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At this afternoon's Google developer conference keynote, the company confirmed what all the rumorers had expected, a Nexus 7 tablet, a streaming media player and an Android upgrade. Plus: We also got another look at those Google AI glasses. The rumormongers really did well this time, too. Here are the details from today's event.
- As expected, the tablet comes in two flavors at two prices, with the 8GB costing $199 and the 16GB costing $250.
- In a move to steal people from Amazon's media-first Kindle Fire, the purchase also comes with $25 in credit for the Google Play store, where people can purchase all their media.
- It is 7 inches -- just like the Fire -- and its battery gets up to 8 hours of active use.
- Also, also as expected, it will run the latest Android Jellybean software.
- It has Google's updated maps
- And it comes out today, ships in mid-July.
On top of the tablet, Google also announced an attempt to conquer the living room with Nexus Q, which is "made for Google Play" at home.
- It's an at-home media streamer that looks like a bulbous orb of an alien with tendrils to eat you with.
- Users control it with their new Nexus tablets or Android phones.
- Google put a lot of emphasis on the visual aspect of listening to music -- very Windows Media Player of them.
- As for parts: It's 4.6 inches in diameter and weighs two pounds. It also has 1GB of RAM and 16GB of flash memory.
- Equipped with a 25 watt amp, it hooks right up to speakers.
- Runs Android software.
- It is connected to the Cloud.
- It has some social stuff going on, where people can give each other music and movie suggestions from each others' Google devices.
- It costs $299 and is available in the next 2-3 weeks.
- Oh, and it's made in the U.S.A