Report: 3G Nexus 7 Tablet to Launch in Six Weeks

By Jane McEntegart
published

Just in time for the holiday rush.

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.

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Jane McEntegart
14 Comments Comment from the forums
  • xAlex79
    Anything portable that does not have 3G connectivity in 2012 was designed by engineers going to school on the short bus.

    Oh sweet my tablet cannot access the internet unless I am in a WIFI spot... What is this? 1998?

    I am gob smacked to see how many people actually buy WIFI only devices.
    Reply
  • vertical777
    3g phone -> wifi hotspot -> wifi only device
    saves you cash on buying a 3g tablet, eats up your phones battery though
    Reply
  • chuckydb
    xAlex79Anything portable that does not have 3G connectivity in 2012 was designed by engineers going to school on the short bus.Oh sweet my tablet cannot access the internet unless I am in a WIFI spot... What is this? 1998?I am gob smacked to see how many people actually buy WIFI only devices.Most people actually coudn't care less about 3G on a tablet.
    The price offered by acrriers just isn't worth it.
    Even on my phone I blocked the Data completely and saved over 30$ a month, and I'm sure I am not the only one. So would I pay an extra 50$ for 3G on my tablet, absolutely not.
    Wifi only, who cares, it's not like it isn't gonna work offline.
    Reply
  • amdwilliam1985
    @xAlex79
    Not everyone wants to pay for another data plan like you.
    My $200 tablet can get access through internet through my SGS2 through wifi hotspot for FREE.
    No way I'm paying extra for 3g/4g chips that I'll never use.
    Reply
  • killerclick
    xAlex79I am gob smacked to see how many people actually buy WIFI only devices.
    I don't take my Nexus 7 out of the house, and even if I did, my phone has 3G and can be a Wifi hotspot for any Wifi-only device I'm carrying... which happened zero times so far. In fact I don't use up even 10% of the data cap on my phone, so I definitely don't need a 3G tablet (or a 3G laptop modem or anything like that).
    Reply
  • Nakal
    I can see us using this at my business. We are still looking at tablet devices for our technicians to use in the field as content consumption devices as well as some basic notations for trouble tickets and the like. My boss was impressed by the 7" Nexus tablet but was concerned about lack of 3G.

    I do agree that for many, lack of 3G is not a big deal. Even for my personal one, I don't tend to miss it. However, I can see the necessity as not all of our buildings have WiFi yet (or wifi throughout the building due to old designs), and for those in remote locations, or in a vehicle that still get cell connection, these could be really useful.
    Reply
  • darkchazz
    Hopefully this one does not have the damn screen separation issue =.=

    Also, my wifi-only nexus 7 is going to be my first and last device with a tegra SoC if nvidia does not drastically improve GPU performance in Tegra4.
    Seriously, when my old dualcore/mali400 SGS2 outperforms my new "powerful" quadcore rooted-and-overclocked nexus 7 in every single game out there, you know the gpu s***.
    Reply
  • altriss
    Crap I hoped there would be ad on about micro SD reader... The very lack from my point f view, as I don't want to use the Cloud...
    Reply
  • killerclick
    darkchazz.Seriously, when my old dualcore/mali400 SGS2 outperforms my new "powerful" quadcore rooted-and-overclocked nexus 7 in every single game out there, you know the gpu s***.
    To be fair, SGS2 is just over a year old, and Tegra 3 is just under a year old. Also, 1280x800 vs 800x480 = 2.6 times more pixels to push on the Nexus 7, and finally it costs half of what SGS2 goes for even now.
    Reply
  • darkrydr3
    Shoot, I only use my phone in wifi places anyways. There is ALWAYS a wifi connection where I live
    Reply