Google Press Event Recap: Nexus 7 2, Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, Chromecast, Google Play Games Released [REPORT]
The Google press event resulted in a number of new releases, the Nexus 7 2, a second generation version of the Nexus 7 was announced. The long-awaited Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update was announced, as was Chromecast, a Google TV-like device that is similar, but far superior to the Nexus Q and the Google Play Game Center.
Nexus 7 2
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The Nexus 7 2 is out, and comes with reduced side bezels 3mm each side, 50 gm lighter. It has a pure black design with 1920 x 1200 1080 p HD better display 323 ppi. It has virtual surround sound good for movies and games with Mp3 compression. Specs are a1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro 1.8x CPU 4x GPU that is 80% faster compared to the Nexus 7. This is a device good for gamers, system memory is doubled to 2GB RAM there is faster app switching with dual band wifi, Bluetooth 4.0. There is the option for a 4G LTE unlocked version for AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.
Battery life is good with 10 hours of web browsing and 9 hours of HD video playback, an extra 1 hour over the Nexus 7.
Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, Developer Tools, Google Play Games
A Google Android developers press release has showed the following changes made for Android 4.3 Jelly Bean:
OpenGL ES 3.0 - Game developers can now take advantage of OpenGL ES 3.0 and EGL extensions as standard features of Android, with access from either framework or native APIs.
Bluetooth Smart - Now your apps can communicate with the many types of low-power Bluetooth Smart devices and sensors available today, to provide new features for fitness, medical, location, proximity, and more.
Restricted profiles - Tablet owners can create restricted profiles to limit access to apps, for family, friends, kiosks, and more. Your app can offer various types of restrictions to let tablet owners control its capabilities in each profile.
New media capabilities - A modular DRM framework enables media application developers to more easily integrate DRM into their own streaming protocols such as MPEG DASH. Apps can also access a built-in VP8 encoder from framework or native APIs for high-quality video capture.
Notification access - Your apps can now access and interact with the stream of status bar notifications as they are posted. You can display them in any way you want, including routing them to nearby Bluetooth devices, and you can update and dismiss notifications as needed.
Improved profiling tools - New tags in the Systrace tool and on-screen GPU profiling give you new ways to build great performance into your app.
Chromecast
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A $43 HDMI dongle that mirrors content played on a tablet, smartphone or PC on the TV. It has cross-device compatibility and runs a simplified Chrome OS version. Google Play page lists the device as HDMI-CEC compatible, and it uses 2.4GHz 801.11 b/g/n WiFi. Given the separate USB power required, the $35 nets you a Chromecast device, an HDMI extended, a USB power cable and a separate power adapter.