Google's Sundar Pichai: One in Two Tablets Is Running Android

Though the iPad seems to get all the attention, Google's Sundar Pichai said that Android is now running on half of the tablets being sold, with more than 70 million Android tablets having been activated.

"Google has made tremendous strides," Pichai said, speaking today at an Android and Chrome event in San Francisco.

To keep things growing, Google on Wednesday is launching an updated version of the Nexus 7 tablet built for Google by Asus. The new black design is thinner, lighter and has a smaller bezel than the first Nexus 7.

It adds a higher-density 1080p display, which packs 323 pixels per inch.

A 16 gigabyte Wi-Fi model will be available for $229, while the 32GB model will sell for $269.

Google is also announcing an unlocked LTE version of the tablet that works with Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile. That version will sell for $349 and be available in the coming weeks.

The original Nexus 7, Pichai said, accounted for 10 percent of all Android tablets.

Google is also hoping to get more students interested in the Nexus and other Android tablets with a new textbook store. The section of Google Play, which will debut in early August, features the ability to rent or buy textbooks, and will have content from all five major educational publishers.

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New Nexus 7 Packs Quite a Pixel Punch, Landing a Blow at Apple

While Apple watchers are still waiting for an iPhone-style Retina display to make its way to the iPad mini, Android lovers got such a screen with the redesigned Nexus 7.

The second-generation Nexus 7 is capable of showing full HD content, thanks to a screen that shows a whopping 323 pixels per inch - well into the territory of screens where the individual pixels are too small to be recognized by the human eye from a reasonable reading distance.

Numbers aside, that means that the Nexus 7 can show movies in full 1080p high definition, a feat Apple's iPad mini can't match.

While the larger iPad has a greater-than-HD Retina display, it uses a totally different type of screen technology from the iPhone, and the mini is still in the less-than-Retina category. The Nexus 7, meanwhile, uses a similar display to the iPhone - part of what allowed Google and manufacturing partner Asus to make the device so thin and light.

Managing to secure such a screen - and to pack it into a relatively low-cost device - was no small feat.

Google's Hiroshi Lockheimer said the company has been working for quite some time with Japan Display - the company that makes the screens, which are known as LTPS (low-temperature poly-silicon) displays.

But in managing to incorporate such a screen, Google now has a strong selling point over both the iPad mini and other Android tablets with lower-resolution displays.

"They are using a lot of high-end technologies in an entry-level device," said DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim.

Shim said that Apple may be able to start producing later this year the components for a Retina-level iPad mini, but said volume shipments of such a device won't come until the first few months of next year because of the challenges of producing such a display.

Android and Chrome head Sundar Pichai said that, even at its $229 starting price, there is still room for retailers, Asus and Google itself to profit from the product.

The other big coup of the Nexus 7 was managing to create a single LTE model that can sell unlocked and work with carriers around the globe. In the U.S., for example, the same Nexus 7 can be connected to the networks of AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.

Pichai said that is part of the company's aim with its Nexus devices, and that doing so will help the cellular-equipped model be more attractive to retailers leery of having to stock multiple different products.

Android tablets now account for 30% of the market?

If you were to tell us that Android tablets would eventually become the dominant choice for consumers one day, we wouldn't be surprised in the least bit. That said, it would be easier to believe if there were a better selection of decent Android tablets available to go against themarket leading iPad 2. Well, apparently quality doesn't mean all that much because according to the latest report from Strategy Analytics show Google's OS now taking up 30% of the market's tablet sales.

Not long ago, the Apple iPad had the market all to itself and stood alone with 93% of the market as Android tablets struggled to get a foot in the door with less than 3%. Fast forward to today and Android's strength in numbers is beginning to repeat its success the same way it took over the smartphone world. The OS still has a long way to go to genuinely compete with the likes of the iPad but the number of sales aspect is beginning to wane. Or so it seems.

Comparing the likes of the iPad 2 and Android tablets is simply unfair. There have only been two different iPad models, both as high-end as possible when released and the majority of Android tablets are stuck in 2009. With the exception of the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Android tablets are nowhere near the beauty of the iPad 2. Given that you can grab an Android tablet for significantly less than the cheapest iPad, the number isn't as surprising as it sounds. That said, most of those cheaper Android tablets likely have questionable build quality, a lower version of the OS, and probably a no-name brand.

The one decently built, cheaper, Android Honeycomb tablet that seems to keep flying off shelves is the Asus Transformer. It's definitely a chunkier tablet but those who have grabbed the device seem to be very happy with it. Asus is now shipping over 400,000 Transformer tablets a month, which may just be a spec on Apple's radar, but is nonetheless impressive for a tablet that's only $100 cheaper than the iPad 2.

One also needs to consider that this is just one analytic firm's numbers and said numbers may be dramatically different from another firm's findings. That said, this is really just the beginning of Android tablets taking off, if you believe these numbers or not. With the rumored Nexus tablet that's still in the back of our minds, things could get very interesting in the coming months.

Article: RSS via IntoMobile

ASUS Eee Pad MeMO 3D delayed until 2012 and facing axe

Bad news if you were holding out for ASUS' 7-inch Eee Pad MeMO 3D tablet, with word that the glasses-free 3D slate has been delayed until 2012 at the earliest and may not, in fact, launch at all. An ASUS Netherlands spokesperson told TabletsMagazine that the MeMO 3D had been further delayed beyond the most recent September/October launch estimate, and that its future now hung in the balance.

No reason for the new delay has been given, only the comment that "if the tablet is launched, it will not make its appearance until some time in 2012." Originally, ASUS planned to get the Eee Pad MeMO on shelves earlier in 2011, having announced it back in January 2011, but delays involved in granting it 3D capabilities meant that first timescale was missed.

ASUS isn't the only company to have struggled with a 7-inch Android tablet. Various companies - including Acer, with its Iconia Tab A100 - intended to release models early this year, but issues with how Android Honeycomb, Google's tablet-specific version of the platform, dealt with smaller displays forced them to reconsider. With the release of Android 3.2 in mid-July, several timescales restarted, but it seems ASUS isn't quite up to the same speed as everyone else.

ASUS USB Kit for Eee Pad Transformer TF101, TF101G, TF201 & TF300 Tablets

ASUS USB Kit for Eee Pad Transformer TF101, TF101G, TF201 & TF300 Tablets

• Asus Eee Pad Transformer Tablet Compatibility: This Asus USB kit is compatible with the Asus Eee Pad Transformer TF101, TF101G, TF201, TF300 and TF700 Tablets. It is also come compatible with Android’s Honeycomb operating system
• Universal Connectivity: Connect to other peripherals or devices with this Asus USB kit which connects to the dock port of your Asus Eee Pad Transformer and turns it into a USB female port

The USB Kit for ASUS Eee Pad Transformer from ASUS connects directly into the dock port of your ASUS Eee Pad Transformer TF101, TF101G, TF201 or TF300 Tablet and converts it into a USB port. This opens up the accessibility to other devices with your ASUS Eee Pad Transformer TF101, TF101G, TF201 or TF300 Tablet.