For a while now, the tech press has been postulating on a potential new Nexus product, the LG-made V510. Thinking that Google was set to give up on the Nexus 10 in favour of a smaller form factor (despite ample evidence to the contrary), it was thought that LG would manufacturer the first 8-inch Nexus tablet.
They (we) were almost right. Now, Google has unveiled the first Google Edition tablet, the LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition. With identical specs to its LG-sold counterpart, the GE edition sports an 8.3-inch 1920×1200 pixel display, a 1.7Ghz quad-core Snapdragon 600 SoC with an Adreno 320 GPU, 2GB of RAM, a 5MP rear camera and 1.3MP front camera, 16GB internal storage with microSD slot, a 4,600mAh battery and Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box.
Though the $349.99 device isn’t available to order to Canada, the specs are nearly identical to the much-cheaper, Asus-built Nexus 7, which has been made available in white in the U.S., the U.K., and Japan today.
Another interesting addition to the roster is the 6.4-inch Sony Xperia Z Ultra Google Play Edition, which has also been announced today. The $649.99 device arrives with the same specs as the Bell-exclusive version available in Canada, but is unlocked and compatible with every network in the country. Unfortunately, like the G Pad, the Ultra is also a U.S. exclusive.
We’re hoping that Google makes the Google Play Edition devices available to Canadians at some point — the HTC One and Galaxy S4 versions were announced earlier this year — but we’re not holding out much hope.
[source]Google Play (2) (3)[/source]
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