7 ms·

I think this device will sell like hotcakes, smart move by google. It's the first android tablet that I'm considering, and at this price-point that means I'll

by moe 14y ago

I think this device will sell like hotcakes, smart move by google. It's the first android tablet that I'm considering, and at this price-point that means I'll probably buy it. I have a hunch I won't be the only one with that train of thought.

hahainternet 14y ago
I bought one for my sister. She doesn't have a lot of disposable income and has to support two children. The cost was low enough that it's not a significant burden (£159 + shipping)
bookwormAT 14y ago
I think the big question is if Google is actually serious in advertising and selling the device to customers. Google does not often run aggressive advertising campaigns, and so far they are not selling the device anywhere but in the US.
- runjake 14y ago
  I can answer that: they aren't interested in advertising and selling the device to consumers. If they were, they wouldn't have been announced at a developer conference. Although oddly, they are advertising the Nexus 7 off the Google homepage.
  - mkaltenecker 14y ago
    Do you really think that's so clear cut? I/O has visibility well outside the developer community, it gets covered in the mainstream media. Just today I read about it on the website of the most widely read German news magazine (an article is linked prominently on the front page and it's the lead article in the technology section). Like Apple, Google can and probably is using their developer conference keynote to announce things to consumers.
  - smackfu 14y ago
    By that logic, Retina Macbook Pros are only for developers too.
- jedc 14y ago
  Nope, the Nexus 7 is getting sold in a number of different countries to start. It's the Nexus Q that's US-only right now.
- fidotron 14y ago
  Google definitely do run aggressive ad campaigns, although so far it's been limited to Chrome. They are selling the device in almost all English speaking countries.
- ConstantineXVI 14y ago
  And it's only available from their store, which doesn't have the same reach as Amazon.com or even Best Buy. (There's a link on google.com, but that clearly worked so well for the Nexus phones)
  - smackfu 14y ago
    There's a big difference between trying to sell an unsubsidized $600 phone and a $200 tablet.
    - akgerber 14y ago
      The unsubsidized phone is already down to $349, down from $400 when they first put it on Play.
- trotsky 14y ago
  Full page ad in the A section of the WSJ today.
juliano_q 14y ago
I agree. I am "resisting" to buy a tablet for years, but this hardware with pure Android (I have made a rule to buy only Nexus devices when buying Android phones, I hate the stress to get the updates on non Nexus) at this price point made it hard to resist.
pragmatic 14y ago
I agree. I use my Fire at least 2 hours a day (at home and the gym) for reading and surfing. However, it has two major defects. 1) Amazon appstore only (I haven't bothered rooting it). 2) Wonky interface. It's android and you can tell. It's like using a cheap android phone, unpleasant and slow. (I have a droid bionic that is much faster, but obviously more expensive). At this price point I can easily buy another $200 table and not feel bad about it. Plus I still get the kindle app, my amazon apps will all move over. I use my Fire way too much not to upgrade to something better. I do this for the 7" form factor, the 10" tablet (android or iOS) simply would not be as useful.
- davidw 14y ago
  I am not a big fan of the Fire. It's not bad, but it feels like it could be a lot more with just a few extras. It's alright for 'consuming' content, but for much else it's suboptimal: * Amazon appstore means no The Economist app! I already paid for the magazine, dammit, and I don't want to pay again to read it on Amazon. * No Google apps hurts, especially Gmail and Maps. The web-based alternatives are just not as nice as having the native apps. * It's nice to have a camera - I'll get one of these to use as a video phone with my parents. Anyone know if it'll be possible to get some kind of add-on keyboard for Google's tablet? Trying to type anything on the Fire drives me crazy.
  - skystorm 14y ago
    I agree with all of the above, but as has been said before, getting Android Market on the Fire is not terribly complicated. Yes, it's probably not a viable solution for everyone, but if you already have a Fire and are somewhat technically inclined it's almost a no-brainer.
  - tikhonj 14y ago
    Have you considered at trying something like the Swype keyboard? I don't know if it's available for the Fire, but I'm sure there's a tablet version, and it should work on the Nexus 7. I only have it on my phone (a Galaxy Nexus, coincidentally), but it's really great there. I think it would be very good for a tablet as well.
jsz0 14y ago
Are they going to aggressively market and retail this device? If not most people won't even know it exists.
- solox3 14y ago
  It's the top banner on Google Play. If you already own an Android device, you will know.
  - wiradikusuma 14y ago
    unless, of course, if you don't happen to live in the US? (for one, I can't even see it on the Web from here in Asia)
cageface 14y ago
Contrary to a lot of opinions, I think the 7" form factor is actually pretty interesting. I find the iPad large enough that I often just reach for my Macbook Air because it's far more useful and not really much larger. But something closer to the size of a book is less cumbersome and more comfortable for reading and browsing, which is what I'm doing with a tablet 90% of the time anyway. I'm going to go out on a limb a bit here and predict that Apple will regret ignoring this segment and that they're going to eventually have to shake up their developer tooling to deal with varying form factors.
- sigkill 14y ago
  For a fullpage 2 column PDF, I find even the 10" 16:9 to be a bit small. 4:3 is way better. How would you read PDFs on a 7" 16:9.
  - cageface 14y ago
    It's hard to build a single device that suits all these use cases equally well. That's why I think in the long run all the big players are going to have to support multiple formats.
    - sigkill 14y ago
      I completely agree with you. For something that would use Google currents, I can see myself using a 7-inch tablet. But I think it's going to be quite a while till everyone supports reflowable PDFs. I don't see PDFs running away anytime soon, unless someone comes with a better format that can support print and screen simultaneously.
    - levesque 14y ago
      I use Latex, and with some tinkering you can render your documents to both PDF and epub. The problem would be with designers and people working with tools that are not as flexible as Latex.
      - tikhonj 14y ago
mkaltenecker 14y ago
This seems like the Kindle Fire done right. High quality components, good build quality, competent software and despite that still only $200. It's nice to finally see Apple get some competition. I personally prefer the 10inch form factor but I can see arguments for both. But I'm still not willing to predict whether this will be a success. I think Windows Phone 7 is extremely attractive – yet it continues to fail. This is really hard stuff to predict.

by moe 14y ago

hahainternet 14y ago

I bought one for my sister. She doesn't have a lot of disposable income and has to support two children. The cost was low enough that it's not a significant burden (£159 + shipping)

bookwormAT 14y ago

I think the big question is if Google is actually serious in advertising and selling the device to customers. Google does not often run aggressive advertising campaigns, and so far they are not selling the device anywhere but in the US.

runjake 14y ago
I can answer that: they aren't interested in advertising and selling the device to consumers. If they were, they wouldn't have been announced at a developer conference. Although oddly, they are advertising the Nexus 7 off the Google homepage.
- mkaltenecker 14y ago
  Do you really think that's so clear cut? I/O has visibility well outside the developer community, it gets covered in the mainstream media. Just today I read about it on the website of the most widely read German news magazine (an article is linked prominently on the front page and it's the lead article in the technology section). Like Apple, Google can and probably is using their developer conference keynote to announce things to consumers.
- smackfu 14y ago
  By that logic, Retina Macbook Pros are only for developers too.
jedc 14y ago
Nope, the Nexus 7 is getting sold in a number of different countries to start. It's the Nexus Q that's US-only right now.
fidotron 14y ago
Google definitely do run aggressive ad campaigns, although so far it's been limited to Chrome. They are selling the device in almost all English speaking countries.
ConstantineXVI 14y ago
And it's only available from their store, which doesn't have the same reach as Amazon.com or even Best Buy. (There's a link on google.com, but that clearly worked so well for the Nexus phones)
- smackfu 14y ago
  There's a big difference between trying to sell an unsubsidized $600 phone and a $200 tablet.
  - akgerber 14y ago
    The unsubsidized phone is already down to $349, down from $400 when they first put it on Play.
trotsky 14y ago
Full page ad in the A section of the WSJ today.

juliano_q 14y ago

I agree. I am "resisting" to buy a tablet for years, but this hardware with pure Android (I have made a rule to buy only Nexus devices when buying Android phones, I hate the stress to get the updates on non Nexus) at this price point made it hard to resist.

pragmatic 14y ago

I agree. I use my Fire at least 2 hours a day (at home and the gym) for reading and surfing. However, it has two major defects. 1) Amazon appstore only (I haven't bothered rooting it). 2) Wonky interface. It's android and you can tell. It's like using a cheap android phone, unpleasant and slow. (I have a droid bionic that is much faster, but obviously more expensive). At this price point I can easily buy another $200 table and not feel bad about it. Plus I still get the kindle app, my amazon apps will all move over. I use my Fire way too much not to upgrade to something better. I do this for the 7" form factor, the 10" tablet (android or iOS) simply would not be as useful.

davidw 14y ago
I am not a big fan of the Fire. It's not bad, but it feels like it could be a lot more with just a few extras. It's alright for 'consuming' content, but for much else it's suboptimal: * Amazon appstore means no The Economist app! I already paid for the magazine, dammit, and I don't want to pay again to read it on Amazon. * No Google apps hurts, especially Gmail and Maps. The web-based alternatives are just not as nice as having the native apps. * It's nice to have a camera - I'll get one of these to use as a video phone with my parents. Anyone know if it'll be possible to get some kind of add-on keyboard for Google's tablet? Trying to type anything on the Fire drives me crazy.
- skystorm 14y ago
  I agree with all of the above, but as has been said before, getting Android Market on the Fire is not terribly complicated. Yes, it's probably not a viable solution for everyone, but if you already have a Fire and are somewhat technically inclined it's almost a no-brainer.
- tikhonj 14y ago
  Have you considered at trying something like the Swype keyboard? I don't know if it's available for the Fire, but I'm sure there's a tablet version, and it should work on the Nexus 7. I only have it on my phone (a Galaxy Nexus, coincidentally), but it's really great there. I think it would be very good for a tablet as well.

jsz0 14y ago

Are they going to aggressively market and retail this device? If not most people won't even know it exists.

solox3 14y ago
It's the top banner on Google Play. If you already own an Android device, you will know.
- wiradikusuma 14y ago
  unless, of course, if you don't happen to live in the US? (for one, I can't even see it on the Web from here in Asia)

cageface 14y ago

Contrary to a lot of opinions, I think the 7" form factor is actually pretty interesting. I find the iPad large enough that I often just reach for my Macbook Air because it's far more useful and not really much larger. But something closer to the size of a book is less cumbersome and more comfortable for reading and browsing, which is what I'm doing with a tablet 90% of the time anyway. I'm going to go out on a limb a bit here and predict that Apple will regret ignoring this segment and that they're going to eventually have to shake up their developer tooling to deal with varying form factors.

sigkill 14y ago
For a fullpage 2 column PDF, I find even the 10" 16:9 to be a bit small. 4:3 is way better. How would you read PDFs on a 7" 16:9.
- cageface 14y ago
  It's hard to build a single device that suits all these use cases equally well. That's why I think in the long run all the big players are going to have to support multiple formats.
  - sigkill 14y ago
    I completely agree with you. For something that would use Google currents, I can see myself using a 7-inch tablet. But I think it's going to be quite a while till everyone supports reflowable PDFs. I don't see PDFs running away anytime soon, unless someone comes with a better format that can support print and screen simultaneously.
  - levesque 14y ago
    I use Latex, and with some tinkering you can render your documents to both PDF and epub. The problem would be with designers and people working with tools that are not as flexible as Latex.
    - tikhonj 14y ago

mkaltenecker 14y ago

This seems like the Kindle Fire done right. High quality components, good build quality, competent software and despite that still only $200. It's nice to finally see Apple get some competition. I personally prefer the 10inch form factor but I can see arguments for both. But I'm still not willing to predict whether this will be a success. I think Windows Phone 7 is extremely attractive – yet it continues to fail. This is really hard stuff to predict.