Bits Blog: Like Apple, Google Now Has Devices That Come in Three Sizes

From top: the Nexus 4, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10.

With the addition of the iPad Mini, Apple offers touch-screen devices in three different sizes. Now its competitor Google is doing the same, introducing a 10-inch tablet, an upgraded seven-inch tablet and a new smartphone.

Introduced Monday, the Nexus 10, which Google developed with Samsung, is the company’s first tablet that competes directly with Apple’s 9.7-inch iPad. Most significantly, it undercuts the iPad’s price: a Nexus 10 with Wi-Fi and 16 gigabytes of storage costs $400, compared with $500 for an equivalent iPad. Google did not say whether a model with cellular data would be available.

Google’s Nexus 4 smartphone, which it developed with LG, has a 4.7-inch screen and wireless charging capability. Google highlighted its new camera software, called Photo Sphere, which allows a user to snap a picture up and down in different directions and stitch them together into a 360-degree view. (For comparison, the iPhone 5 has a four-inch screen and camera software that allows creation of a panoramic photo by panning left or right.) The phone starts at $200 with a T-Mobile contract, or $300 unlocked, without a contract.

Google also upgraded its Nexus 7 tablet, which was introduced this year, to include a cellular data connection called HSPA+, which is the predecessor to the newest cell technology, 4G LTE. The model with HSPA+ and 32 gigabytes of storage costs $300, and it is compatible with AT&T’s network.

All the devices include Google’s latest Android software, 4.2 Jelly Bean. Among its features, Jelly Bean includes Google Now, a personal assistant that keeps track of searches to do things like display the score of a favorite sports team, or provide updates on the status of an airline flight.

This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: October 29, 2012

An earlier version of this post misidentified the company that Google worked with to create the Nexus 10. It was Samsung, not LG. Thanks to commenter Joie2 for spotting the error.