We probably weren't the only ones disappointed that new hardware didn't pop up like spring flowers at Google I/O last week. For the longest time we had heard that Google would at least throw a new Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 at consumers during the keynote, but that didn't happen. We know there's an updated Nexus 10 out there – our trusted pals at Bright Side of News actually caressed it during CES 2013 in January – and there's been enough talk and sightings to indicate that an updated Nexus 7 is the real deal. So where are they?
Based on a DigiTimes report, the smaller Nexus tablet may not arrive on the market until July. Taiwan-based Elan Microelectronics reportedly just began shipping touchscreen controller ICs for the updated Nexus 7, and believes revenue will ramp up in May and June. Sources said the company expects to see its growth margin strengthen to 50 percent in the second quarter, up from 48 percent in the previous quarter.
According to a long string of rumors and reports, the updated tablet will arrive with Android 4.3 "Jelly Bean", and rip out Nvidia's Tegra 3 in favor of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 SoC, the same 28 nm chip that's supposedly in one of the rumored Motorola XFON handsets not to mention 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, support for 2048 x 1536 screens 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 20MP, and 3G/4G World/multimode LTE on select chips.
The new Nexus 7 will supposedly have a better screen, supporting a 1920 x 1200 resolution at a 16:10 aspect ratio. It will also use LTPS technology which is supposedly comparable to Apple's Retina display quality on the current iPad. Other features will include a 5MP camera on the back, a 2MP camera on the front, and a smaller 4,000mAh battery.
