Cool site. Lots of interesting to watch for those looking to get more in-depth.

As most of you know it was two weeks ago today that Google announced their new 7 inch Android tablet, the Nexus 7 running the new Jelly Bean version of their OS.  If you were lucky enough to be attending the Google I/O event...the annual, national Google pow wow for developers...then you probably received a special Google I/O edition of the Nexus 7 as one of your party favors.   This edition of the tablet is identical to what consumers will be getting in a few days when they start to arrive in our mailboxes except for the color of the back 'leather-like' material.  The Google I/O editions have a white back and the standard editions have a dark gray color. 

But what if you want a part of tech history and would like to nab one of these white Nexus 7s but you weren't an esteemed Android developer that went to the event?  Better yet...what if you could get this 'white' Nexus 7 before all your Android craving friends?  Well good news...there are a number of these developer edition tablets available for purchase on Ebay...right now...although you'll have to pay the price. 

Now to be sure the developers that are selling these white tablets know that they can charge a premium.   It is estimated that about 6000 were given out during the week long event and it would appear by the number of white Nexus 7s floating around on Ebay quite a few have decided to make a quick buck by putting theirs on sale.   Most of them have been opened and used...but are in pristine shape.  I did spot at least one that claims it is still sealed and unopened in the original package.

So just what is that premium you'll pay?  How about an opening bid of $260 for an 8GB model or this one starting at $379!..and those are for units that have been opened and briefly used (although probably 'as new' condition).    Want a 'sealed' white Nexus 7?   How about trying your luck at this one which is starting bidding at $300 but with 6 days left to bid it'll certainly go higher.

So what do you think?  Is it worth spending the extra dough to get one of these Google I/O Edition White Nexus 7s?  Think they'll become collectors items?   How much would YOU pay?

Ordered mine the first day available on Google Play (fingers crossed).  Noticed Nexus 7 popping up everywhere on internet (Fry's, Future Shop, etc) priced from $249 (16g)  all the way to $499!  All with varied delivery dates, most later.

Who's selling it for $499?  That's nuts!

Yes, the Nexus 7 is not 'locked'.  You can import or download any Android App you want with no restrictions as long as it's compatible with the 4.1 version of Android.  There's no special 'procedure'.  You just download the App from whatever site you buy it at or you move it to your device through the microUSB hooked up to your laptop/desktop.  Easy as pie.

Well technically you can watch movies that you've either downloaded...or you can also watch movies by streaming them to your device through a service such as Netflix, Hulu+ or Google's Play store.   Depending on the movie or video service you use you can get a subscription per month that allows you to stream multiple movies or you can also purchase movies one at a time.   Typically if you're an average movie watcher it's more cost effective to have a subscription or at least rent movies online rather than purchase them outright.  But if you have particular favorites you want to watch multiple times then a purchase might be the better route.

Movies and videos exist as a 'file' just like a word processor document, spreadsheet or App does except in a different format (usually MPEG4, MP4 and H.264) that enables it to play video content.  You  can download a file you've purchased from an online store where it will be saved on your device or you can also take a movie file from your desktop or laptop computer and move the file over to your device via the microUSB connection on the Nexus 7 if it is connected to your computer.

Now most people tend to 'stream' their movies by either subscribing to one of the services I mentioned above which needs a Wi-Fi connection to work.  If you were going traveling on a place let's say that didn't have Wi-Fi available and you wanted to watch a movie then you'd want to download the actual file to your device so you could watch it whenever you wanted without being connected to the internet.  I hope this helps

Here's some links to popular movie/video online services.  There are many more but these are a good start.  Also on your Nexus 7 device will be apps that directly connect you to some of these.

http://Netflix.com
https://play.google.com/store (then select 'movies & tv)
http://www.hulu.com/

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.

With our Nexus 7's due to be delivered in the next week or two I thought I'd pose the question:  What apps are you MOST looking forward to using on your Nexus 7?