Google Nexus 7 2 Rumors: Tablet to Hit Stores Before iPad Mini

By Vincent Funaro, Christian Post Reporter Monday, March 18, 2013

The Google Nexus 7 2 rumors are once again piling up as analyst Paul Semenza claims the device will launch this year before the iPad Mini successor.

Google will release the tablet earlier in an attempt to beat Apple to the market. The iPad Mini with Retina display is expected to be introduced in the third of fourth quarter of this year.

Apple's next-generation mini tab will have around the same resolution as the third- and fourth-generation iPad models. Semenza belives that Google will also equip the new Nexus 7 with a powerful display. It could end up being close to the level of the Samsung Nexus 10 if Google chooses to mimic Apple's strategy.

The Nexus 7 2 is also rumored to feature LTE connectivity.

Analyst and Pacific Crest partner Michael McConnell believes that Google will add LTE capabilities to the next generation model of the tablet.

Google is also planning to change the processor from Nvidia's Tegra 4 SoC to Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 Pro. This will work better if the device ends up with LTE connectivity.

"We believe NVIDIA has lost the application processor socket to Qualcomm's Snapdragon APQ8064 chipset (S4 Pro) in the next-generation Google Nexus 7 tablet," wrote McConnell in a memo.

He claims to have received this information from supply chain sources and attributed the switch to competitive pricing and a "decision to single-source the application processor and 3G/4G modem to simplify logistics and create a fully pin-compatible platform interface."

He also predicted that the next-generation Nexus 7 will ship in the second quarter of 2013. This points to a possible Google I/O unveiling.

The next-gen Google Nexus 7 is still expected to be in the $200-$250 price range.