Google announced their new mobile lineup today. The much rumored Nexus 4 (made by LG), an update to the Nexus 7 (made by Asus), and the Nexus 10 (made by Samsung).
The Nexus 10 is the first device to actually compete head to head with Apple’s iPad, and comes on the tail of Microsoft’s Surface RT announcement last week (which is in the same tablet space, but targeting the laptop replacement crowd, rather than a true tablet experience). The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 also sits in this space but doesn’t appear to quite compete directly with the iPad. The Kindle FIre HD 8.9 is due out on November 20th, 2012, so I’m only able to speculate at this point of how Amazon will market their larger tablet.
The Nexus 10′s most impressive feature is the 2560-by-1600 (300ppi) 10 inch screen.
The Verge stacks up the Nexus 10 side by side against the competition:
As you can see from the technical specification, it’s not just a great looking device, it has the hardware chops too. From everything I’ve seen, the Nexus 10 fills out the lineup of hardware from Google and is a compelling reason to stay with stock Android across the board – from the Nexus 4, to the Nexus 7, to the Nexus 10, they all provide the best Android software experience period.
The best part about the new devices announced are the prices. The Nexus 4 is priced at $299 for the 8GB version, and $349 for the 16GB. The Nexus 7 is priced at $199 for the 16GB, $249 for 32GB, and $299 for the 32GB version with wireless service. These are all full retail, no-contract-required prices.
The worst part about the devices – in particular the Nexus 4 – is the lack of LTE support. The fragmentation of LTE in the United States is a large problem. Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T all have LTE branded networks – running on different networks. Sprint operates their LTE network on Band 25 (1900 MHz), Verizon Operates their LTE network on Band 13 (700 MHz), and AT&T operates on Band 17 (700 MHz) and Band 4 (2100/1700 MHz). Lack of interoperability between service in these networks is a sticky point for companies attempting to produce a single product.
Additionally, the licensing fees for LTE are estimated to be upwards of $150 to $200 per device. Google’s opted to produce a top quality HSPA+ worldphone and forego LTE for now. I suspect that as the licensing fees for LTE come down, Google will be less hesitant to release devices with LTE wireless capabilities. I have heard rumors that the LTE chips are actually in the phone, but deactivated until they are able to negotiate the details of both the licensing agreements and deals with the three major wireless service providers.