Nexus 7 price drop coming in Q1 2013 with thinner, lower-cost screens

Is a cheaper Nexus 7 on the way? Industry suppliers cited as sources in a recent DigiTimesreport seem to think so. Apparently, Nexus 7 units that are currently in production make use of a new, lower-cost touchscreen technology that is expected to bring the price down all the way to $99 a piece.

The new touchscreen technology, called glass-film-film or GFF, hails from a company called O-Film Tech which started shipping products for the Nexus 7 this month. This is according to a report on the Taiwanese DigiTimes, where it is also said that GFF will not only make the Nexus 7 cheaper, but thinner as well.

A $99 Nexus 7 would be very appealing, for sure, but according to the same report mentioned above, some market observers already suspect it won’t be possible to price it that low; that the lowest possible price for the ex-flagship Google tablet, at least for now, lies somewhere in the $129-$149 range. This is because of supposed limits on “how far the companies can drive down costs in their supply chain.”

In any case, a price drop on the Nexus 7 is probably inevitable once 2013 finally rolls around. But just how much of a price drop this is going to be exactly still remains to be seen.

Over 50% of U.S. consumers want a tablet this holiday season

A Vuclip survey of over 20,000 people brought in an eyebrow-raising result – over half of the people surveyed will buy a tablet by Christmas Day. Of that 57%, almost half of the women and more than half of the men stated that they will keep said tablet for themselves. So much for the giving spirit this holiday season!

While the sample size of this survey may not accurately extrapolate to the entire United States population, the results are certainly nothing to brush off. With the current crop of tablets growing with the Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD, iPad Mini, and 10-inch tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab and Nexus 10, it does not come as much of a surprise that people are warming up to the idea of having one.

The survey allowed for a basis on brand, availability of 3G/4G/WiMax, operating system, or price. The importance of the brand name understandably topped this list, with Apple winning 30 percent of the vote and Samsung not too far behind with 22 percent. Amazon was decidedly quite far behind with only 3 percent of the vote.

Of features, 19 percent want a tablet with 3G/4G/WiMax capability and operating system was important to 12 percent. Perhaps somewhat surprising is that only 10 percent of the vote went to price as an important factor.

Luckily, the tablet market is gearing up to be quite competitive this holiday season, and consumers have a plethora of great devices to choose from – see our links for the best coverage on various Android offerings, and tell us if you’re planning on getting a tablet too (and which one)!

Source: androidcentra

Android 4.1.2 update makes way to Samsung and Motorola devices

Android 4.1.2 update might give way to Jelly Bean’s successor

Android 4.1.2 update is steadily rolling out for other devices after the release on Nexus 7. The latest devices to receive the Android Jelly Bean update are Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S. Android 4.1.2 update is a minor upgrade which brings bug fixes and stability improvements for the Android system.

Google Release Nexus 7 Android 4.1.2 Update

Nexus 7 owners can expect a little surprise, Google started Android version 4.1.2 and provides the tablet made with an interesting novelty: a landscape mode for the home screen. In addition, the open-source branch AOSP is updated. And at this time of the 4.1.2 jelly bean update is the Galaxy Nexus.

A landscape mode for the default launcher into the Nexus 7 is certainly located many users, who could not quite warm up to the idea forced in portrait mode.

Rumour: Android 4.2 coming November with LG Optimus G Nexus

Rumours abound of a new Nexus smartie from LG, plus updated Jelly Bean