In just a few days now, Google’s Chrome and Android chief Sundar Pichai will be joined by a slew of journalists and media types to nosh on some breakfast and show off the newly-revamped Nexus 7. If you haven’t yet had your fill of leaks, none other than @evleaks has come through with one final (seemingly press quality) image of the updated tablet and its gigantic bezels ahead of its July 24 unveiling.
Yeah, the new Asus-made tab doesn’t look too different from the version we’re all so used to, though the dimples that flecked the back of the original are gone, and that front-facing camera has finally found a friend in a 5-megapixel sensor that sits on the device’s rear. One of the bigger gains here is the addition of a much higher resolution 7-inch display — the updated 7′s screen will run at 1920 x 1200, a big leap from the 720p panel we saw the first time around. As usual, we can’t discount what’s ticking under that redesigned hood, and the new Nexus tab is expected to pack a quad-core chipset running at 1.5GHz, 2 or 4GB of RAM, and dual rear-facing speakers.
Perhaps most tantalizing is the possibility that the Nexus 7 redux will offer up our first real glimpse of Android 4.3, unless you count those leaked builds that started trickling out soon after Google began selling its Google Play Edition Ones and S4s. Mobile aficionados poking around those leaked builds have already pointed out improved touch sensitivity and support for low-energy Bluetooth, but I suspect that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
You can expect to see the new Nexus 7 in the Google Play Store, but a few big-box retailers seem to be getting in on the launch action as well — images from Staples’ internal employee news system point to a July 31 release date, but now it looks like ailing electronics retailer Best Buy is gearing up to launch the device on the 30th instead. Whether the tablet will pop up in the Play Store in ahead of then is another question entirely, but the broader retail reach from the get-go is much appreciated considering the issues Google had getting the original Nexus 7 out to its customers. Let’s just hope there are enough to go around.
ConversionConversion EmoticonEmoticon