Google decided that risking the health and safety of others over consumer electronics was not, in fact, such an awesome idea, and delayed its big event revealing all its new phones and tablets.
That doesn’t mean, of course, that we won’t start seeing some of these items in action already. In fact, the Nexus 7, Google’s seven-inch tablet and one I kinda have a thing for, just came out with a few improvements to leave the iPad Mini fairly far behind.
Essentially, the $250 price point is now where the 32GB Nexus 7 resides. The 16GB is now $200, meaning that for $130 less than the Mini, you get a better screen, faster processor, and the same amount of memory.
Ouch. Sadly this means the 8GB Nexus 7 is likely gone for good, but it’ll probably be on discount. Google also has the Nexus 10 and the Nexus 4, but let’s face it, it’s the Nexus 7 most people will care about.
So, you might be asking, why is Google eating what has to be, at the very least, a bit of a dent to profit margins? The answer is that Google has been selling a lot of music, movies, and magazines. Not to mention, of course, apps.
The Nexus line is becoming Google’s loss leader, and the 32GB model would indicate that the strategy is working. They’re not comparable to Apple yet, but we can’t imagine a 32GB Nexus is making anybody at Cupertino, or Redmond for that matter, very happy.