Google to sell small tablet that challenges Kindle Fire

Google will sell a small tablet computer bearing its brand in a challenge to Amazon’s Kindle Fire. The Nexus 7 is designed specifically for Google Play, the online store that sells movies, music, books, apps and other content—the things Amazon.com Inc. also sells for its tablet computer. Both tablets have screens that measure 7 inches diagonally, smaller than the nearly 10 inches on Apple Inc.’s popular iPad. The Nexus 7 will also be light, at about 0.75 pound, compared with the Kindle Fire’s 0.9 pound. The iPad weighs 1.44 pounds. The Nexus 7 will begin shipping in mid-July starting at $199—the same price as the Kindle Fire. By contrast, iPads start at $499. Customers can start ordering it through Google today, initially in the United States, Canada and Australia. The Nexus 7 will run the next version of Google Inc.’s Android operating system, called Jelly Bean. In a keynote to open its annual conference in San Francisco for computer programmers, Google also announced today a home entertainment device called Nexus Q. It sends content from your personal collection or YouTube to your existing TV and speaker systems. You control it through a separate Android phone or tablet. Find out more about both products and others discussed today at the conference in the full story here.