Google undercuts the Apple iPad with cut-price Nexus 7 Android tablet

Google has announced its first Android tablet, the Nexus 7, as it attempts to gain ground on the market-leading Apple iPad.

At an event in San Francisco, Google said the new tablet would be available in the UK from mid-July with pre-order prices for the Nexus 7 starting at £159.

The Nexus 7 comes in two versions, one with 8GB of storage and one with 16GB of storage, the latter costing £200. As the name suggests it has a seven inch touchscreen and a resolution of 1280x800. It weighs 340g, making it significantly lighter than most other Android tablets and the iPad, which weighs over 600g.

Google said the Nexus would be the first tablet to run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the latest version of its tablet operating system. It also has 1GB of memory and a quad-core Tegra 3 processor that is also seen in several other Android tablets. The company said the tablet was designed to bring people ‘the best of Google' and comes with Google apps preinstalled.

The search giant's move into hardware isn't a first. It has previously partnered with HTC and Samsung to make Nexus-branded smartphones.

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