Google Nexus 7 Vs Amazon Kindle Fire: New Challenger to Amazon's Budget Throne

The past few days have seen major announcements by tech giants like Samsung (the launch of the Galaxy S3), Apple (the release of iOS 6 and the launch of the 15in MacBook Pro with Retina Display) and, most recently, Microsoft (the two Surface series tablets running on the forthcoming Windows 8 OS).

The only name missing was Internet search giant Google and now they too have joined the party after news they are about to reveal the eagerly anticipated 7in Google Nexus tablet. An earlier IBTimes UK report suggested Google's tablet would be manufactured by ASUS.

A training document obtained by Gizmodo Australia clears the air even more and we can expect, we fell, to see the tablet soon. The document, in addition to the price, reveals technical specifications for the forthcoming tablet, called Nexus 7.

The Nexus 7 is expected to pack Nvidia's quad-core application processor and will run on Android's forthcoming Jelly Bean OS. The price of the Nexus 7 suggests it will be a direct rival to Amazon's Kindle Fire.

Keeping that in mind, check out how what we know of the Google Nexus 7, so far, does against the Amazon Kindle Fire.

Display

The forthcoming Google Nexus 7 will feature a 7in display with In Plane Switching (IPS) technology. The resolution of the display will be 800 x 1280 pixels and it will provide 178 degree viewing angles.

The Amazon Kindle Fire, like the Google Nexus 7, also features a 7in IPS LCD capacitive multi-touch display. The resolution, however, is less than that of the Nexus 7. It runs at 600 x 1024 pixels with a density of 170 pixels per inch.

Dimensions

The training document does not reveal dimensions or measurements beyond the obvious 7 inches in its name. The Kindle Fire measures 7.5 x 4.7 x 0.45 inches and weighs approximately 412g.

Operating System

The Nexus 7 tablet was popularly expected to run on Android's next-gen software, the as-yet-unreleased OS, Jelly Bean; the document confirms the OS by name but does not mention version number, meaning this could either be Android 5.0 or Android 4.1. It is equally unclear if all devices running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS)) will upgrade to Jelly Bean, whether 5.0 or 4.1. The Kindle Fire, meanwhile, runs on Android 2.3(Gingerbread).

Processor

The Nexus 7 tablet will be powered by a Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz with GeForce 12-core GPU. In addition the device will house 1GB of RAM. The Kindle Fire is powered by a Texas Instrument (TI) OMAP 4 dual-core processor clocked at 1GHz. The tablet packs a PowerVR SGX540 GPU and 512MB of RAM.

Camera

There is no information on the rear-facing camera of the Nexus 7 but it will sport a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera. The Kindle Fire does not have a camera, either in the front or at the rear.

Connectivity

The Nexus 7 tablet will offer Near Field Communication (NFC) and Google Wallet. There is no information on the cellular connectivity of the tablet. The Kindle Fire offers Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n but does not support Bluetooth.

Storage

As far as storage space is concerned, the Nexus 7 will have two variants - 8GB and 16GB. The document does not mention anything about support offered to microSD cards. The Kindle Fire offers a single model - with storage space of 8GB and does not support microSD cards. However, it does have access to Amazon's cloud storage facility.

Battery

The Nexus 7 is expected to pack a battery with talk time for up to nine hours. This is a general estimate and there is no information the actual capacity. The Kindle Fire is powered by a 4400mAh battery that can power the Fire for up to 7.5 hours.

Price

The 8GB model of the Nexus 7 will be priced at $199 (approximately £130) whereas the 16GB model will cost $249 (approximately £160). Although the Kindle Fire has few shortcomings - the device lacks support for microSD cards, it does not have a camera or GPS and is without 3G connectivity - its price is the most appealing factor. The Kindle Fire is presently priced at the same $199 (approximately £130) the Nexus 7 8GB model is expected to cost but a DigiTimes report suggests Amazon intends to reduce that price to $149 (approximately £96) to help transition to the company's upcoming tablet PC products.