The Next Nexus Tablet (aka Nexus 8 or 9)

Ravynmagi

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2007
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I'll start by giving up calling it a Nexus 8 or 9, no idea which is more appropriate yet, so I'll just go with The Next Nexus Tablet!

I'll being with this latest gossip/rumor from Evleaks (reported via BGR)...
http://bgr.com/2014/07/02/nexus-9-leaked-specs/

They have it as an 8.9 inch tablet with 2560x1600 display, Tegra K1 2.3GHz 64bit, 5GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and Boom sound speakers. HTC will make this and it'll have an aluminum body.

Take it with a grain of salt. But so far this seems mostly plausible, so I'll salivate over this potential Nexus 9 for now.

Hopefully this Tegra K1 is worthy and not a disappointment. I haven't really followed the K1 news, but I hear people are excited about it and it should have a great GPU, think it's the first ARM SoC with the Keplar architecture taking from the desktop world. So it should be great paired with a really high resolution display (unlike the new Galaxy Tab S tablets and it's underpowered GPU).

I wish it was closer to 8 inches. That size I can still palm in portrait mode while reading. 8.9 inches, even with a very thin bezel is going to be a bit too big to palm (I'm not Shaq or Lebron).

A Nexus tablet jumping from 2GB of RAM in 2013 to 5GB of RAM in 2014 seems a bit odd. I'm not sure why Google would pack so much RAM into an Android tablet. Granted it's got a 64 bit processor, they are switching to ART in Android L, and this uses a bit more memory. Not complaining, just I'd expect excess RAM from Samsung, but not really from Google.

64GB sounds great, usually Google ships with two size options, so maybe there will be a 32GB option as well. Hope this means we are moving away from 16GB entry level models. Was sad Apple released it's 64 bit tablets will still sporting only 16GB of storage space.

Boom sound is good. But I'm not a fan of the oversized speaker grills on the HTC One phones, hopefully HTC will take the Microsoft approach and try to hide them better in the glass bezel.

Never thought I'd say this, but Ugh, aluminum? Haha. Aluminum is good. Sometimes it's not. Tad worried about the slippery aluminum HTC has used in the past. And really the soft touch plastic of the Nexus 7 2013 is just perfect, I really wish Google would continue using this (yes, I said I wanted plastic over aluminum).
 
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kpkp

Senior member
Oct 11, 2012
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Tegra 4 isn't using Keplar, what else is using Keplar architecture in an ARM SoC? Not that I disbelieve you, just wondering. :)
The other 32-bit K1 thats based on the 4+1 A15 found for example in the MiPad.
 

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
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This spec list smells like warmed-over bullshit. 5gb!? For what, quad multiwindow?

However, *some* form of multiwindow must surely implemented in L if this rumor is at all true.
 

rumpleforeskin

Senior member
Nov 3, 2008
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Hopefully this Tegra K1 is worthy and not a disappointment. I haven't really followed the K1 news, but I hear people are excited about it and it should have a great GPU, think it's the first ARM SoC with the Keplar architecture taking from the desktop world. So it should be great paired with a really high resolution display (unlike the new Galaxy Tab S tablets and it's underpowered GPU).

Every iteration of the Tegra has promised great things and once released has been underwhelming compared to the competition. I'd like to see the K1 break this cycle but i'd not put money on it.
 

Ravynmagi

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2007
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Every iteration of the Tegra has promised great things and once released has been underwhelming compared to the competition. I'd like to see the K1 break this cycle but i'd not put money on it.

I'm with you there. I'm not really hyped about the K1. Though I'm sure it'll be plenty good and sufficient, hopefully it'll finally be something tablet manufactures want to use.
 

Strk

Lifer
Nov 23, 2003
10,197
4
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Every iteration of the Tegra has promised great things and once released has been underwhelming compared to the competition. I'd like to see the K1 break this cycle but i'd not put money on it.

Yeah, that's always annoyed me. Apple does its own little custom stuff now, but before that, they were just doing a simple license and throw it together, yet they were consistently more powerful than each Tegra. So here's Nvidia, a company that actually designs chips, not able to beat anyone who just licenses their hardware and throws it together.
 

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
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Nvidia has had to make SoCs they can sell to other manufacturers for a profit. Apple is vertically integrated and makes all its profit on the device itself. So Apple has given itself a *much* larger die size and transistor budget than Android SoC makers over the past years.
 

Mopetar

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2011
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Yeah, that's always annoyed me. Apple does its own little custom stuff now, but before that, they were just doing a simple license and throw it together, yet they were consistently more powerful than each Tegra. So here's Nvidia, a company that actually designs chips, not able to beat anyone who just licenses their hardware and throws it together.

Nvidia used the stock ARM cores whereas Apple and Qualcomm made their own custom designs, which is why they were able to get better performance out of them. Apple licenses the PowerVR graphics (other customers include Intel, TI (when they still made chips) and both Nintendo and Sony for their portable game devices) from Imagination Technologies who have been doing graphics for a long time (They provided the GPU for the Dreamcast) so their stuff is going to be pretty solid, and Qualcomm does their own Adreno GPU, which is based technology that they acquired from AMD who had recently purchased ATI (Adreno is just an anagram of Radeon).

NVidia has only really been designing the GPU, and outside of their failed foray into an early big.LITTLE implementation with the Tegra 4, there wasn't much special about their SoCs outside of their GPU tech, which frankly wasn't so much better than what other companies had (and even if it were, that's not nearly as important on a mobile phone) and competitors had other advantages. Samsung was making their own Exynos chips so they weren't going to buy any Tegras and Qualcomm integrated the baseband onto their SoC which made their solution a lot more simple for other manufacturers. Apple wanted to do their own thing, so there wasn't a lot of room for NVidia to do business there either.

Also, NVidia was licensing a lot of their hardware and throwing it together. By the time Apple came out with the A4 (around the time of the Tegra 2 if memory serves) they were starting to do a similar amount of design as NVidia, as they were probably starting to design what would later become their custom cores. Meanwhile Qualcomm was working on their own core, GPU, and baseband. The only companies that were really just licensing everything and throwing it together were TI (who eventually quit the ARM chip business) and Samsung who could save money by fabricating their own design rather than buying it from a third party.

The only company that NVidia is really competing with is Qualcomm. Both Apple and Samsung will largely do their own thing and aren't trying to sell their SoCs, so NVidia doesn't have to worry about them. However, Qualcomm offers so much more of an integrated SoC and their better performance on the CPU side is far more important than GPU power (although that's getting to be important with the insane display resolutions) for what most people do.

The K1 might be interesting, but it really depends on how well NVidia's custom CPU cores perform. It's something they've been working on for a long time now, so one could be hopeful, but it could also mean a project that was stuck in development hell for so long that it's going to be underwhelming. Their success will also depend on what Qualcomm has in the pipe and what they've been able to accomplish with their 64-bit design.
 
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Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
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This spec list smells like warmed-over bullshit. 5gb!? For what, quad multiwindow?

However, *some* form of multiwindow must surely implemented in L if this rumor is at all true.

Everything but that RAM spec is believable. 5GBs of RAM sounds like BS to me. Or someone crossed the leaks with the Sense tablet that'll only have 5GBs of storage usable out of 16 to accommodate the bloat.
 

tsupersonic

Senior member
Nov 11, 2013
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Well I can't wait till this comes out. I got my N7 2013 at the end of July last year, so I'm expecting same timeframe this year (hopefully). I've been meaning to get a smaller tablet with LTE so I can work on the go when I'm on-call. So, this and the new iPad Mini coming out will be my prime candidates.
 

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
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If it is true that 5GB of memory will be packed in, it might just be to check a box for "most memory available in a mobile device!" for no real use. Similar to Apple's "First 64bit mobile CPU" when there was really no usage for 64bit CPU in a phone at the time.

I have a question though, what is the reason for keeping a 4:3 aspect ratio and not 16:9?
 
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s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
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Evleaks admitted this latest report was a hoax. The AP one is still there though.
 

Ravynmagi

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Jun 16, 2007
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Evleaks admitted this latest report was a hoax. The AP one is still there though.

Evleaks was tricked by a 14 year old posing as a Google engineer.
http://www.gottabemobile.com/2014/07/02/nexus-8-specs-rumors/

There are rumors that HTC Voltantis could be the next Nexus and these have been circulating before this latest hoax. Some of the hoaxed information is pulled from previous rumors that may or may not have some validity to them.

I'm fairly certain there is a Nexus tablet coming. It would seem likely this is what they'll launch Android L on, so could come later in the Fall.

It'll probably be around 8 to 9 inches. I'm kinda hoping for something around 8.0 to 8.4 inches so it's easier to hold. But it could be up to 8.9 inches like this latest rumor suggests.

If it has either a Snapdragon 805 or a Tegra K1 SoC, I'll be pretty happy, I can't imagine anything less.

I hope Google does abandon the 16GB entry model size and releases this in 32 and 64GB sizes.

The latest hoax had the resolution at 2560x1600, a 16:10 ratio. I'm guessing the tablet very likely will have 16:10. But I've seen a rumor saying 2048x1440, which is almost a 4:3 ratio. Not sure I'd want the Nexus to be that square and doubt it will. But I think using the Surface Pro 3's 3:2 aspect ratio would be really nice.
 
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jdoggg12

Platinum Member
Aug 20, 2005
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As long as it's better than the POS my 2013 N7 has turned out to be...

The touch screen issues have rendered it nearly useless. It's infuriating, considering how much I loved it for the first 6 months I had it (got it last October). Then the touch screen started becoming unresponsive or would indicate dozens of touches when I'd lay a single finger on it.
 

Super56K

Golden Member
Feb 27, 2004
1,390
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All I want is a ~1" larger screen and an incremental spec bump at the same launch price as the Nexus 7. They can keep the resolution the same too. I'm not very interested in a 'premium' tablet priced like an iPad.
 

Ravynmagi

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2007
3,102
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As long as it's better than the POS my 2013 N7 has turned out to be...

The touch screen issues have rendered it nearly useless. It's infuriating, considering how much I loved it for the first 6 months I had it (got it last October). Then the touch screen started becoming unresponsive or would indicate dozens of touches when I'd lay a single finger on it.

Did you buy it from Google Play, have you tried contacting Google for an RMA? I've had my Nexus 7 2013 from day one and I still love it so much, working great still.
 

jdoggg12

Platinum Member
Aug 20, 2005
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Did you buy it from Google Play, have you tried contacting Google for an RMA? I've had my Nexus 7 2013 from day one and I still love it so much, working great still.

I got it from a local Game Stop, i'll need to find my receipt and see if they'll exchange or warranty it. I can't restart it right now because the power button stopped doing anything while the screen is on. When it times out, it'll turn the screen on, but it wont lock it and I can't long press to reboot... it's becoming very frustrating.
 

Silenus

Senior member
Mar 11, 2008
358
1
81
Evleaks was tricked by a 14 year old posing as a Google engineer.
http://www.gottabemobile.com/2014/07/02/nexus-8-specs-rumors/

There are rumors that HTC Voltantis could be the next Nexus and these have been circulating before this latest hoax. Some of the hoaxed information is pulled from previous rumors that may or may not have some validity to them.

I'm fairly certain there is a Nexus tablet coming. It would seem likely this is what they'll launch Android L on, so could come later in the Fall.

It'll probably be around 8 to 9 inches. I'm kinda hoping for something around 8.0 to 8.4 inches so it's easier to hold. But it could be up to 8.9 inches like this latest rumor suggests.

If it has either a Snapdragon 805 or a Tegra K1 SoC, I'll be pretty happy, I can't imagine anything less.

I hope Google does abandon the 16GB entry model size and releases this in 32 and 64GB sizes.

The latest hoax had the resolution at 2560x1600, a 16:10 ratio. I'm guessing the tablet very likely will have 16:10. But I've seen a rumor saying 2048x1440, which is almost a 4:3 ratio. Not sure I'd want the Nexus to be that square and doubt it will. But I think using the Surface Pro 3's 3:2 aspect ratio would be really nice.

I think 16:10 is likely as well. However...I maintain that 16:10 is at best an acceptable compromise. It's ok and quite usable, but I would much rather something like 3:2, which would be great. 4:3 would be totally ok for me as well. 16:9 for a tablet is just awful/hilarious. The way I see it something in the 3:2 or 4:3 range is simply the most useful for the widest range of apps and orientations (Ie: something you use vertically VERY often, and/or read a lot on). I really hope there are more Android tablet choices in the future with the more square aspect ratios. (http://www.xiaomishop.com/104-xiaom...1-quad-core-22ghz-2gb16gb-6700mah-tablet.html)
 

Ravynmagi

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2007
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I got it from a local Game Stop, i'll need to find my receipt and see if they'll exchange or warranty it. I can't restart it right now because the power button stopped doing anything while the screen is on. When it times out, it'll turn the screen on, but it wont lock it and I can't long press to reboot... it's becoming very frustrating.

Yeah, it's made by ASUS, so while it's a great tablet when it's built properly, ASUS has a reputation for some pretty poor quality control when it comes to tablets. Sounds like you got one of the bad apples from ASUS. And unfortunately their customer support reputation is even worse.
 

jdoggg12

Platinum Member
Aug 20, 2005
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Yeah, it's made by ASUS, so while it's a great tablet when it's built properly, ASUS has a reputation for some pretty poor quality control when it comes to tablets. Sounds like you got one of the bad apples from ASUS. And unfortunately their customer support reputation is even worse.

Just started their RMA process on Sunday. The guy was totally friendly about the whole thing and they're covering shipping. I guess we'll see if it acts up while they have it and in what condition it's returned in... (fingers crossed)
 

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
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I think 16:10 is likely as well. However...I maintain that 16:10 is at best an acceptable compromise. It's ok and quite usable, but I would much rather something like 3:2, which would be great.
3:2 is better for landscape use on a single app, but 16:10 is better for dual windows or portrait use. I guess with Google's love for giant bars a physical 3:2 would translate more to 16:10 useable in landscape...

16:9 is just too lopsided, yes.