During last month's Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco, the company introduced the newest edition of their Android operating system, version 4.1 also known as 'Jelly Bean'.   While many of the most noticeable features were discussed during the conference such as 'Google Now', Project Butter', the 'Chrome For Android' browser, and the improved voice search 'assistant' there's a host of smaller, but arguably just as important improvements that the company didn't get a chance to demo to the crowd. 

Enter the Official Android 4.1 Jelly Bean 'Change Log'.  Google has just released a page on its website that goes through all of the little and not so little improvements of Android 4.1 over its predecessor 4.0, 'Ice Cream Sandwich'.  If you're really interested in learning all the little things that will make your Nexus 7 running on Android 4.1 special then you might want to read through it.   You'll pick up on some of the cool improvements like the revamped transitions on the  Calendar App or the new keyboard.  You'll notice that there are several '7 inch tablet' specific improvements that are mentioned throughout. 

From Accessibility to Camera  and from Notifications to Networking, there's literally dozens of improvements and new features.  One of our favorites is the new embedded speech recognizer which let's you do voice to text 'Voice Typing' with uncanny accuracy.  You could quite literally dictate that book you had in your head without touching the keyboard.  Click the link below for MUCH more and let us know in the comments which Android 4.1 improvements strike you as the coolest and most useful. 

I've posted the 'Forum Rules'.  Please read these so you can make sure your posts adhere to our guidelines and you can help build Nexus7Forum.com into a great community.  Thank you.

They are located here: Forum Rules

Have you received your Nexus 7?  We're curious when about when our forum members receive their devices.  If you like tell us where you ordered yours from as well.

The forum at Nexus7Forum.com is made up of a wide array of people from all over the world that share a common interest in the Nexus 7 Tablet and the Android operating system.  The skill levels of various members range from absolute beginner to seasoned developer and we encourage those more advanced to help those less so to learn.  Before you start to post please read through these rules so you can follow our guidelines and help in creating a positive, constructive community for all.  If you have any questions or are unclear of something please contact one of our moderators or admin staff.


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Admin

It seems the release of the Nexus 7 Tablet to consumers is imminent with multiple stores reporting that they have the new 7 inch Google/Asus tablets 'In Stock'.  Multiple tech sites and individuals across the web (some in this forum) have made calls to such stores as GameStop, ABT, B&H Photo, Adorama, EBuyer and more and told that while they have the Nexus 7 in stock at the moment that Google has asked that a hold on the tablets be placed until it gives the official word to go ahead and ship or sell.  When exactly this release will come is up for some debate with estimates ranging from as soon as tomorrow up to the 19th or so.   Most likely this is to ensure that those customers that pre-ordered from the Google Play store receive their orders either first or simultaneously with the release at retail. 

Here are some of the retailers currently either having Nexus 7 Tablet 'in stock' at the moment or that will imminently.

Office Depot
Adorama
ABT
eBuyer
GameStop (pre-orders only)

Of course most major retail chains as Staples and Office Depot will also be selling the Nexus 7 in-store, but it might take a few days or weeks before pre-orders are filled and they have stock to sell to walk-in customers.  Also...remember that all locations except the Google Play store sell the 16GB version priced at $249.  If you want the 8GB version at $199 you'll have to purchase through Play.Google.Com

So you've scoured this and every other tech site from head to toe.  You've poured over the specs of your pre-ordered Nexus 7 so much you've got every last detail from the Tegra 3 to the dual mics to the IPS display's manufacturer leaving ghost images on your eyeballs.  Well...surprise!  You won't find THIS feature written anywhere officially by Google in any of the materials we've seen yet for the Nexus 7.   It seems one curious owner of a Google I/O Nexus 7 stumbled upon a magnetic 'Smart Cover' Sensor when playing around with his device and a magnet.  As you can see in the video above when a magnet is held to the lower left corner of the device while the screen is on it turns the display off.   


Now there's no word from Google if this is an official feature we can expect when using one of their official cases although if you scroll down to the covers on this Asus page it DOES call it a 'Smart Cover'.  Did Asus sneak a feature in there undocumented by the big G?  Does this mean the Nexus 7 is in for a copyright fight with Apple to use such a technique?  Let us know your thoughts in the comments.  Yay or Nay on the 'Smart Cover'?


AndroidPolice

iSuppli, a company well known for doing teardowns and providing estimates of both component costs and manufacturing has told 'AllThingsD' their preliminary results for the costs of the Nexus 7 and they come in quite a bit lower than the $184 we saw from UBMTechInsights last week.   According to Andrew Rassweiler, the leader of the teardown team for iSuppli, the 8GB Nexus 7 costs $151.75 and the 16GB $159.25 with the difference being an additional $7.50 for the extra 8GB of memory.   When marketing and distribution costs are factored in the company estimates that Google will break even on the 8GB model and make a small profit on the 16GB one.  Mr. Rassweiler offered:

“Like Apple, Google realizes it can boost its profit margin by offering more memory at a stair-step price point. It’s getting $50 more at retail for only $7.50 more in hardware cost, which sends $42.50 per unit straight to the bottom line.”

Some other interesting tidbits from iSuppli's teardown include some comparisons with Amazon's Kindle Fire.  Apparently the display in the Nexus 7's IPS display cost a bit more ($38) than the Kindle Fire's ($35) non-IPS.  The camera on the Nexus 7 adds about $2.50 and the Nexus 7 also sports an NFC chip which the Kindle Fire lacks.  Of course the Nexus 7 also features the Nvidia Tegra 3 quad core processor while the Kindle Fire has a last generation dual core.  One last hardware feature that stood out was the combination gyroscope/accelerometer by Invensense.  Typically these are separate chips but in this case they are combined.

Now an explanation for the Nexus 7 component cost discrepancy of $30 between the UBMTechInsights estimates and iSuppli is probably due to the fact that TechInsights never actually did a tear down of the tablet and only guessed at components without having one in hand.  The iSuppli estimate is far more accurate.   So it looks like Google is making a small profit overall on the hardware although they are certainly looking to make most of their profit by selling content from their Google Play store.  We'll have pictures and more details when they become available with the release of the full iSuppli report.


IHS iSuppli
AllThingsD

Last week we showed you iFixit's teardown of the Nexus 7 and their estimate of $184 for the materials to build Google's new tablet.  Well today we bring you some pics from UBMTechInsight's turn at the teardown with a complete list of components below and some 'insight' into what companies received design wins to build the tab. 

At the center of the device of course is the Nvidia Tegra 3 processor, which can be seen below in diffusion layer.  The Tegra 3 has won a boatload of design wins over the past months powering everything from Asus' own Transformer Prime to Microsoft's upcoming 'Surface' ARM variant among others.  It's a good choice too...featuring 4 main cores plus a 5th core for low power applications.  All that and a 12 core GeForce GPU to handle graphics tasks.   


Another winner in the Nexus 7 contract contest is Hynix, which not only is making the 1280x800 display for the tablet but also the 2GB DDR3 SDRAM memory modules on the main board.  Broadcom also has multiple wins with their BCM4330 802.11n Bluetooth transceiver and BCM4751 integrated GPS receiver both part of the Nexus 7 internals.  Overall the component list you see below is a worldwide effort with such well known names as Kingston, Texas Instruments and Fairchild all contributing to the $199 tablet.

Key Component Listing
NVIDIA Tegra 3 – Quad-core mobile applications processor
Hynix H5TC2G83CFR – 2Gb DDR3 SDRAM
Kingston KE44B026BN/8GB – 8GB Memory Module
Realtek (RMC) ALC5642 – Audio CODEC + Headphone Amplifier
Maxim MAX77612A – Power Management IC
Texas Instruments TPS63020 – Buck-Boost Converter
Fairchild FDMC6675BZ – P-Channel Power MOSFET
Texas Instruments SN75LVDS83B – LVDS Display SERDES
ELAN Microelectronics eKTF3624BWS – Controller for Resistive Touchscreen
ELAN Microelectronics eKTH1036BWS – Controller for the Resistive Touchscreen
Broadcom BCM4751 – Integrated Monolithic GPS Receiver
InvenSense MPU-6050 – Six-Axis (Gyro + Accelerometer) MEMS Device
AzureWave AW-NH665 – 802.11n WiFi / Bluetooth / FM Radio module
NXP Semiconductor PN65 – Secure NFC Module

So what's the final tally of the Nexus 7's cost?  Well we'll have to wait for iSuppli's manufacturing cost breakdown that they're known to do on all tech devices but with estimated costs of $184 for components alone and the additional costs of manufacturing, marketing and distribution it's fair to say that Google isn't making a dime on the 8GB version and probably only a modest profit on the 16GB variant.   If the Nexus 7 is the 'razor'...Google is hoping that you buy lots of 'blades' in their Google Play store.


ubmtechinsights