Google has taken the battle to Apple in the tablet market, introducing a premium tablet for a 'bargain bucket' rate.
The seven-inch Google Nexus tablet, which goes on sale in three weeks, will cost $199 in the U.S. and just £159 in the UK.It is a rare example of UK shoppers not being burnt by the usual tactic of companies - which usually simply switch the dollar sign for a pound sign.
The extremely competitive pricing may well lure Apple fans away from the iPad, which starts at $399 in the U.S. and £399 in the UK.
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Future: Hugo Barra, director of product management of Google, unveils the Nexus 7 tablet today
The firm hopes the tablet will take on Apple’s iPad, along with Microsoft’s Surface tablet which was revealed last week, and current Android tablets including Amazon’s Fire.
Two versions will be available, one with 8GB of storage for $199 and a second with 16GB for $249. By comparison, Apple's new iPad, which has a larger 9.7 inch screen, costs $399 for a 16GB version.
The unveiling came on the same day that Google showed off its augmented reality glasses with an astonishing stunt at the firm’s developer conference in San Francisco.
The search giant announced a prototype of the glasses will be made available early next year.
Speaking about the launch of the Nexus 7, Google’s Hugo Barra said: 'Its always been a goal of the Nexus programme to provide the best experience. We wanted to design a best of google experience.
'The Nexus 7 is made for Google Play, your content is front and centre.'
The new device has a 1280x800 HD display, a Tegra3 quad-core chip with a separate12-core graphics processor.
Competitive: Two versions of the Nexus 7 will be available - one with 8GB of storage for $199 and a second with 16GB for $249. Apple's new iPad - which has a larger 9.7 inch screen - costs $399 for a 16GB version
The firm hopes the smaller size of the Nexus 7 compared to the iPad will make it more popular.
'It has the portability of a paperback backed by cloud storage for books,' said Google’s Chris Yerga.
The search giant also revealed the Nexus Q, a small spherical computer designed to be used in the living room to stream music and films and TV shows to a TV and hifi.
Described as the ‘the first social streaming device,' the Q allows friends to control music playlists from parties from their phones, and to access all of their music, films and TV shows. The Q will go on sale in July for $299.
Google also revealed a host of improvements for users who already own Google powered phones or tablets.
The competition: Apple's latest iPad on offers a fantastic experience in the hand - put a painful one in the pocket
Google also said over 600,000 Android apps are now available in its Play store, which will also begin selling films, TV shows and magazines.
SO HOW DO THEY COMPARE.......
Nexus 7 iPad
Price: $199 (8GB) $399(16GB)
$249 (16GB)Size: 7 inches 9.7 inches
Weight: 340g 650g
Battery: 9 hours 10 hours
Price: $199 (8GB) $399(16GB)
$249 (16GB)Size: 7 inches 9.7 inches
Weight: 340g 650g
Battery: 9 hours 10 hours
'Jellybean has a ton of improvements, we have touched every corner of Android,' said Mr Barra.
The new version introduces a number of new gestures, including the ability to ‘throw’ apps and pictures off the screen to delete them.
It also has a speech typing app similar to Apple’s dictation feature, but one capable of working when the phone does not have an internet connection. Speech was also used to search for web pages and information about topics.
A new feature called Google now is able to work out where users are and show them information - for instance, if they stand at a bus stop, it will show the next arriving bus, or show traffic information if a user if driving to work.
It can also work with a diary to warn users if they will be late, and what buses to get to arrive on time. Scores in major sports are also displayed, and Google can even work out which team you support from which searches you have made.
The Windows version of a tablet: The new Surface was unveiled by Microsoft last week
