Android 4.3 Jelly Bean Release Date: Asus Tablet With New Nexus 7 First Device To Carry Android Update, New Tablet Better Than Amazon Kindle Fire HD?
The Android 4.3 Jelly Bean release finally happened last July 25 when Asus announced it’s new Nexus7 tablet. The device is the first tablet to ship with Android 4.3, the latest version of the popular mobile operating system, according to the company’s press release.
The brand-new Android 4.3 introduces restricted profiles, which allows parents to limit children’s access to mature content.
PCMag compared the specs of the new Android 4.3 Jelly Bean device with the Amazon Kindle Fire HD, noting that in terms of design, the new Nexus 7 is 0.3 inches longer and 0.9 inches thinner than the Kindle Fire HD.
The new Asus tablet is also lighter than Amazon’s tablet, 3.4 ounces lighter to be exact.
In terms of screen resolution, the Nexus 7 has an impressive 1,920-by-1,200-pixel resolution, while the Kindle Fire HD has one of 1,280-by-800 pixels; the upgraded display specs of the new Android tablet has enough capacity to make text considerably less crisp according to PCMag. The Kindle Fire HD’s front-facing camera sensor is 1.3 megapixels and the tablet doesn’t have a rear one.
The Nexus 7, on the other hand, features a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera sensor and a 5-megapixel rear shooter.
With regards to processing speed, operating systems, and cellular capability, the new Nexus 7 tablet has a quad-core, 1.5GHz processor, while the Kindle Fire HD is just dua-core and 1.2 GHz. The Kindle operates on Android 3.0 as opposed to the new Nexus 7’s Android 4.3. The updated Android tablet by Asus also has a cellular-capable option, which the Kindle Fire lack. It only offers 4G LTE on the 8.9-inch version.
Despite the visible similarity in size, there are very few commonalities between the two devices, reported PCMag. The 7-inch screen size, Bluetooth, and 2.4 and 5GHz Wi-Fi compatibility are a few of the features they share. They also possess similar battery lives; the Kindle Fire HD lasts for seven hours, while the Nexus 7 last 37 minutes or longer on a similar test conducted by PCMag.
The new Nexus 7 tablet is available for $229, which is a bit a higher compared to the $199 price tag of the Amazon Kindle Fire HD.
Android 4.3 Jelly Bean Features
The new Android 4.3 supports Bluetooth smart technology, opening the doors to mobile apps that connect to new devices like fitness sensors. Nexus 7 also comes with Google apps like Chrome, Maps, YouTube, Hangouts and Google Now. All the apps are designed for the cloud, making it simple and works seamlessly across multiple devices.
Future users of the new Nexus 7 can access Google Play, which enables them to download movies, apps, books and magazines on the Android device.
Other Notable Specs
The new tablet is powered by a Qualcomm ® Snapdragon ® S4 Pro quad-core processor with 2GB RAM. The tablet, according to the official press release, can give up to hours of battery life.
Notable enhancements on the device for social media purposes are its ability to capture photos, videos and 360-degree Photo Spheres for Google’s social network, Google Plus. The new tablet has dual-band WiFi and optional 4G LTE to enhance HD video streaming experience and increase download speeds.