Nexus 10 Unveiled by Google

Google announced a new 10-inch Nexus tablet arriving this holiday season.

Samsung worked with Google to build the Nexus 10. The device features a 10.05-inch display with a 2560 x 1600 resolution. The company says this is the highest resolution screen on any tablet. It also boasts a magazine-quality density of 300 pixels per inch.

The device packs a dual-core processor, 2 GB of RAM and built-in NFC. The company says the A15 processor combined with advanced MIMO WiFi allow users to browse the web at speeds up to four times faster than normal WiFi.

Google claims the Nexus 10 will get nine hours of battery life during continuous use and 500 hours of standby time. The tablet has an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera. It also has micro USB and micro HDMI ports.

The tablet will ship with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Although this is not a major leap from the last Android update, it does have some interesting new features. Those planning to share a Nexus 10 with other members of the family will love the new ability to have multiple profiles on one device. A swipe of the screen when it is locked will let users select which profile to use. This will allow multiple users to sync their own Google apps such as Gmail and Google Play content on a single device.

The Nexus 10 will be available for purchase on the Google Play Store beginning Nov. 13. A 16 GB model will cost $399 and a 32 GB version will run for $499.

With a new competitor in the iPad Mini, Google is not forgetting about the smaller Nexus 7. An 8 GB version of the 7-inch tablet was being sold for $199 with a 16 GB model priced at $249. The company will no longer be offering the 8 GB model. In accordance, the price of the 16 GB Nexus 7 will be dropping to $199. A new 32 GB version will now be available for $249. The new models are out now on the Google Play Store.

A cellular-connected version of the Nexus 7 is also being added to Google’s line of tablets. The 32 GB tablet with HSPA+ connectivity will be available on the Google Play Store starting Nov. 13 for $299.

The announcement was originally planned to take place at a media event in New York but Hurricane Sandy forced the company to cancel the press conference and reveal the information on the company blog.

The Nexus 7 has been covered extensively by Gaming Illustrated. Be sure to check out our review of the device.