Google has unveiled the latest version of its Nexus tablet range, alongside a new smartphone and operating system, as its rivalry with Apple intensifes.
The Nexus 4 handset and Nexus 10 tablet will go on sale on 13 November, Google has announced.
The firm also announced that it will add music to its Google Play media store in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain on the same day.
Google planned to have a big announcement at an event scheduled for today Oct. 29, 2012, but due to the nationwide concern of Hurricane Sandy, they have decided to cancel the event in which they were to announce a new phone, and tablet to the public.
Even though they did not get to announce their new products, several technology websites have picked up the details that Google were to present at their event.
Larger tablet to rival iPad
Manufactured by Samsung, the Nexus 10 tablet features a 10 inch screen similar to the iPad. The device will be able to manage multiple profiles, meaning that the tablet can be shared between more than one person.
Google says that there are more than 675,000 apps that will be available via its Google Play store. Apple claims that there are over 275,000 apps available for the latest version of iPad.
Nexus 10 has a resolution of 300ppi (pixels per inch). Its advertised battery life is 500 hours on standby or nine hours of video play.
It features a dual-core A15 processor along with 2GB of RAM and comes with either 16GB or 32GB of storage and comes with NFC, Bluetooth and MIMO WiFi technology which, according to Google is four times faster than current WiFI.
Google also announced a refresh of its existing tablet the Nexus 7, which will now offer 3G connectivity on a top-end model. However, all versions of the Nexus 10 are wi-fi only.
Nexus 4 smartphone
The handset, made by manufacturer LG, can also work as a games controller when wirelessly connected to a TV.
Google said that the screen of the new Nexus 10 tablet by Samsung has “the world’s highest resolution display”.
UK prices for the Nexus 4 start at £239 for the 8GB version, and £319 for the 16GB Nexus 10.
The Nexus 4 smartphone has a new panoramic camera tool called Photo Sphere which Google claims is “unlike any panorama you have ever seen”.
“Snap shots up, down and in every direction to create stunning 360-degree immersive experiences,” says the firm on its blog.
In addition users will have access to “Google Now” which flags up flight alerts, hotel recommendations and package tracking based on the user’s location and the contents of their previous email messages.
Interestingly, none of the new hardware will be made by Motorola.
Google purchased Motorola Mobility, the mobile phone manufacturing arm of the firm, in 2011 for $12.5bn (£7.7bn) but a spokesperson said that the company was not receiving any “special treatment”.
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean features Photo Sphere letting uswers take 360-degree images. Wireless display support has also arrived rivalling Apple’s Airplay and huge improvements to the OS itself mean that image-editing has been improved.
“People increasingly have more than one device, and they switch between them many times a day, with the Nexus (Google’s hardware line for Android devices) it gets rid of the hassle,” Google’s Senior Vice President of Android, Andy Rubin said in an online statement.
Google Music comes to Europe
The firm also announced that it will add music to its Google Play media store in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain on the same day.
New users will be able to upload 20,000 of their existing music tracks to their online accounts for free, and then stream music via the Cloud to any Android device connected to the internet.
Watch a promo video from Google here:
Read the official blog post here
