Google unveiled various products at the Google IO developer conference in San Francisco yesterday. Some of the new gadgets and devices are very interesting and quite intriguing.
The new Nexus 7 tablet (co branded ASUS) has a few very interesting angles. Tech: Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core CPU (12 core GPU), 7 Inch screen resolution is 1280 x 800 (good for gaming and reading books…), comes with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC (Near Field Communications – no 3G). It has a front facing camera and the 9 hours of full operating battery life drives the new Android 4.1 Jelly Bean release. At 340 grams and a price tag of around R1600 (in the USA) it is good value for money and it is much much cheaper than the iPad. Yes, it has a lower screen res, but at the screen size, does it matter? No.
Then there were Google Glasses, the futuristic-looking eye-glass-computers that can live-stream events, record, and perform computing tasks which will only be available to consumers in a year or more…
The brand new Nexus Q (Google TV) device is also very interesting. It has a built-in amplifier that lets users stream content from Android devices onto their TV, basically a wireless home media player. Specs: 12.5 watt per channel amplifier, features a dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor, 1 GB RAM and 16 GB of storage. But the real thing that makes it interesting is that it is manufactured in the USA. Does this signal a potential return for electronics manufacturing in the USA? Currently basically everything is made in China. From Apple to Samsung to well everything. Everything except the new Google Nexus Q.
Google also released a new function in Jellybean: a smart assistant. The assistant is real smart, it knows where you are, what you like, what you search for and makes recommendations based on an arsenal of data about you.
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In other tablet news, Yesterday a US judge placed a ban on the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the USA. In a case between Apple and Samsung this order was granted in favour of Apple. Samsung may now not sell it’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 anywhere in the US.