We realize here at Nexus7Forum.com that the Nexus 7 Tablet is going to have a lot of first time tablet owners as well as first time users of Android and Google services joining the fold with some of us more experienced folk.   Thus, we thought we'd start a series of front page articles that highlight some of the really cool features and applications that new inductees to the world of 'Google' might not be familiar with.  One such feature is 'Google  Hangouts'.  So just what are 'Hangouts'?  A 'Hangout' is in its most basic form, a video chat over two or more devices but Google's Hangout feature can also be so much more. 


In a Google  Hangout you can have up to TEN people chatting simultaneously with all of you appearing on screen to everyone else.   The 'Hangout' automatically puts the person that is speaking on the large screen with others in small boxes across the bottom and can detect when the conversation changes to change who is on the main screen.   Of course you can manually select who is on the main screen as well.  There's other cool features too like the ability to simultaneously send text messages to all of those in the Hangout or to select a YouTube video to watch on the main screen with all those in the Hangout watching together.

It's group video chatting made easy and the potential applications really are endless from having your entire family all having a Google Hangout at once, 'Hanging Out' with a group of friends or having a business meeting or conference remotely with everyone taking part in a Google Hangout.  Now all of this is free and all you need is a compatible device (like your Nexus 7) and a Google  account.  Oh, but that's not all Google Hangouts can do...


With 'Hangouts On Air' you can live stream broadcast yourself to the world through your Google  Profile, your 'YouTube' Channel or your personal website.  Again, Google  Hangouts makes what used to be a convoluted and/or costly process as simple as a few clicks.  Your 'Hangout' is automatically saved to your 'YouTube' channel and you can 'share' this video with others.  Imagine hosting your own video blog or show that people around the world can watch...all just using your Nexus 7 or laptop and your Google  account...and all at no cost.   Pretty amazing stuff.

Now there's much more to Google  Hangouts.  As part of Google  you can search and see other popular 'Hangouts' that have been made available to the public to watch.  There's also a bunch of fun tools that can be used to liven up a conversation with friends.   We're even going to be experimenting a bit here at the Nexus7Forum.com and host a few Hangouts of our own for forum members and see how we can integrate this into the community.  Wanna learn more?  Head on over to the link below.

Staples is also offering the $25 credit and Transformers movie if I recall right.  Not sure if this is a universal thing or not.

Oh, I don't know that you two are necessarily disagreeing.  It all depends on which perspective you are coming from; a prospective buyer or current owner.  A new buyer wants the latest and greatest most up to date specs and software but once you make that purchase and are now an owner you want that device to be able to be relevant for as long as possible.

I think tablet technology is reaching a point now, similar to what happened to PCs about a decade ago, which is they'll run most software available for at least 5 years or even longer but if you have a very recent machine it will perhaps have certain apps that can take advantage of the increased power.

I'll use an example of playing and/or editing 1080p video.  The vast majority of Windows PCs from 5-10 years ago can run all the basic Office suite and financial applications like Microsoft Word, excel etc and also most other software and even most games if lower resolution or frame rates are reduce.  But if you want to play or edit full 1080p video on you PC typically only more recent machines with the latest and fastest processors and enough ram can handle it.

Does that make all older PCs obsolete if it runs everything or 90% of what a person uses it for?  Not sure that it does.  I have a 1st generation iPad that still runs 95% of apps available.  It doesn't have a retina display or camera but I don't think of it as obsolete...just not cutting edge anymore.

Because the screen is 7 inches measured diagonal.

Banaum is your evil twin...didn't you know? LOL

Oh, I think sound quality with headphones will actually be very good.  I wouldn't worry about that at all.  In fact, even without headphones the Nexus 7 has stereo speakers and while they're not gonna give you much bass they'll do in a pinch.   Several companies have also announced audio docks are coming out with high quality amplified speakers that you can 'dock' the Nexus 7 into and enjoy movies on.  You might want to look into one of these if you're going to be doing a lot of movie/tv watching and music playing.

Several tech sites are reporting that the Nexus 7 devices received by developers during Google I/O are currently receiving an Over The Air (OTA) update to their Android operating software bringing the tablet's version to 4.1.1.   This is a minor update with the most notable change being the addition of 'Google Wallet' to the device.   This should allow Nexus 7 owners to more easily use NFC (Near Field Communications) mobile payments.   While no change log has been issued by Google outlining the specifics improvements the company has issued a statement that the update includes some performance tweaks so we can probably expect even snappier performance.   

Of course this is all normal and it's good to see Google is actively improving the OS.  Us 'normal' people that receive our Nexus 7's in the next week or two can expect to receive this and any other OTA update soon after we fire up our tablets.  Having the most up-to-date and 'latest and greatest' version of the Android Operating System is one of the perks of owning a 'Nexus' device afterall.