Google Announces $199 Tablet

New Nexus 7 tablet and Jelly Bean operating system will heat up tablet competition with Apple and Microsoft

By George Winslow -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/27/2012 2:33:10 PM

Only a week after Microsoft announced its aggressive move into the tablet business, Google unveiled a new $199 Nexus 7 tablet and the Jelly Bean or Android 4.1 operating system, which will be the successor to the Ice Cream Sandwich, at the annual Google I/O developers' conference.

The pricing for the seven-inch tablet, which is matches the $199 price tag for Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet, will put additional competitive pressure on Apple, which has up to now dominated the tablet sector with much higher priced devices. Microsoft has not announced pricing for its tablets but indicated last week that prices would be comparable with other tablets.

The Nexus 7 will have a smaller screen than the 10-inch iPads, weights about 12 ounces and runs on the Jelly Bean operating system. The first devices should be available in mid-July.