Google unveils Nexus 7 tablet for $199

The tablet market just got a bit more crowded as Google today unveiled the Nexus 7, a new seven-inch tablet that will rival the Kindle Fire, Apple iPad, and recently announced Microsoft Surface in price.

The tablet, which will ship in mid-July, is on sale now on the Google Play Store and offers purchasers a free $25 credit for the Play store, as well as some free subscriptions and a free copy of the latest Transformers movie.

Google has partnered with ASUS to build the new Tegra 3 device. As expected, the tablet has a Tegra 3 quad-core processor and a 12-core general processing unit for running games, movies, and apps. It has 1 GB of RAM, a 1.2 MP front-facing camera, and boasts a 1280×800 resolution on its 7" display. The battery will allegedly last 9 hours of continuous use or up to 300 hours on standby mode. The Nexus 7 also uses NFC, Bluetooth 4.0, accelerometers, and gyroscope for gaming.

As a Google tablet, almost all of Google's products are integrated into the device including Google Chrome as the main browser. During the demonstration, Engineering director Chris Yerga showed off how to pull Google Maps into a Google search for a restaurant while using the gyroscope to navigate a panoramic photo. Google Translate is also present allowing you to translate languages directly in its Google Currents news reader app.

And because everyone cares so much about gaming on their mobile devices, Yerga said it will "revolutionize the mobile gaming space". Isn't that what all of these companies promise? I'm still waiting…

The Nexus 7 will be available starting at $199 for the 8GB model and a 16GB model for $249. Pre-orders can be made today.