New Nexus 7 to sport Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU, 1080p display and Android 4.3, says analyst

Google is expected to unveil a new improved Nexus 7 at its I/O event, and KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has let out some potential specs of the second-generation Nexus 7 in a research note, just a few days before I/O starts.

According to Kuo, the 7-inch display will be upgraded to a 1920 x 1200 pixels resolution, and a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor (APQ8064) will replace the Tegra 3 chipset in the current Nexus 7, which is in line with what a previous report suggested. The tablet will be manufactured by ASUS again, and Google is aiming for the same $199 price yet again for the base model, losing from $5 to $10 with each device.

Other specs that Kuo mentions include a 5-megapixel rear camera, HD front-facing camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC connectivity, and run on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, which is almost confirmed to be the next version of Android. Interestingly, the 4,000mAh battery on the device supports Qi wireless charging, similar to the Nexus 4.

There is no mention of the storage space on the new Nexus 7, though we can expect 16 and 32GB models as usual, with the latter coming with mobile data connectivity. Kuo mentions that the tablet will be called “new Nexus 7,” which I personally find hard to believe, particularly because it’s exactly how Apple named their latest iPad and Google wouldn’t be wanting to get into any tussle with that sue happy company.

While all of this might turn out to be true, it’s still best to take everything with a pinch of salt. After all, it’s not long before we get to see what Google pulls out of its magic hat at I/O, so it’s better to contain our excitement just a bit longer, instead of jumping to conclusions based on a report that could, at best, be speculative guessing.

Thoughts?