The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) website shows that the group certified the Asus Nexus 7 tablet sporting Android 4.3 "Jelly Bean" on Sunday, May 27.
According to the listing, the Nexus 7's "ME370T" design name and model number haven't changed, indicating that Google plans to update the original Nexus 7 tablet along with launching a revised version later this summer. After a little digging, the Bluetooth SIG database shows that it originally certified the 7-inch gadget for Bluetooth 3.0 (as the Eee Pad MeMO) on May 18, 2012, and then again on November 1, 2012, with Android 4.2 "Jelly Bean" (JVP15F). Now it's back, this time with Android 4.3 (JWR11).
Saying that this listing is possibly the new revamped Nexus 7 doesn't make any sense, so we'll just ignore those reports. Meanwhile, back on May 17, the Bluetooth SIG said that Android 4.3 was due to hit devices in the coming months, and will include native support for Bluetooth Smart Ready and Bluetooth Smart devices. Smart Ready essentially refers to devices that feature Bluetooth 4.0 with a dual radio, including the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5, the BlackBerry Z10, Microsoft Surface, Motorola DROID RAZR and more. Bluetooth 4.0 will undoubtedly be in the next-gen Nexus 7 tablet.
Just last week, sources said that Taiwan-based Elan Microelectronics reportedly just began shipping touchscreen controller ICs for the updated Nexus 7, indicating that the updated tablet won't be available until July 2013 at the earliest. That said, the second-generation Nexus 7 presumably won’t show up for Bluetooth certification for at least another few weeks. Again, Google will probably launch Android 4.3 on the original 7-inch tablet, possibly before or simultaneously as the upgraded model hits store shelves.
Details surrounding the second-gen version are mixed. Some reports claim that the quad-core Tegra 3 has been replaced by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 SoC, the same 28 nm chip that's in the Samsung GALAXY S4 and the HTC One. The chip features four Krait 300 CPU cores clocked up to 1.9 GHz, an Adreno 320 GPU core, built-in dual-band Wireless AC and Bluetooth 4.0, and more.
Other reports claim the tablet will have Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 Pro SoC. This 28 nm chip packs either two or four Krait CPU cores clocked up to 1.7 GHz, an Adreno 320 GPU, and support for 1080P video. Other features include dual-band Wireless N and Bluetooth 4.0, support for camera up to 20 MP, and 3G/4G World/multimode LTE on select chips.
The next-gen Nexus 7 will also supposedly support a 1920 x 1200 resolution, a 16:10 aspect ratio, and uses LTPS technology. Other features will include a smaller 4,000 mAh battery, a 5 MP camera on the back and a 2 MP camera on the front.
