Refreshed Google Nexus 7 with full HD display announced; shipping from July 30

Google has finally taken the wraps off the refreshed Nexus 7 at the Breakfast with Sundar event yesterday. The newer model, made by ASUS as well, will start shipping as soon as July 30.

In addition to the hardware changes, the new Nexus 7 will run the latest version of Android, 4.3 Jelly Bean, which was also unveiled yesterday. The newer tablet is about 2mm thinner and 50g lighter than the older Nexus 7. In a major improvement over the last-gen model, the display on the sleeker tablet will have a 1920x1200 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.

7-inch display with a 1920x1200 pixel resolution

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.

As far as the cameras on the tablet go, 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 WiFi capabilities. The tablet has a 3,950 mAH battery that will last you for a good nine hours of active use and can be charged wirelessly.

Will also be available in LTE 32GB variant

The refreshed Nexus 7 will come in 16GB and 32GB WiFi 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 a slightly steep $349 (approx Rs 20,500). The tablet will launch in Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea and the UK initially and Google has promised a wider rollout in the coming months. Though it has not been specified which other countries the tablet will be launched in.