The above image is of my nightstand, admittedly a lot tidier than normal and alongside my 3DS XL and my phone’s speaker dock is my Nexus 7 which is a permanent resident of the nightstand. I think we’re all guilty of this but, when it comes time to turn out the light, I turn on my Nexus. I wouldn’t call it an addiction but, I’d be pretty upset without my Nexus 7 at bed time. Being Editor for an Android site like Android Headlines you’d think that I have a vested interest in all of technology – and you’d be right. While I love Android and the hardware choices available to us, if it beeps or has an LED then I’m interested in it. Not just that but, I’m a pretty big gamer as well, if I’m not reading, writing or playing a game then I’m asleep. The Nexus 7 is the perfect device for my nightstand because during the day I’m at my desk and I can read whatever I want, watch YouTube videos and even get some work done. When I go to bed though, I want to switch off, while still enjoying the things I love.
Pocket is a big part of why I love the Nexus 7 so much, it’s not that the app is overly great on tablets, it’s just the whole service and concept behind it that I’ve fallen in love with. Since I first started High School (not that long ago, I suppose) Engadget was the first thing I would look at on the laptop as soon as I walked in the door. Now though, as I’ve gotten older I don’t have all the time in the world to cruise the web, sure I still do a lot of during the day – I need to get my gadget fix somehow but, Pocket fills in the rest. Some of my favorite sites, like The Next Web, The Verge, Polygon, Joystiq, Kotaku et al deliver brilliant content that I love and with Pocket I just hit the Chrome extension and when I hit the hay I pick it up and read what I want to read at my leisure. It makes reading editorials and opinion pieces – hopefully like this one – a lot more enjoyable and clearing out all the fluff of the webpage really helps as well.
I obviously live on the Internet, and lead a very digital life but the magazine is not entirely lost on me. In fact, that’s what most of my time reading is spent on, I love the Play Store model for subscriptions – it’s cheaper than the print copy and I don’t have to deal with the clutter – and I have a number on the go at any given time. Being a Brit, my tastes are obviously going to be a little different but, with magazines like PC Gamer, The Spectator, Wired and Edge I have all the content I love in one device, with a still high-resolution display right where I want it – by my pillow.
YouTube is quite easily my biggest weakness, I am ashamedly a sucker for funny cat videos, the Real Russia Blog, videos of life in Japan, game reviesw, unboxings, retro game reviews – you name it, I’ll watch it. It’s not just YouTube though, I absolutely love Netflix and if they keep bringing content like House of Cards to the table then they can keep me for life. I’m also a sizable fan of Anime and while the Crunchyroll app isn’t great, it’s cheap enough month-to-month for the occasional binge of Japanese culture. It might seem strange to watch so much video on a small display but, thanks to the great display I don’t feel like I am losing out on much and it’s a very personal feeling with the tablet so close to you.
The new Nexus 7 is just going to replace my old one, which I plan on giving my girlfriend to curb her time spent with her iPhone and my Chromebook. I’m pretty excited, the price is still great at £199 for us Brits and with a resolution of 1900 x 1200 I’ll be able to watch as many episodes of The Office in Full HD as I want. I knew, long before, what the new Nexus 7 was going to pack – much like the rest of the world – but, I’m still impressed with the improvements Google has made. While the S4 Pro is not cutting edge it’s more than enough of an upgrade over last year’s Tegra 3 and I’m sure it’ll make for a significant speed-boost. Unfortunately, I will have to wait as the device isn’t launching in the UK until September 13th, which is pretty disappointing but, if it means I get an easy purchase come September, then I’m fine with it.
What about you guys? Shout out in the comments and let us know what you use your Nexus 7 for!