How convenient. Google starts handing out invitations to a special event next week, and a leaked slide showing the prices of the next-generation Nexus 7 tablets appear.
There's already speculation that the new tablet will hit the stage next week sporting Android 4.3 "Jelly Bean". Not too long ago, the tablet landed on the FCC and Bluetooth SIG with the new Android update, and in May Nexus 7 component suppliers claimed that the second-generation tablet would show up in July. Even the Bluetooth SIG said back then that Android 4.3 would be arriving in the coming months, backing up all the talk that the new OS would arrive with the second-generation Nexus 7 this month.
Now this price leak. It seemingly confirms the speculation that the tablet is arriving this month, and that it will likely be launched next week during Google's special event. If it's real pricing, of course. According to a screenshot of retail inventory software, the 16 GB version will retail for $229 and the 32 GB version will retail for $269. What's interesting is that the 32 GB model shows up three times.
This could mean anything, and all four listings show a quad-core chip. So far the specs, as listed by the FCC, will consist of a 1980 x 1200 display, a 5MP camera on the back (Chicony), a 1.2MP camera on the front (LITEONMOBILE), a 4,000 mAh battery and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 600 28 nm SoC. This 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.
However the second-generation Nexus 7 leak doesn't stop with the pricing. Documents have surfaced revealing that OfficeMax will have the 32 GB model in stock by July 20, and will be sold alongside the original Nexus 7 for now. Android Central even has pictures and a video which could be based on a prototype, and not the finished product. The report also refreshes previous talk that Google may offer Wi-Fi only models alongside ones with cellular data connections.
Android Central's report also points out that the FCC saw a Snapdragon S4 tablet in addition to the Snapdragon 600 model, which backs up the listed motherboard on the prototype showing Qualcomm's APQ8064 with a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor. It's SKU2, meaning there may be two second-generation Nexus 7 hardware sets: one with LTE support and one without, both Snapdragon-based. The prototype specs also show 4 GB of DDR3L RAM although the final product may only sport 2 GB.
Having fun yet? We're betting all the pieces will come together next week during Google's special presentation.
