both delivered considerably sharper text.” Also tested where color gamuts, with the iPad mini coming up with a 62 percent.

Both the Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD have 86 percent color gamut while the iPad 3rd gen and the iPhone 5 have 100 percent color gamut. The iPad mini reflected 53 percent more ambient light than the Nexus 7 in these tests and 41 percent more light than the Kindle Fire HD. Color management processing, on the other hand, was found to be far above average on the iPad mini, this bringing high picture quality and accurate color reproduction across the board.

The iPad mini’s display resolution was up for discussion as far as cost goes – with DisplayMate noting that a retina display, 326-pixel per inch pixel density, would have cost a prohibitive amount given current yields in the industry. Apple’s traditional use of 1,024 by 768 pixel and 2,048 by 1,536 pixel resolutions meant that 163ppi was required with the iPad mini if it wanted to keep with the screen size and work with all legacy apps.

Of course that’s the real key for Apple – have a peek at our column Smart device specs are over, long live the ecosystem to see why it might not matter that the iPad mini has less sharpness in the end.

Of course, there’s no way to be 100% positive until Google gives us some official word, but our friends at Android Community point out that this new device is called the “ASUS ME370TG.” The original Nexus 7 was the “ASUS ME370T,” so it isn’t exactly difficult to connect the dots in this particular instance. What’s unknown at this point, however, is whether or not this 3G Nexus 7 will also be the 32GB model we’ve been hearing so much about.

At the moment, we’re going to go ahead and assume that it is, but it’s also possible that Google will reveal separate Wi-Fi-only and 3G Nexus 7s with 32GB of storage. In any case, it seems pretty clear now that Google will be announcing some kind of new Nexus 7 model during its event, so it’s officially time to get excited. After all, a new Nexus 7 model isn’t the only thing Google is rumored to have up its sleeve.

Rumors also say that it will be revealing the LG Nexus 4, along with the Samsung Nexus 10. It appears that there will be plenty of Nexus to go around, so now all we need to do is play the waiting game until October 29 arrives. Monday is just four short days away – are you ready for whatever Google has planned?

Munster believes Google’s “other income” line from its earnings report hints as to how many Nexus 7 tablets the company sold. The report showed a revenue of $666 million, up from $385 million during the same period last year. Munster thinks that “other” revenue may reflect Nexus 7 sales, which could’ve reached one million during Q3.

If Munster is right, that means Google sold over 10,000 Nexus 7 tablets every day on average since the device’s announcement back in late June. Google surprisingly hasn’t specified any Nexus 7 sales numbers considering that the company boasts about the number of Android activations there were in a given month or day almost every chance it gets.

Google’s Q3 2012 earnings report showed a profit of $2.18 billion, which is down from $2.73 billion a year ago. That’s $6.53 a share compared to $8.33 a share from a year ago. However, revenue went up for the company, reporting an $11.33 billion revenue. According to Google, an increase in expenses had a lot to with the lower profit. Expenses jumped 71% from last year.

[via ZDNet]

Unfortunately, landscape mode seems to be the only noteworthy thing in this update. The update is quite tiny, coming in at only 31.3MB in size, and most of that is taken up by general bug and stability fixes. It’s a shame that, aside from landscape mode, Android 4.1.2 isn’t anything all that substantial. Many Android users were looking forward to it, but now it appears that Android 4.2 is the update to get excited about.

Still, if you’re using a Nexus 7, the addition of landscape mode will make the download worth it. As stated above, this update also contains various bug, stability, and performance fixes, but as is usually the case, the bugs aren’t singled out specifically. That means we don’t know which bugs are getting fixed in Android 4.1.2, but just know that the fixes are in there.

Android 4.1.2 was released earlier today as an OTA update, but if you haven’t received it yet and are tired of waiting, Google has provided a download link to snag it directly. At least the update’s small size means that you won’t have to wait very long for it to download, right? Keep it tuned here to SlashGear for more information on incoming Android updates!

[via Android Community]

There’s been a tip that a 3G Nexus 7 on the way as shipped by Google. A new iteration of the ever-epic Half Life series is about to be popping up on the 14: Black Mesa for the masses. NASA has spoken about five major obstacles when it comes to putting humans on the planet Mars. Back on earth, you’ll want to see the iPhone 5 headphones that have been leaked to the masses.

Sony has made it clear that the folks at O2 will not be getting Ice Cream Sandwich on their phones so long as their phones are one of the following: Xperia ray, arc, or neo. If you want to move forward with your Samsung Galaxy S III – or any Galaxy device working with AllShare – you’ll be glad to know that the official AllShare Cast Dongle has appeared at retailers. There’s been a discovery of the shipwreck kind after Hurricane Isaac has hit the shores of the USA – a civil war ship, of all the oddities on earth.

China’s Baidu brand has finally brought on its mobile web browser if that’s the sort of thing you’re into. Freddy Mercury’s birthday has been celebrated by Angry Birds with a fabulous Freddie Birdcury animation you’re going to want to see. Bruce Willis is at war with iTunes – and that might be the most engaging news of the day – watch the fist fight!

Several years ago, such gameplay was relegated to consoles which were made specifically for such gigantic graphic tasks. With the current age of quad-core processors here on mobile devices such as the Nexus 7 (the device we’re having a peek at this game on), we’re able to do this and a whole lot more for a whole lot cheaper. The game Horn takes the Old English tales of King Horn and loosely crafts them into a magical arena of battle and exploration.

This game has you, Horn, moving through a village “overrun by fantastic, and sometimes humorous, monsters”. That said, you’ll have to make it through without giggling yourself to your doom – but you’ll have help! There’s a little beast that you carry around with you that sometimes spits some nastiness as the story moves on.

You’ll be working on enemies weak points, hitting heavy armor in all the wrong places, and working your way through waves of bosses, sub bosses, and “Golden Enemies” – cut them down for rare item drops! You’ll be collecting items, too – make sure you’re aware of what your carrying so you can be all you can be in the kill zone. There’s also an in-game store, a forge where you can upgrade your gear, weapons, amulets, and all sort of other items to rummage through.

There’s even a massive guide online you’ll want to find your way through if you want to survive your first few adventures – you might need it! This game is out (or will be very soon) on the NVIDIA TegraZone as well as the Google Play app store today – and it’s out for the iPad and iPhone as well starting earlier this month – grab it!

Another example of a bit of content that sat below the Google Searchbar on their own Google.com homepage was a small tribute to Steve Jobs the day he died. Google’s newest update appears to be one of the only instances where what could be construed as an advertisement has appeared with prime placement on their homepage. Reactions have ranged from the very supportive to the very negative, calling for Google’s head and saying that their original motto “don’t be evil” has been forever besmirched.

Instead of screaming about one side of the situation or the other, we’re going to go ahead and offer you a look at the device Google is showing off. We’ve got a full review of the Nexus 7 and have had quite a few hands-on experiences with the device since it was revealed at Google I/O 2012. This tablet brings a rather inexpensive $199 pricetag to a quad-core processor-toting 7-inch touchscreen attached to a relatively light and thin chassis. The device is manufactured by ASUS and carries Google’s newest mobile operating system version Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

The link that Google connects you with brings you straight to the Google Play store online where you can see the $199 8GB internal storage version of the slate in black. The white model you see in the review above was released at Google I/O and is limited edition (thus far) for developers and other attendees of the convention only. Have a peek at our timeline of Nexus 7 hands-on and featured posts to gain more insight into the workings of this lovely little beast.

Are my cards secure?

With Google Wallet you’re able (starting this week) to add your whole collection of credit and debit cards. Once your cards are in your account, you’ll be working with NFC to wirelessly charge money essentially the same as a credit card does. To enter a card into your Google Wallet account, you need to enter the number on the card into your mobile app, your online wallet, or into your Google Play account (which uses your same Google login) when making a purchase. Though you do not need to make a purchase to enter a card, it does make the whole process seem like less of a chore.

Once you’ve got your card or cards entered in to your account, your locked-down mobile app version of Google Wallet will have that card – or all your cards – on record and ready to use whenever you need them. Each time you use a card, you’ll see a transaction record on your phone or tablet instantly with the merchant name and the dollar amount listed clearly. This information is also emailed to you instantly if you wish, and all of your account history can be found in your online wallet.

You can access your Online Wallet here: [Google Wallet Online]

All of your cards are stored on “highly secure” Google servers, as they make sure to make clear on all documents for the system. This is opposed to keeping all the cards on your phone locally where they can be hacked – because they’re in the cloud, they’re actually a bit more secure, in this case. The only way a person can gain access to your cards is with your wallet ID. Your wallet ID is a pin number you create yourself – this number is stored in the “secure storage” area of your phone or tablet.

Our original hands-on with Google Wallet can be seen here:

What if I lose my phone and someone had my pin number AND ID card?

If someone has your phone or tablet, your pin number, and looks similar enough to you that they’re able to pass off your driver’s license as you, you might be in trouble. If that extremely rare and near-impossible situation should arise, Google has another solution for you. Remote Disabling is a new feature of Google Wallet with the update that’s just been dropped this week. With it, you’re able to visit the Devices section of your online wallet, select the device you wish to disable, and poof! It will no longer be able to be used by the villain.

What this service actually does is to remotely reset your mobile wallet, this then making it impossible for the person whose stolen your device to use the wallet unless they go back and enter in all your account information manually once again. At that point it would be easier to kidnap you and steal your real wallet. But you don’t have a real wallet anymore – you’ve got Google Wallet!

So all is well and safe and secure – and you’re ready to go!

You can get Google Wallet on a select number of devices right this minute, including two of our favorites, the Nexus 7 and the Galaxy Nexus. You can check out our hands-on with Google Wallet from back when it was first released and you can check our our full review of the Galaxy Nexus as well as our full review of the Nexus 7 too – grab em!

The first accessory is a “Premium Cover” for the Nexus 7. ASUS describes the cover as being made from genuine leather, and it will have a microfiber material on the inner flap in order to keep the screen clean. The case is said to be hardened and reinforced to protect against tumbles, and several colors will be available, including red, orange, black, and white. The cover will ost $39.99 and be available by the end of August.

Next up is a desktop dock for the tablet. Many were wondering what the 3-pin connector on the side of the tablet was for, and it looks like it was added to take advantage of accessories such as this. Having said that, the dock is very basic: it only includes a microUSB port so you can supply power to the tablet, and a 3.5mm headphone jack for audio output. There’s no video output of any kind, as ASUS had to scrap the necessary silicon inside the Nexus 7 to keep costs down. The dock looks to cost $49.99 and be available on August 24th.

Finally, ASUS will be offering additional 10W wall chargers for the Nexus 7 in case you lose the one that comes in the box. ASUS will offer options for the United States, UK, Australia, and Europe, and a 90cm long microUSB cord will also be thrown in for good measure. They’re a little pricey at $24.99, so it might be worth shopping around for an alternative.

[via Phandroid]

This tablet has gotten rather famous and wanted rather quickly as Google revealed the product just weeks ago at their very own developer conference in California, Google I/O 2012. This conference also had all attendees getting the tablet (and several other goodies) for free while the general public had to wait just a week or so. Now the tablet appears to be all but sold out across the whole entire earth with Google hopefully pushing hard to replenish stock.

Now right after the first official TV ad has been released for the tablet, Google is once again pushing hard to get the device in the hands of many. Or at least they’re making a grand effort to make the tablet seem ubiquitous as they rely on it to be the one and only controller for the Google Fiber Gigabit + TV deal users will be grabbing very, very soon.

The Nexus 7 will have an official Google Fiber TV application installed on it when it arrives in Kansas City users’ homes, and we expect we might get a peek at the functionality of the system in greater detail soon as well. Stay tuned, and hit the timeline below for all the Google Fiber news you can handle!

With the dropping test, the Nexus 7 came out barely damaged, with the touchscreen still fully intact and only showing a few scuffs on its backside. The drop wasn’t so easy on the iPad, which ended up with fewer scratches on the backside but cracked glass on the front. In the second drop test – in which both tablets were pushed off the side of a concrete bench to simulate falling off a table – the results were pretty similar. Once again, the Nexus 7 made it out with only a few scratches on the back, while the iPad suffered a cracked front for the second time.

After those tests were done, SquareTrade took the experiment into the bathroom, where the team of testers dropped both tablets into a bathtub full of water while both were running. When they were pulled from what should have been a watery grave, the Nexus 7 was still working properly, with the display, audio, and the touchscreen all functioning the way they should. The touchscreen on the iPad still worked, as did the display, but audio was a different story as the team couldn’t get any audio playback from the iPad after it took its afternoon dip.

So, there you have it folks, the Nexus 7 holds up better against drop and water damage than the new iPad does. To see the full test, check out the video posted above, and be sure to take a look at our reviews for both the Nexus 7 and the new iPad!

When asked about support for the Nexus 7, OnLive online support replied, “We don’t have support out for it yet, but we hope to shortly.” There is no specific date for Nexus 7 support offered, but considering that the tablet has a lot of buzz, I would imagine OnLive is working hard right now. The Universal Controller sells for $50 and connects to Android tablets, smartphones, and other devices.

OnLive has been around for a while now and is a streaming video game service that streams games over a Wi-Fi connection at quality comparable to that found on modern consoles and computers. Perhaps the best thing is that the games offered are actual PC versions, not mobile versions with watered-down controls and graphics. Another cool thing about OnLive is that one account will let you play on your computer, tablet, and other devices.

[via Gottabemobile]