Where Did You (or plan to) Order Your Nexus 7?  Google Play?  GameStop?  Perhaps you plan on going through Staples?  Waiting for more retail or online outlets to get the Nexus 7?  Let us know where you're getting yours!

Yes, we're fanatical Android lovers and we're proud of it so when Google and Asus launch a tablet we want to know every last nitty gritty detail about the hardware we're about to plunk our hard earned cash on.  Well I'm happy to say that upon perusing the Asus product page for the Nexus 7 I stumbled upon a few more details that previously hadn't been reported about our beloved 7 inch tablet and while I dare to say it's all good news I have to admit one item raises a bit of a question. 

First the good news:   As you can see in the screen capture of the specifications below from the Asus site it looks like the Nexus 7 will have both stereo microphones as well as speakers.  We previously found out the Nexus 7 had dual speakers from the iFixit teardown but this is the first time I'm aware of seeing that we're also getting stereo microphones.   Another nice spec that while not new certainly hasn't gotten as much buzz as it warrants is the 10 point multi-touch.  Considering the Kindle Fire only has 2 point multi-touch (can you even call that multi? 'dualtouch' anyone? ) it should be getting more press.


Moving on to the sensors area we see a 'Hall Sensor' which is a term used for the 'magnetometer' and is used to sense changes in magnetic fields.  I also hadn't heard mention of an E-compass and the G-Sensor is another name for the 'Accelerometer'.

Next up is an official name for the myserious Corning 'scratch resistant' glass that is used in the display.   Google and Asus specifically stated that it technically was not using 'Gorilla Glass' and thus many have wondered just what it was?  Well it's being called Corning 'Fit' Glass for what it's worth and how it compares in strength and scratch resistance we'll just have to wait and see.  We're also being told the the Nexus 7 display uses TruVivid Technology which apparently improves color clarity.


Further down the page we come to the one 'mystery' item that should be interesting to test out.   We all know by now that the Nexus 7 includes a front facing 1.2 megapixel camera but according to the graphic below this camera will have a feature called 'Single Motion Panoramic Mode' and will also be able to take 720p video.  Now this sounds a little strange to me considering we're talking about a 1.2 megapixel front facing camera.   Are we to assume then that Asus is expecting us to hold up our Nexus 7 tablets with the screen facing away from us and to pan the tablet horizontally to take automatic panoramic pictures similar to what you'll find in a good point and shoot camera?  Is this feature a leftover from a time when the Nexus 7 featured a back camera?  What do you think?  Should be interesting to try this in person.


All in all though it's good news and I definitely recommend you check out the Asus Nexus 7 site as there's a few cool graphics and pictures that we haven't seen released before. You can get there at this link.

We actually brought you this story last week during Google's I/O conference but we didn't have video at the time.  Well up above you'll see a short video of the 'Easter Egg' that exists within the newest version of Android, version 4.1, also called 'Jelly Bean' being displayed on the Nexus 7.  Now for those new to Android...or at least the history of 'Easter Eggs' a little history is in order. 

Google has given each new edition of its Android operating system an internal code name consisting of some kind of dessert in alphabetical order.  Starting with version 1.5, 'Cupcake', the history of these names has been:

1.5 Cupcake
1.6 Donut
2.0, 2.1 Eclair
2.2 Froyo
2.3x Gingerbread
3.x.x Honeycomb
4.0.x Ice Cream Sandwich
4.1.x Jelly Bean
5.x ? (Perhaps Key Lime Pie or Kandy Kane?)

Now ever since Gingerbread, version 2.3 the company has also hidden an 'Easter Egg'...a cute graphical animation of some sort that shows the 'dessert' of that particularly version of the OS.   In order to get to it you typically have to tap, swipe, press or otherwise do something with your tablet or phone to get to the 'Easter Egg'.  In the case of 'Jelly Bean', the current version of the OS it's as easy as repeatedly tapping on the version number in the Settings menu.   A giant red Jelly Bean appears and if you press and hold him a screen with all kinds of assorted Jelly Beans and even a candy cane appears that you can flip off screen with your finger. 

This has led to speculation that the next version of Android 'might' be called 'Kandy Kane' instead of what had thought to be leaked previously, 'Key Lime Pie'.   Of course 'Kandy Kane' would be a deliberate misspelling of 'Candy Cane' so many don't believe Google will go that route.  But it's causing all kinds of heated debate among the Android faithful.

So what do you think the next version of Android should be called? 

One of the many new highlighted features of the Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) operating system that was introduced at Google I/O a couple of weeks ago and that comes pre-installed on your Nexus 7 tablet is 'Google Now'.   Since its introduction there seems to be a bit of confusion as to exactly what 'Google Now' is...with some well-known tech publications (BusinessInsider/Slashgear..cough..cough) actually getting it wrong and confusing 'Google Now' with the voice activated 'assistant'.  It's actually a bit understandable why some might be unclear what 'Google Now' is because at first glance it actually sounds a tad confusing but I'm here to shed a little light and 'clarity' on the issue. 

Ok, so what exactly is 'Google Now'?   'Google Now' is in essence a 'predictive' technology that uses contextual information such as current location, location history, web history, calendar and appointment information, and more to bring you information on your device that could be valuable or useful to you 'automatically'.   By automatically I mean that you, the user, doesn't actually have to do a search, either through text or voice to get the information.   Your device, in this case the Nexus 7, once Google Now is activated, will be noting what you typically do each day...such as what appointments you have, what modes of travel you use, what things you do and where and at what time you do them.   It even will note things such as what sports scores you look up so that it can 'automatically' have the scores available for you when the next game is played...all without you even asking.

This video might make things a bit clearer and I'll go into some specific examples after you view it:


Now 'Google Now' is in essence a form of 'artificial intelligence' technology and more to the point is kind of like an always on assistant that notes what your usual patterns and interests and activities are each day and creates a predictive model of your behavior.  So the more and the longer that you use it...the better it gets.   If you have certain types of restaurants or foods you like it will potentially tell you...around mealtime...what options are close by that you might be interested in.   'Google Now' can also know when you leave for work in the morning and if you're running late...it can warn you and give you a message to get going.   

Now Google's engineers have put each separate capability on what it calls 'cards'.  With this initial launch they're starting with 10 'cards'...but more are promised.  The initial 10 are:

Traffic
Get traffic conditions and alternate routes before you leave for work. Google Now also puts traffic to your next likely destination at your fingertips.

Public transit
When you’re near a bus stop or a subway station, Google Now tells you what buses or trains are next.

Next appointment
When you have an appointment, Google Now checks traffic so you can know how long it'll take to get there. You even get a notification for when you should leave.

Flights
Google Now keeps you up to date on flight delays and traffic conditions to the airport for flights you've recently searched for.

Sports
Google Now keeps you updated on your favorite sports teams in real time, with live scores and upcoming games. You can even can buy game tickets on the fly.

Places
When you’re on the go, Google Now will suggest nearby bars, restaurants, and places of interest. You can quickly jump to Google Maps to get more info, reviews, or even make a reservation.

Weather
When you start your day, Google Now shows weather for your current location and work.

Translation
Google Now helps you find just the right word when you're away from home.

Currency
Use Google Now to quickly check the local conversion rate when you're traveling.

Time at home
When you're in a different time zone, Google Now shows you the time at home so you never feel too far away.

Now it's a bit unclear how far Google's engineers are going to go with this technology but let's look at some of the almost infinite possibilities for a minute.

*Let's say you have your spouse's birthday coming up and you've noted it in your calendar.   'Google Now' could remind you to buy her/him a present.   
*If you have a meeting scheduled for early the next morning and it's 1am and your walking around Manhattan, 'Google Now' could conceivably 'remind' you that you might want to get some shuteye to be fresh for that next morning's meeting. 
*As they mention in the video, 'Google Now' can notify you about sports scores but imagine if you could set it up to notify you when a stock reached a certain buy or sell price or when a new piece of electronics you've been waiting for has gone on sale at an eStore or even when that girl you had a crush on changes her status to 'single' on Facebook.   

In other words while 'Google Now' is a new product and is limited to some useful travel and basic daily appt and location uses for now, in time this could really be an amazing 'always there' personal assistant type technology.   It could easily be combined with Google's voice 'Assistant' to bring a 'Siri' (Apple's personal assistant) on steroids type of experience that would be far more powerful because it wouldn't rely on you asking anything.  It just would know your life, interests and plans so well it would always be on top of things before you even had a chance to ask.  Depending on which 'cards' they decide to add in the future you could build a customized experience that would enable...and encourage your own specific goals.  It could conceivably be almost a combination assistant/life coach.  The fact that the Nexus 7 is the first device to get this amazing new technology is a big part of why I'm so excited to receive mine.  It should be a lot of fun playing around with the potential of 'Google Now' and I expect we'll have lots of discussions about it in the forum.

So what do you think about 'Google Now'?   Cool or creepy?  What potential uses do you see for using this 'predictive' technology?


Google Now

Ever since the introduction of the Nexus 7 last week many had thought that Google had decided to set their new tablet to use the 'phone' layout of Android 4.1 since the 'Home' screen is rigidly set as a portrait orientation with the notifications bar on top.   A couple of days ago we showed a hack that had been developed to trick the Nexus 7 into showing a more 'tablet'-like landscape view for the Home screen. The 'hack' artificially changed the screen size in a system file to make the software think the device was larger than 7 inches and therefore trigger the 'tablet' UI which gave a landscape orientation with the notifications on the bottom right.  So is the Nexus 7 set in 'phone' mode?  Well...no.  We now know that isn't quite the case.

JR Raphael, over at ComputerWorld has spoken to some techs at Google and has since learned that there are actually THREE different screen layouts in Android 4.1 depending on the size of screen you are using.   There's a 10 inch layout which is landscape based.  There's a phone layout for small screens with a portrait orientation.   Then there's the 7 inch layout...which is a sort of a combination of the two.    Each is designed to maximize that particular form factor.

In the 7 inch Android 4.1 layout the Home screen is indeed in portrait mode but some applications will customize themselves to best use the screen real estate depending on the orientation of the tablet.  An example below is the Gmail application.  When in portrait mode and held vertically you'll see a single pane display but when oriented horizontally, you'll have a dual pan landscape display like this: 



Now, we know what you must be thinking.  Isn't this going to cause 'fragmentation' if different devices have to have different layouts for the same app?  Well...no.  You see if an app is programmed correctly using Jelly Bean's tools,   the OS actually handles the changes 'on the fly' automatically.  That's one of the beauties of Android 4.1.   It has been specially designed so that developers can have one app with multiple screen size customizations depending on the screen.  There's no need to have separate apps.  Here's how Android enginner Dianne Hackborn explains it:

For developers, when designing your app to scale up from its phone UI, this mostly means you should pick the break point at which any major change in your layout should occur and let the layout managers take care of all of the sizes in-between. ...

Android's density scaling was designed to be able to support arbitrary densities, by including the concept of density in all of the UI specifications of the application (bitmaps, measurements, etc) and using layout managers for final pixel-accurate placement of UI elements. ...

You don't need to supply bitmaps for every possible density; Android will scale your bitmaps (typically when they are loaded) to match the current density.

So in a nutshell:  7 inch tablets are not using a 'phone' UI.  They are using a unique combination of elements...some taken from the tablet UI, some from the phone UI and some unique to the 7 inch form factor.  All as part of the goal of maximizing each screen size to its best potential.


Source: ComputerWorld

During Google's I/O conference last week where the Nexus 7 and Android 4.1 were both introduced, we got a brief look at the new voice activated search 'assistant' in Jelly Bean which many have compared to Apple's 'Siri'.  While I was impressed during the demo at the conference the above video by Android Community's Cory Gunther really blew me away.   

There's no doubt that Google's 'Assistant' sounds much more human than Apple's 'Siri' and the ability to understand relatively rapid speech with little or no errors is also impressive.   Now obviously this is a technology that is continuing to evolve rapidly and as Google improves the technology we can expect more and more Artificial Intelligence features to make its way into the new 'Assistant'...which since I can't find any other name given to her I've chosen to name 'Gabby'.     What do you think? Is gonna be a fun feature to play around with or what?  Seems to blow 'Siri' out of the water, no?

Note: (While Cory calls this 'Google Now' in the video, that is actually a different feature that I will go into in a future article. This video is the voice actuated search 'assistant')


Source: androidcommunity

Samalex (Sam) has graciously offered to help with some of the moderation in the forum.  He'll be helping me keep posts and topics in the right place, deleting spam, answering questions and generally helping to grow and improve the forum so it'll be a great resource for all of us Nexus 7 owners.   Feel free to let either of us know if you have any suggestions for articles, topics, new boards or anything else you'd like to see at Nexus7Forum.com and Thanks for your help Samalex!

BFM (Rob)