Cool Gadgets and Things ...

No, I did not get it at Google IO extended (I wish ;))  but I was lucky enough to pick one up at local Office Deport. It was sold to me from under the counter :) there are still just a few around, but as it common with Android devices there is no line and nobody even pick these tablets to look. It is not Apple store story. Not yet. Even so many people get Android phones (and then some go back to iOS ;) if they lucky enough to try it as even geeks realize that Android is not free or open and very buggy at that (crashes and such) - you are under DOUBLE lock - Google OS and OEM - good luck to get s/w update or install firmware you want. Rooting device is for real nuts - they waste their high prices skills on BS, IMHO.  On user side: you have to grant crazy permissions to apps you install - essentially you give them all control. On Apple device they ask for specific rights and you can deny - app may still work and live in sandbox as they should :) See where is more freedom?)

Note: Despite my "view" of Android I wanted to love this device :)

As Android developer I wanted Jelly Beans and as it common with Android hardware you gotta get a new device even for minor OS update as you may never get it otherwise or wait like a year (and Google will jump over a few API levels at the same time) Note that both Microsoft phone and Android sucks like that: when Apple push out beta I can install it right away and they do a very good job to support even old devices even when it means dropped features.

Apple is just great :) I am a huge fun :)

OK, so back to Nexus - it does looks a feels like a "bad copy" of iPad/iPod. Sorry ASUS and Google. It is OK device so far, but ASUS/Google went to a great length to make it less then stellar to own.

First: 8G - ha ha ha - I bought 16G of course but hey, how you use device without Internet without 8G? May be a bit hard. Many will get cheaper device and will not be happy soon enough. No SD card - make sure you do not put too much music and forget about video. It is OK if you have connection to cloud, but last time I checked on the bus and camping it was not there :) Note: As developer I do  not really carry about this much, but no SD means I can not test SD and for Android devices it is (or was) important as things did not worked well in OS.

Second: Camera - yo, duh! You suck, guys. Device is small enough to fit my cargo pants pocket, yet it only have really crapy 1.2 M front camera. Google even remove camera app (you can get a hack from Play store). Really ? Google and Asus? You skimped on camera? With your G+? How pathetic from Vic Gundotra to post a beach picture on his G+ wall about how he loves use Nexus 7 there. Catch : he took picture with his phone! Duh! Two devices while reclining on beach? Shame and huzpa. Nexus 7 should be EXAMPLE device. Not this. All other Android devices have like 10 cameras :) my G Slate has 3!

This is big problem: as developer I want as much hardware  in device so I can test it. Nexus 7 has an omission here.  Yes, I can probably use sucky front camera with a hack but why skimp on couple of bucks?! (to make me buy another device in 6 month?)

How Google designed device for G+ and removed a usable back camera from spec? Beat me. They must be coping early iPod Touch story, but hey, it is not same time anymore.

Bottom line : forget Augmented reality and other cool things you can develop for Nexus 7 - no camera. Bad for users, bad for developers. Really big issue of device that has a from factor of oversized phone.

My kids play with cameras a lot and they can not use Nexus 7.

This is my biggest complain - Google and ASUS you SUCK!

Third: OS and device have bugs. WiFi drops more then it suppose to. Google Play DRM fails at a time (could not always brag with free Transformer flick ) some times device not very responsive - usual things and it just not pleasant - Android as usual - it is not always just works.

Buttons are hard to find - need getting used too. Same for OS navigation - Android desktop is to o confusing for small device. Amazon Fire is MUCH better in this respect.

Some popular application does not support device yet: Amazing Alex from Rovio is example.

Bottom line - it is a solid beta product.

Now good things:

I like device form factor. It is better Android from what I saw. Kindel app works. Screen is good. Games I tried run good.

You may want to snatch one if you are developer, but if not you may be better off with even 200$ iPod Touch - smaller screen but better device and OS. Of course, new iPad is a dream compare to this. I still prefer bigger screen and iOS for my bed time reading or bus ride and when I on the go: iPhone - anything else is too big.

Google voice recognition is good. It works better than Siri for me. I have a very heavy ascent as English is not my native language :) Some times is silly: it replace curses with ****. Obviously, Google search fails as "****" is not used on Web much.

Bottom line: OK device. Aggressive price may be attractive to some. I can only recommend it to Developers and only under reservation that Google will keep up with OS updates. Minus points for no SD and no back ("main") camera - bad thing for developers.

Even if you are on the market for other Android device, try not jump on the hype and look for alternatives to Nexus 7. While OS on Nexus may be OEM clean as it can get, try to find hardware configuration you like: max up memory, camera quality  and SD if you use it (say to transfer images from "big camera" to Google + while on the trip).

If you want to get Android mini tablet to your older parents do consider Fire. I was thinking that Nexus 7 will be Fire killer but I take my words back: Fire, while balkier, has a very simple "book shelf" interface that even old people will understand. Nexus 7 is usual Android mess and it is hard to click on things - I was fat fingering much. It get's tiresome after a while. I never had that much issues with my much smaller iPhone screen for example. Android UX is not simple - it more of desktop with all it gadgets and things. IMHO: it is wrong. Simple "pages" (Apple probably copied it from Palm that got it right a very long time ago).

One more thing for developers: Jelly Beans and may be Nexus 7 breaks some apps. It broke our main app. So far problem is small (cosmetic) and probably we did some thing wrong (but it worked with all other version): background of our screen turned black (and we used grey font - it looked great on white background.) I did not looked yet why Jelly Beans does it but I assume it will be 5 minutes fix for me. Gaming companies like Rovio probably have a bigger issues: they pull some apps off for this device.

Other than that, get iPod touch or better yet iPad instead - you will be a much better camper and kids will love you ;)

Update:

1) Fixing UI in our application for Jelly Bean was indeed a 5 minute thing. Fixed and tested, we will push update today (hopefully).

2) One more awesome feature found and tested: Face Unlock. It really works at lest here around an office :) Good job Google!

Update:

Note about memory: When you get 16G device you have like 12G (that what my device shows) before Google updates. ;) When you get 8G device you have like 4G or less left. Do not get confused by "marketing". 8G model is surely not enough for anything but a few books and games. If you get 16G(12G!) model you can put a few songs there ;)

And no, I did not downloaded Google promotional Transformers flick or MP3s: I just installed a few apps and got a couple of songs to test sound - sound is great, btw.