Google and Samsung have stepped up competition on the tablet market on Monday, Oct. 29, announcing the new Nexus 10 tablet to rival Apple and Microsoft.
Google's announcement follows recent unveilings from both Apple and Microsoft, who introduced their new gadgets into an increasingly competitive environment. While all three tablets hold their own and look fairly impressive on paper, the Nexus 10 seems to be gunning straight for the iPad. How does it stack up against Apple's fourth-generation iPad and Microsoft's freshly launched Surface RT?
Price & Storage
First of all, Google seems to be well aware that pricing is very important in such a competitive market. The Nexus 10 comes with a $400 price tag for the 16GB model, and goes up to $500 for the 32GB one. The fourth-generation iPad, meanwhile, comes in three available configurations: 16GB for $500, $32GB for $600, and $64GB for $700. Microsoft's Surface RT comes in three versions as well: a 32GB model costs $500, a 32GB model with a touch cover costs $600, and a 64GB version with a touch cover goes up to $700.
Display
While recently the 7-inch tablets have gotten the spotlight, now it's time for the bigger players. The Nexus 10 sports a 10.06-inch display, bigger than the iPad's 9.7-inch screen, but slightly smaller than the 10.6-inch display of the Surface RT.
Screen Resolution
Apple has long touted its Retina Display technology which offers incredible resolution, but Google went against it full-speed. The Nexus 10 boasts a whipping resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels at 300 pixels-per-inch (ppi), compared to the iPad's 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution at 264 ppi and the Surface RT's resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels at 148 ppi.
Size & Weight
The Nexus 10 measures 10.4 x 6.9 x 0.35 inches and weighs 1.33 lbs, the fourth-generation iPad is 9.5 x 7.31 x 0.37 inches at 1.44 lbs, while the Surface RT measures 10.81 x 6.77 x 0.37 inches, weighing in at 1.5 lbs.
Processor & RAM
The Nexus 10 packs a 1.7GHz dual-core ARM Cortex A15, backed by 2GB of RAM. The fourth-generation iPad features a 1.5GHz A6X dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM, while the Microsoft Surface RT boasts a 1.5GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM.
Cameras
The Nexus 10 has a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with 1080p video and LED flash, coupled with a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera with 720p video capabilities. The iPad features a 4-megapixel rear-facing camera with 720p video and a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera with VGA video shooting. Microsoft, meanwhile, has not yet detailed the photo resolution, but both cameras on the Surface RT shoot 720p video.
OS & Availability
The Nexus 10 will run on the latest version of Google's operating system, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The fourth-generation iPad runs on Apple's iOS 6, while the Surface RT runs on Microsoft's new Windows 8 RT OS. Apple and Microsoft's offerings are available now, while Google's Nexus 10 will become available on Nov. 13.
Other Features
The Nexus 7 also comes with front and back Near-Field Communication (NFC) connectivity, while the fourth-generation iPad and the Surface RT do not support NFC at all. Meanwhile, Microsoft's Surface RT has a Micro SDXC card slot for expandable memory, a feature lacking from both the Nexus 10 and the iPad. On the other hand, Apple's offering supports faster 4G connectivity. All three tablets have a claimed overall battery life of 10 hours.
