Google aims at Apple with new Nexus phone, tablets

New Delhi, 29 Oct 2012 (TOI): Google announced two new tablets and a new smartphone on Monday, aiming to take on Apple’s iPhone and iPad in the smartphone and tablet market. Incidentally, the announcement came around half an hour before Microsoft was supposed to kick off its Windows Phone event in San Francisco.

 

The devices launched under the brand name Nexus, which is Google’s way of differentiating its products from other devices powered by Android. Nexus 4, which would replace Galaxy Nexus as ’pure’ Android phone, was the highlight of the lot that Nexus 10, a 10-inch tablet, and an updated model of Nexus 7.

 

Nexus 4 has been built by Google in partnership with LG. It is powered by a quad-core processor running at 1.5 Ghz and Adreno 320 graphics chip. The phone has a 4.7-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1280 x 768 pixels. It has two cameras - 8 mega pixels primary camera and 1.3 mega pixels front camera. The phone has 2GB RAM. In terms of internal storage, the device will come with either 8GB storage or 16GB. It doesn’t support microSD cards.

 

The highlight feature of Nexus 4, apart from its stellar hardware, is the back cover made of glass. Though it is likely that the use of glass may make the device more susceptible to damage. It also lacks LTE or 4G compatibility, which is a standard feature in high-end phones nowadays.

 

"This is the first time we collaborated with LG to build a Nexus device," Andy Rubin, senior vice president of mobile and digital content at Google, said in a press release. "They brought an extraordinary amount of talent to the project, and the result is a feature-packed device that feels great in your hand, and blazingly fast under the hood."

 

"LG is proud and excited to play this role in helping build the latest Nexus smart-phone," said Jong-seok Park, president and CEO of LG’s mobile division.

 

According to Google, the device will be available in 8GB version and a 16GB version on Google Play store starting November 13 in the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Spain and Australia. Offline availability in Europe, Central/South Americas, Asia, CIS and the Middle East will begin from the end of November.

 

For a flagship Android phone, Nexus 4 has been priced very aggressively. The 8GB model will cost $299 while the 16GB model will have a price of $349.

 

However, at the moment it is not clear when the phone will launch in India. So far Nexus S is the only Nexus device to launch in India. That too had arrived here several months after the global launch and was available only in limited quantities.

 

This has disappointed many Android fans in India.

 

"It is disappointing that Google’s Nexus devices don’t come here in India. Nexus devices are the only Android devices on which we can enjoy pure Android experience. These devices also get timely software updates from Google," Kamal Tekwani told TOI. "Compared to Google, nowadays even Apple is releasing products faster in India."

 

Focus on tablets

Apart from launching a new flagship phone, Google also unveiled a 10-inch tablet to take on Apple’s iPad. While the price of the tablet — Nexus 10 — starts at just $399, it packs in the state-of-the-art hardware. The tablet has a screen with resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 pixels, which comfortably puts it ahead of iPad 4, which has a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels, in terms of pixel density. Though iPad still has the advantage of better apps.

 

It is powered by Exynos 5250 dual-core CPU running it 1.7Ghz and Mali T604 graphics chip. This CPU is based on ARM’s A15 architecture and hence is likely to be faster than most of the quad-core mobile processors available in the market at the moment. The tablet has 2GB RAM, a 5MP primary camera and 1.9MP front camera.

 

Nexus 10 only supports Wi-Fi. For now there is no model that works with 3G or 4G connectivity.

 

Along with the new tablet, Google also updated Nexus 7 tablet. It announced a new model with 32GB storage and support for mobile connectivity. This will cost $299, around $50 more than the 16GB (Wi-Fi) model.

 

All new Nexus device will be powered by Android 4.2. While the operating system has been updated, Google is still calling it Jelly Bean. Android 4.2 has new features like support for multiple users on tablets, gesture typing (similar to SWYPE keyboard) and a host of other minor improvements.