Factory images for refreshed Nexus 7 finally released

Modders and hackers can now revel in modifying their 2013 Nexus 7s, since any changes made can now be rolled back. According to TheNextWeb, Google has published the factory images for the 7-inch tablet. Despite the new Nexus 7 having been out for quite some time now, release of the factory images took time because of rising tensions between factory image manager Jean-Baptiste Queru and chip maker Qualcomm.

Factory images are essentially resources that easily let you roll back to a “factory” version of your device, essentially undoing any software change it may have been through. Factory images are usually a must for modders and hackers since, after rooting a device, there is always a chance that some homebrew software or the other will go horribly wrong.

Modify it to your heart's content

The new Nexus 7 hit Google Play back in July, albeit in the US only. The tablet is about 2 mm thinner and 50 g lighter than the older Nexus 7. In a major improvement over the last-gen model, the display on the sleeker tablet will have a 1920 x 1200 resolution with a pixel density of 323 ppi. The 7-point touch IPS panel is supposed to be not just scratch-resistant, but also fingerprint smudge resistant.

The Nexus 7 also has new internals, with the tablet being powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro SoC, which has four Krait cores clocked at 1.5GHz along with Adreno 320 GPU and a healthy 2GB of RAM. In a significant bump from the previous version, the newer Nexus 7 will have dual stereo speakers with 5.1 audio.

Nexus 7 has a modest 5MP rear camera and a 1.2MP front-facing one. The tablet will also sport Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and dual-band Wi-Fi capabilities. The tablet has a 3950 mAh battery that will last you for a good nine hours of active use and can be charged wirelessly. The refreshed Nexus 7 will come in 16GB and 32GB Wi-Fi variants with an additional LTE version also available. The 16GB WiFi Nexus 7 will be priced at $229 (approx Rs 13,500), the 32GB variant will set you back $269 (approx Rs 16,000) and the 32GB LTE Nexus 7 is priced at a slightly steep $349 (approx Rs 20,500).