Back in July, Google finally took the wraps off its hotly anticipated 7-inch tablet. Priced at $199 and directly competing with the Kindle Fire, the device features a 7-inch display, Nvidia's quad-core Tegra 3 processor, and WiFi. What the tablet doesn't have is 3G. However, all that may change in the coming weeks.
Paul O'Brien over at MoDaCo cites an inside source that says Google is working on a 3G model of the Nexus 7. Little else will change, but Asus is said to be ramping up production for a launch that's reportedly scheduled for six weeks' time. Precise launch dates and countries have yet to be confirmed, but we imagine the U.S. will be among the first to get the new Nexus 7.
Aside from adding some 3G connectivity on top of the device's 802.11a/b/g/n, there's no other hardware changes. Those purchasing the new device will get the same 7-inch, 1280 x 800 HD display, quad-core Tegra 3 processor, 12-core GPU and 1GB RAM. The tablet also features the aforementioned 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, as well as NFC, GPS, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, a mic, and a 1.2-megapixel camera on the front of the tablet.
No word on pricing for the new 3G model, either. Currently, the Nexus 7 is priced at $199 for the 8GB model, while the 16GB model will set you back $249. If we had to hazard a guess at pricing, we'd say you might be looking at $249 for the 3G 8GB and $299 for the 3G 16GB.
