Hugo Barra, Director of Google Product Management, introduces the new tablet Nexus 7 at the Google I/O Conference in San Francisco.
SAN FRANCISCO (WUSA) -- Tech giant Google finally steps in the fierce battle of consumer tablets as it unveils its first tablet computer named "Nexus 7", seven months after Amazon introduces the Kindle Fire.
Running Google's next generation mobile operating system Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), the Nexus 7 features a 7-inch touchscreen with 1,280 X 800 HD resolution, a 1.3GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core chip and a 1.2 megapixel front facing camera.
The Asus-built Google Nexus 7 was introduced at the Google I/O Conference in San Francisco today, with the price starting at $199, same as the Amazon Kindle Fire. It also features a gyroscope, an acceleromater and a GPS function. The Amazon Kindle Fire runs on the customized operating system based on Google's Android 3.2, with no camera, no gyroscope, and no GPS hardware.
The Nexus 7 will be integrated seamlessly with Google Play, an entertainment platform with more than 600,000 apps and games, millions of eBooks and songs, thousands of movies, and a growing selection of TV shows and magazines.
Ordering through Google Play begins today and the shipping will start in mid-July.