Tag Archives: Nexus 9

Google getting out of the tablet game was inevitable (and smart)

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Yesterday afternoon, Google's hardware division made an unusually forthcoming announcement: the company will no longer build its own tablets. Instead, it will focus all its efforts on laptops. Given that Google released the Pixel Slate (its first Chr...

The Nexus 9 tablet can now be bought at the Play Store

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Nexus 9

After a successful pre-ordering period, the first Nexus 9 tablets are shipping. Users interested in it can get theirs now at Google’s very own Play Store.

Our first taste of the upcoming Android OS, Lollipop, comes via the Nexus 9, Google’s latest tablet offering which is now available at the Google Play Store and Best Buy, amongst others. While some colors are still out of stock, but the available models in the more traditional black and white offerings are ready to ship. They cost $400-$480 for the 16GB and 32GB versions respectively. Furthermore, the shipping seems to be really quick this time around, and Google claims the shipping to be 1-2 days at most. The Nexus Player, Google’s other big offering for the season, has also gone on sale but is quite harder to find as of now. Keep an eye open for those if you’re interested, as they seem to be selling out pretty quickly.

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Lollipop-Flavored Nexus 6 and 9 Get Launched by Google

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Google’s new version of its mobile operating system, called simply Android 5.0 Lollipop, is meant to make an even more seamless experience out of using different devices. Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 are the devices used for showcasing this new platform.

Mountain View has been looking for consistency in its Android operating system across different devices even since the introduction of Ice Cream Sandwich, a version that brought together Gingerbread and Honeycomb users under the same roof. With the launch of Android 5.0 Lollipop and its even more consistent design (called Material Design, actually), switching between tablets and smartphones won’t mean that people have to learn how to go around each one’s UI. On top of that, Lollipop confers more control over the device’s settings and notifications, and improves the battery life by up to 90 minutes. In our day and age, that’s a significant improvement.

The Nexus 6 smartphone and the Nexus 9 tablet, both pictured above along an unexpected black box, are powered by Android 5.0 and are meant to give the world a taste of the Lollipop. While the Motorola-built Nexus 6 was expected to come with a 5.9″ display, Google respected the name-dimension correlation and equipped the smartphone with a 6″ 2560 x 1440 display with a 493 ppi pixel density.

In terms of internal memory, the Nexus 6 comes with either 32 or 64GB of internal storage and 3GB of RAM, which is more than enough both for holding and running some of the most demanding Android apps out there. This wireless-charging device packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chipset that includes a quad-core 2.7 GHz Krait 450 CPU and an Adreno 420 GPU. And just in case the Li-Po 3220 mAh battery wasn’t impressive enough, one of the main novelty factors about this phone must be its Turbo Charger, which enables you to use the Nexus 6 for up to 6 hours with just a 15-minute charge.

The HTC Nexus 9, on the other hand, with its brushed metal sides and 8.9-inch 1536 x 2048 screen, is a nice change from the 7″ gadgets. The bad thing about this is that it has a smaller resolution than the Nexus 6, and hence a lower pixel density. Apart from the 64-bit Tegra K1 SoC that’s powering this tablet, there’s really not much to say about it that hasn’t been said before, either in the leaks or the data coming from the FCC.

Google’s Nexus line used to be known for its affordable, yet great performing devices. While the performance is still there, I’m not sure we can still call these devices affordable. According to re/code, the Nexus 6 will be available in Midnight Blue or Cloud White, and will sell in the Play Store for $649. With the 16GB version starting at $399 and the 32GB retailing for $479, the Nexus 9 gets uber-expensive if you opt for the LTE version, which will sell for $699. On the bright side of things, expect the Nexus 5 to get a lot cheaper once Google’s new toy hits the stores.

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HTC Nexus 9 Pays the FCC a Visit

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HTC Nexus 9

About three weeks ago, pictures of what looked like a Nexus 9 keyboard accessory clearing the NCC were leaked on the Internet, and now we can take a look at the tablet itself, this time while passing through the FCC.

There were rumors even since February this year that Google would cooperate with HTC on a high-end tablet, but at that time no one knew exactly if it would be a Nexus 8 or a new Nexus 10. More recently, the mist was blown away and it became clear that it would be the Nexus 9 that will come from HTC’s hands. Considering that since the HTC Dream, the Taiwanese company and Mountain View haven’t collaborated on much, all these rumors were took with more than a grain of salt, but now it looks like HTC is again in Google’s graces.

Nexus 9, which will most likely be launched along the Nexus 6, this month, will be among the first devices to run Android L. It will presumably feature a 8.9-inch 2,048 × 1,440 display, a Tegra K1 processor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, and 16GB or 32GB storage options.

Since the second generation Nexus 7 was also offered in the LTE variety, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were multiple versions of Nexus 9, differentiated by more than just the internal storage capacity.

The version that went through the FCC is model number 0P82100, which is believed to be the Wi-Fi-only variant. In that case, it’s a certainty that the 4G version will be released with a different model number, should HTC indeed consider making an LTE Nexus 9. Other than that, in the FCC picture the Android tablet seems to sport an aluminum body and front facing speakers. Will it be in fact a high-end tablet, or is it just an oversized Nexus 7? Either way, chances are that the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 are the last products to be launched by Google under this name, as the company practically ran out of numbers (well, there’s still the 8, and it wouldn’t make much sense using 1, 2, or 3) and going over ten would be awkward.

Fortunately for people who can’t stand Apple, Google made a habit from releasing really powerful devices at unbeatable prices. This year, however, Google faces some new competition, in the form of Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi, whose 7.9″ MiPad has similar specs, but a higher pixel density due to the slightly larger resolution on a smaller display. That one is currently priced around $289 for the 16GB version, so Google might have a hard time beating that.

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