Nexus 7 2 tipped for July release

Rumors about the second-generation of the Nexus 7 keep heating up. We thought we'd see the device at Google I/O back in May, but that never happened. Now, it's expected to land sometime later this year. Specifically, the latest rumor in the mill is that the next-gen Google slate will arrive later this month.

The model number for the next-generation Nexus 7 is said to be ASUS K009, which we saw earlier last month. The original Nexus 7 was made by ASUS and we wouldn't have any reason to not believe that the second-generation Nexus 7 would be made by ASUS as well, although the Nexus 10, which is Google's latest tablet, was made by Samsung.

On the inside of the second-gen Nexus 7, it's said to house a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor clocked at 1.5GHz with 2GB of RAM and starting out at 16GB of internal storage. There would also be a 5MP rear camera and WiFi n, Bluetooth, and even NFC.

As for the display, it will remain the same 7 inches that it's always been, but will receive a higher resolution of a rumored 1920x1200. That's quite impressive, and we're guessing the pixel density will look pretty good on that 7-inch screen. Of course, the original Nexus 7 already has a good-looking display, but this'll hopefully be even better.

As for price, that's still up in the air. Japanese translations mention a $229 price tag and another website mentions $299. Does this mean that the year of a $199 Nexus 7 is gone? Probably not, as we'll most likely see a lower-tier Nexus 7 take the $199 slot, but it's possible we could see a decked out Nexus 7 cost slightly more than a couple of Benjamins.

VIA: ggsoku, Ringer's Blue Men