Google Launches Nexus 7, a $199 Tablet Computer

[engine]

Google Launches Nexus 7, a $199 Tablet Computer [bbc.co.uk]

Google has unveiled the Nexus 7 - its first own-brand Android tablet.

The device is made by the Taiwanese company Asus rather than the firm's own Motorola hardware unit.

It will be sold for $199 (£127) from mid-July pitching it directly against Amazon's Kindle Fire. It is set to be released in mid-July.

The 7-inch device has a smaller screen than Apple's bestselling iPad and is 340g meaning it is also lighter to hold.

It also features Google's Chrome browser at its default option - the first Android device to do so.

[MrSavage]

Can we talk politics on this one? Here's what I think. This is the Kindle Fire/Amazon.com/any other 7-inch tablet killer. It's like an ant trying to take you or me on in a fist fight. Squash?

When you have the power of a search engine with a market share such as it is, releasing a vehicle like a $199 tablet pretty much ensures relevance and dominance. It's game over. Period. If you think I'm wrong then I suggest you don't "get it".

[jwolthuis]

I suggest you don't "get it".

What's there to "get"? It's a 7-inch toy to check emails and read books... same as my Nook tablet. I enjoy my tablet for what it can do, but "game over", really? I suggest, "hyperbole".

[MrSavage]

It's called the tip of the ice berg.

[superclown2]

Where are the apps for it? Without them it's just one more bit of hardware in a market dominated by big fish. I predict failure.

[travelin cat]

You gotta believe that the Google Play content store will have thousands of apps available soon.

[incrediBILL]

If you think I'm wrong then I suggest you don't "get it".

Alternatively, you don't get it. I'm casting my vote that way.

It has nothing to do with Google's size, it has to do with some of the stupid stuff Amazon and B&N are doing and they currently have the obvious home team advantage which they're bungling big time and I'll explain bwlow.

Where are the apps for it?

As a Nook tablet owner, a rooted Nook FWIW, there's tons of apps for the Android tablets.

When it comes to competing with B&N and Amazon it's a content issue, not an App issue.

Between the Kindle Fire and the Nook, the Nook was obviously the winner as far as hardware and overall technology was concerned which is why I own one. The iPad is probably by far the superior device but hardly worth the extra $300 for what little more it provides. Problem is the Nook tries to reign in all the customers to only use the Nook's marketplace which is limited compared to Amazons and is why people root the Nook to make it a general purpose Android device and gain access to general Android stuff.

I think the Nook was a good contender to dethrone the iPad if they hadn't been such jerks toward their customer base trying to maintain such a tightly walled community to get every last penny spent in B&N's pocket. Being able to access a USB keyboard on these low end machines was another massively bad omission from the B&N Nook. The people at the helm of the B&N Nook are the ones that don't "Get it" and Google will probably clean their clocks because of their naivety.

With the wide open Nexus, that walled garden strategy of Nook and Fire is history and if the two booksellers keep heading down that same delusional strategy they'll get their collective butts handed to them on a platter.

More importantly, this development makes a very clear price point established between the Android mass market crowd of $250 or less for Google, Amazon and B&N, selling tablets for "the rest of us" vs the overpriced stuff from Apple, MS and Samsung.

At the lower prices, and the fact that most people use a browser for most of their computing these days, these Android tablets will probably kill off the netbooks and if we're lucky it'll be the swift demise of the Chromebook for sure.

In the end, Google's move will probably prompt Amazon and B&N to step up and bring better tablets to market, so I'm thinking this is going to be a good thing.

Now it's time to sit back and see how this all plays out ;)

I predict failure.

Don't quit the day job for a career in clairvoyance.

[frankbomarito]

This is just another step on the way to $100 which is the value I place on tablets.

They have their place but as this article [techcrunch.com ]shows teens who grow up on handhelds still prefer to use laptops (37%) or desktops (30%) to surf the web.

[incrediBILL]

What the heck does techcrunch know?

I could print a bunch of meaningless statistics and people would be quoting them as well.

All of us old timers that grew up watching Kirk and Picard sign duty rosters and other Star Fleet orders on a tablet want our tablets! :)

BTW, $100 has already happened and you can get them from several sources but you wouldn't want that hardware, plastic junk. The right price and quality sweet spot seems to be in the $200 range and then you throw another $30-$50 on it upgrading the SD card immediately.

[MrSavage]

People miss the point on this entirely. Perhaps people missed the memo. I'm not being critical, I'm just calling it as I see it.

If you are Samsung or Toshiba you are in the "game" to make profit. Amazon and especially Google? They don't give a rats A about profit. The tablet is a vehicle to sell you other stuff. Didn't you watch the keynote from today?

It's game over because guess what? Samsung and company need profit to sell hardware. At $200, guess what? They can't do it.

For all intents and purposes Google could have sold this tablet at $100. The loss is meaningless. The revenue and market share gained in the other areas far far outweighs anything else.

This topic barely scratches the surface of what's really going on. Yes it's just a tablet but when you look at the entire picture, the rollout today was far far far greater than that. Like most things it takes time for people to catch on. You could say that the tablet being a vehicle to sell other stuff to you for profit is in fact a mirror image of what search has become. It's not about search anymore and tablets aren't about the hardware anymore.

Again, if you disagree with my points, fair enough. Obviously you would be the type to start engineering a 7-inch tablet to compete with the Nexus 7...

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

Special features of this over priced frisbee include gps tracking so they know where you are and remote access so that they can... I don't want to know. I no longer trust the private/personal data gathering voracity of this company and so have little interest in any of their products. I miss the old Google.

How far can YOU throw a GTab ?

[ByronM]

Now i see why MS did the deal with Barnes and Noble, its not about the hardware at this formfactor anymore, its about the services.

Sucks to be an OEM who wanted to enter this space

[incrediBILL]

Now i see why MS did the deal with Barnes and Noble, its not about the hardware at this formfactor anymore, its about the services.

They're ultimately competing with the Apple iTunes and AppStore because the recurring sales of music, movies and apps is where the real money is, not the hardware. Think automobile, you could either sell a car once or sell gasoline daily which all cars need. This is why the other Android tablet makers really don't get any press or make any noise because the consumers don't understand that you can still gain access Amazon or B&N content using the same Kindle and Nook apps (gasoline) on cheaper hardware by other vendors.

Google has yet to successfully create that ecosystem nor do they have that mind share so either Google has to build it all from scratch or educate the masses that any tablet can access that content by bundling the Kindle or Nook eReaders. FWIW, Google could probably earn the same amount of money leveraging a 3rd party content provider and getting a revenue share vs. building one from scratch. Then it gets complicated about who you pick, how do you force customers to use the revenue sharing version vs. the other Kindle/Nook version already in the marketplace, etc. and if you tick off the wrong vendor you risk the other jumping ship to Windows 8 and considering MS invested in Nook, the obvious bet for Google would be to partner with Amazon/Kindle is they're even willing to play.

The fun really starts when you stick 3G/4G/LTE in the hardware and then the wireless broadband providers think they're entitled to some of that content generated cash flow besides their broadband fees.

Lots of greedy hands out there before we even get around to the advertising aspect which Google has a pretty good reign on already.

[StoutFiles]

It's game over. Period.

Depends. A lot of people who want a tablet already have one. They now have their money invested into the Amazon or Apple marketplace. It would be difficult to lure those customers away.

This will sell, but it is not "game over" for anyone.

[netmeg]

Just cause they have one doesn't mean they won't buy another one. I have three, and just gave a fourth one away.

[bakedjake]

Again, if you disagree with my points, fair enough. Obviously you would be the type to start engineering a 7-inch tablet to compete with the Nexus 7...

All of G's Nexus devices are essentially developer reference kit. They're terrible at marketing hardware (and I'm saying this as a happy owner of a Galaxy Nexus phone).

This is a device aimed at developers, not consumers. You won't see this on the shelves at Wal-Mart. It's a reference platform for 4.1. Nothing more, nothing less. It's not an iPad killer, and it's not an Android tablet killer (which aren't even selling that well anyway, except for maybe the Kindle Fire).

B&N and Amazon

You don't buy something from a bookstore because you want a tablet, you buy it because you want an eReader.

IMHO, this thing won't make a dent in Kindle/B&N tablet sales. But I think tablets make terrible eReaders, so I might be wrong (and biased) here. I'm an eInk kinda guy.

This is why the other Android tablet makers really don't get any press or make any noise because the consumers don't understand that you can still gain access Amazon or B&N content using the same Kindle and Nook apps (gasoline) on cheaper hardware by other vendors.

Consumers buy a toaster because it's quicker and easier (and arguably works better) than making toast in an oven.

The Kindle experience on my iPad is terrible compared to the Kindle experience on my Kindle. Just saying.

But I agree with you about the content and services being where the money is at, Bill.

If you are Samsung or Toshiba you are in the "game" to make profit.

It's game over because guess what? Samsung and company need profit to sell hardware. At $200, guess what? They can't do it.

There's a lot of HW guys getting out of the tablet business. Samsung is effectively out in the US by injunction at the moment. I read an article where the CEO of Vizio said "yeah, it's cool, but not profitable for us".

But you're also assuming Google has the marketing savvy of Toshiba and Samsung. They don't. They don't have the retail or support infrastructure. The Galaxy Nexus is a relative consumer dud. The tablet probably won't do any better.

The iPad is probably by far the superior device but hardly worth the extra $300 for what little more it provides.

You're not the average consumer Bill.

Apple is a lifestyle brand. Like Louis Vuitton.

[incrediBILL]

You don't buy something from a bookstore because you want a tablet, you buy it because you want an eReader.

You be wrong. Again. :)

Amazon is more than a bookstore, it has an App store, movies and more for the Fire and likewise for the B&N Nook.

Also, by that logic you would buy an iPad from Apple just to listen to iTunes ;)

I hardly use it as an eReader, nor does my wife, nor do my friends that own the same. Even my sis-in-law who's an avid reader now plays more games and watches more video on the Fire since it does more than her original Kindle.

For me the Nook was a well built and well priced tablet, that's why be bought it, that's why my friends bought it as well, had nothing to do with eReading. Sure, I've read a book or two on it, but mostly I watch video and play games on it just like everyone else does.

The only reason the Nexus will be on my shopping list is because it has all the hardware I wanted that the Nook and Fire are lacking to be a full blown tablet.

You're not the average consumer Bill.

Apple is a lifestyle brand. Like Louis Vuitton.

You must hang out with yuppies as I'm as average a consumer as they get.

Apple isn't just a brand, it's a religion, huge difference because people will irrationally pay whatever it takes to own it whether they can afford it or not.

[bakedjake]

Also, by that logic you would buy an iPad from Apple just to listen to iTunes ;)

No, but I'd buy an iPod to do that. ;-)

You must hang out with yuppies as I'm as average a consumer as they get.

I don't think I've ever been called a Yuppie! :-D

Respectfully, no you aren't. Average consumers don't compare specs on tablets, phones, computers, or anything else generally beyond very simple to understand things, like screen size. They walk into Best Buy and buy the first thing that appears to be cheap and good for what they want to do.

When you say "tablet", the first thing that pops into people's minds is iPad. It's sexy. They've heard about it because it was on the front page of a newspaper. It makes you feel cool and futuristic when you use it. It makes people who don't have one look at you with envy.

That's the definition of lifestyle brand. It's not a religion, it's simply really good marketing.

Amazon is more than a bookstore, it has an App store, movies and more for the Fire and likewise for the B&N Nook.

Sure, maybe, I believe you, but I don't agree with you. The Kindle Fire is around 5% of the market. The iPad is around 70% of the market. Because of the Kindle Fire's association with Amazon, most people think of it as an eReader first and a general media consumption device (tablet) second. Look at how Amazon themselves even position the Kindle Fire: [amazon.com...]

Just look at that page. It screams "I AM A COLOR EREADER"

I'm not speaking to how good (or not) the product is, I'm just talking about consumer perception. The Kindle Fire, and the Nook, are eReaders first and tablets second in the minds of most consumers.

The Galaxy Nexus Tablet and Fire/Nook will not be perceived the be the same device type by most consumers, if consumers even hear about the Nexus Tablet.

[MrSavage]

All great points (including my own) but if you look at the big picture here it's much more than "just another 7-inch tablet" story. How do you get customers to buy something from your store? You need to get them in the store. So what is Google search if not the largest people grab on the planet? If you get people in your store, you have a pretty darn good chance to get them into one of your services/products especially when you're giving a lot of it away for free.

I really don't think most people listened to the entire Google roll out yesterday. The tablet is merely a #*$!le on the elephant's A. If you think this is a story about the Nexus 7 tablet, you're mistaken. It's part of the hook, line and sinker. You decide which part it is.

All this said, it's a great great tablet. Asus is fantastic and I wouldn't be buying a Kindle Fire or second gen Kindle Fire over this. Nobody can match this for price and quality. Amazon can if they are willing to take a loss on it even moreso this time with next gen. In that battle of who can last longer without making money from a tablet? Duh. Google of course.

[incrediBILL]

Just look at that page. It screams "I AM A COLOR EREADER"

Which part?

The caption is "Movies, apps, games, music, reading and more, plus Amazon's revolutionary, cloud-accelerated web browser "

Note that reading is 5th down on the list and they highlight the <cough> revolutionary web browser and books is pretty much at the end of each bullet item on the list, hardly pushing the eReader aspect.

It screams "IT'S A FULL BLOWN TABLET!"

But you're just reinforcing my original premise that these tablets are being sold as part of the complete ecosystem which is why out of the dozens of tablets out there the only ones that sell any substantial quantity have a complete support ecosystem which is what the consumer really wants, a turnkey appliance.