More evidence that a new Nexus 7 could be coming


Over ten months after Google and ASUS’s Nexus 7 exploded onto the tablet scene, a filing with the Bluetooth SIG (Special Interest Group) seems to indicate that another Nexus 7 device is on its way. The filing, uncovered by Android Authority, shows a device with the same model number — ME370T — as the original Nexus 7.

This device may share the model number with the current Nexus 7, but it does not share the same software. The filing shows a software version of “JWR11,” which is not a version of Android yet available for any other devices. This has led some to speculate that this Nexus 7 will come with the next version of Android, assumed to be 4.3.

Everything else in the filing looks to be the same as the original Nexus 7. The design description lists the device as a 7-inch tablet, so it doesn’t look like Google and its manufacturing partner ASUS will be throwing us any curveballs with the new version’s size.

It’s speculated that the next version of the hardware will step up a bit from the first-gen, potentially packing a display with 1920 x 1200 resolution. At 7-inches, that is a pretty healthy pixels-per-inch count. The new N7 is also rumored to have an updated front-facing camera, a new rear-facing camera and Qi wireless charging. ASUS will apparently be moving away from the Tegra 3 processor used in the first version, instead opting for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4.

Many believe that we’ll see the next generation of the Nexus 7 tablet sometime in July, which would coincide with the first anniversary of the original tablet. We’ll keep our ears to the ground until then and let you know if we hear anything more about the second-generation Nexus 7.

Also, we’ve put in a request for comment from ASUS and will update if we hear back.