What Surface RT tablet?! These are purported photos, courtesy of BriefMobile, of the Nexus 10 tablet Google will announce on October 29th in New York City.
If the specs that surfaced on the site are to be believed, then fasten your seat belts, this is going to be one heck of a tablet-laden holiday season. Along with the iPad Mini and iPad 4, and just released Surface RT (pretty darn good), there’s a ridiculously welcome amount of choice.
The Nexus 10 which will be Google’s first Nexus-branded 10-incher is shaping up to be quite the beast. Of all the specs posted on BriefMobile, the one that really leaps out is the rumored screen resolution:
2560 x 1600 resolution.
Wow. Yep!
That’s about 290 pixels per inch… and you know what that means? We have a new display champion. If true, the high-res screen would even top the gorgeous retina screen seen on the iPad 3 and also the new 4 (thanks Apple, my 6 month old “new” iPad is ready for Craigslist).
Other notable specs: Samsung Exynos 5250 Dual-core Cortex-A15 (1.7 GHz), 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, 5MP rear camera, NFC, Bluetooth, and on and on. With one exception: there’s no SD card reader. To some that ommission will hurt. For me, the cloud is the thing, so this is a non-issues if it holds true.
Here’s a shot of the Nexus 10 homescreen which will ship with Android 4.2 (Android API Level 17):
Android 4.2 features updated gallery, and camera apps. In addition, it looks like multiple user accounts will be supported. A quick settings bar will be added which provides quick access to wi-fi, brightness, and other things we like to tweak day-in, day-out.
Again, huge caveat: these are the typical “leaked” photos we almost always see leading up to any tech product release. For the most part, they’ve proven true. The iPad Mini was a non-event really. And the Surface we’ve seen for months and months – official photos and hands-on articles for that matter. There really are no secrets in tech, just bruised egos, lattes, and Skittles.
Oh, one more thing. It appears the build quality is mighty fine. Per BriefMobile, “The device’s back feels like brushed aluminum, says our source. There are rubber coated edges, and it’s extremely light and thin.”
However, as many have noted, the design doesn’t exactly inspire. What’s with the overly-large bezel? Those things can’t disappear soon enough (see flat-screen televisions for a hint of where tablet design is headed). Then again, a competitive price point could appease virtually all concerns in this regard.
In addition to the larger tablet shown above, expect Google to announce a 32GB version of its well-received Nexus 7 tablet, and to unveil the 2012 version of its Nexus smartphone (most likely to be made by LG from what I can tell). Consumer direct via its Play Store looks to be a major tenant of Google’s strategy for competing with Apple.
Nexus this, Nexus that. Spot a trend?
Nexus is the new Droid. And Google is making some smart, bold moves in unifying its products under the brand.
I’m pretty impressed with the Surface RT tablet (and Win 8 is running well on my desktop, and I like it save for that missing Start button), and the iPad Mini isn’t half bad (though the display disappoints), but for my money I’m all-in on Android. My unlocked ’11 Samsung Nexus HSPA+ — a superb smartphone — will soon be riding off into the sunset once the LG Nexus 4 is confirmed (though how I wish Google’s own Moto would be anointed the Nexus crown). Now I just need to decide if a Nexus 7 or 10 is the perfect companion.
[BriefMobile]