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Reports coming out of the usual supply chain world sources claim the forthcoming Google/Asus Nexus tablet will arrive without any form of mobile data option, meaning it’ll be a house-bound Wi-Fi unit only.
DigiTimes says the Nexus tablet will arrive with a US price tag of $199 (around £126 before taxes) attached to it, and one of the key compromises in getting it down to that sort of money is the dropping of 3G radio support. The other key shuffle will see the tablet match the recent wave of super-budget Android tablets in losing the rear camera, with the Asus/Google tab only featuring a low-res front-facing camera for video chat use.
The widely reported Google tablet, which has already been benchmarked and shown to be running Nvidia’s quad-core Tegra 3 chipset and Android 4.1, should be revealed next week at Google’s I/O developer event, which starts on June 27th. [DigiTimes]
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This + Phone with Wifi Hotspot = 3G Tablet
What’s the issue?
None at all. Also, I’d be interested in any usage statistics anyone can link to regarding comparative 3G/Wifi use on tablets that DO have the capability.
I don’t think anyone said that was an issue? Unless I mis-read something?
“meaning it’ll be a house-bound Wi-Fi unit only” Is the part I was (trying to) get at.
Ah.
I decent-ish android tab for £126 can’t be bad !
Doubt we’ll see it for anywhere near that kind of price – the $199 is pre-tax.
So when it comes over here there is an immediate 20% to be lumped on. Then there is the usual GB tax… so I’d guess it’ll be more like £180-ish. Still not bad, but not as good as £126.
They will probably just replace the $ with the £ or € sign as always.
I concur with your assesment. My only hope is that Google will start selling them directly via the Play Store and pass on a hefty discount, especially in light of Microsoft’s latest move.
So far Google Play only allows purchases of hardware from the USA, so I doubt it. But it would be nice if it was possible.
Well yes and considering Google know this may be the last big push they can do on the tablet front before it becomes a 3 horse race, you would think they would want to sell of many of these as possible. Since they can already take payments through the play store in the UK, why not sell to Millions of eager Android fans who would be happier to give their money to Google than some other retailer.
They would need warehouses, shipping contracts, return facilities and perhaps even a repair center somewhere in Europe.
We probably would have heard about Google buying and setting up stuff like this (including recruitment) so don’t get your hopes up.
Just because someone is selling something, doesn’t mean it comes from one of their own branded warehouses. I’m sure Asus has no trouble distributing it’s products in the UK that are ordered online. Google would surely use their network.
Probably right…
Housebound ? You forget we’re allowed to tether with our phones in the UK.
While 3G may not appear to be a huge loss, given the increasing tethering ability of many peoples Smartphones, I think it may remove some aspects of Navigation ability, rendering some Apps useless.
I have yet to use my tablet anywhere that I needed the internet and wasn’t able to get wireless. And if push comes to shove tethering is simple. I always feel annoyed about paying twice for the same thing so this is a great idea. And ditching cameras is a smart move, nothing dumber than a tablet with a rear camera.