[13] In an interview in December 2011, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt announced that a Google-designed tablet computer would arrive in six months.

During the interview for Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Schmidt stated that the software company would have strong competition against Apple, the designer of the iPad line of tablets.

After agreeing to manufacture the device for Google as the OEM, Asus was tasked with building a tablet that could sell for US$200 and would be "fast, cheap, and good"; according to the concept of the project management triangle, only two of these qualities can be achieved.

Having employees working in both locations allowed the engineering team to have a 24-hour development cycle, although Shih later needed to add 40 people to the project to meet Google's requests.

[18] The design for the Nexus 7 was based on a tablet that Asus had showcased at International CES that year, the Eee Pad MeMO ME370T.

Among the component modifications were a new motherboard, revised system on a chip (SoC), laminated display, and rear casing with a grippier material.

[20] The Nexus 7's higher production costs were attributed to its use of a higher-quality display, a quad-core processor (instead of the Fire's dual-core), and its inclusion of a camera and near field communications (NFC) functionality.

However, he also noted that both tablets were being sold at thin profit margins, primarily due to their respective ties to content services.

[21] One month before its unveiling, the tablet appeared on benchmark site Rightware, which revealed that it would be an Asus-produced device known as the "Nexus 7" with a 7-inch (180 mm) screen, a Nvidia Tegra 3 SoC, and version 4.1 of Android.

[22] On June 25, 2012, gadget website Gizmodo Australia claimed it had access to the tablet's specifications and recommended retail prices, which turned out to be correct.

[23][24] The Nexus 7 was revealed on June 27, 2012, at Google I/O, an annual developer conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco, and it became available for pre-order on the same day.

[29] Barra announced that the tablet would retail for $199 for the 8 GB version and that it would come with a free film, e-book, several magazines, and a $25 credit (available for redemption until September 30)[30] to spend in Google Play, Android's digital multimedia distribution service.

Jelly Bean was an incremental upgrade from Android 4.0 ("Ice Cream Sandwich"), incorporating software improvements to the pull-down notifications bar and camera, and changes to the homescreen.

With Jelly Bean, Google significantly reduced latency (lag), one negative aspect of Android compared to Apple's iOS operating system.

It does so by employing "vsync timing" and triple buffering, improving touch responsiveness, and programming the display to run at 60 frames per second; this initiative was called "Project Butter".

[18] The Nexus 7 is intended to take advantage of the different media formats available through the application store, including e-books, movies, music, games, magazines, and television programs.

[59] Android 5.0 ("Lollipop") was released for the Nexus 7 WiFi edition in November 2014, although users reported that the update rendered the tablet very slow.

[7] The rear of the Nexus 7 features a dimpled plastic surface with a rubbery, leathery texture to help users to grip and hold the device.

[17] In order to maximize the device's battery life, Asus engineers spent one month attempting to reduce electrical leakage by measuring heat and voltage at every point on the printed circuit board (PCB).

[68] The tablet's thin, lightweight form factor was achieved without sacrificing computer power through a special LCD design called Asus TruVivid.

[5] Contrasting with the company's usual method for designing motherboards, the first components that Asus placed on the device's PCB were the speakers.

Technology commentators drew attention to its high performance, responsive display and the inclusion of Jelly Bean, as well as to NFC support.

[11][70] Walter Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal, David Pogue of The New York Times, and TechCrunch columnist MG Siegler acknowledged that Google and Asus had designed a serious competitor to Apple's iPad.

Its construction has a high-quality look and feel",[10] and The Verge columnist Joshua Topolsky declared: "Google's Nexus 7 isn't just an excellent tablet for $200.

[92] In light of Google not releasing official sales figures, mobile industry analyst Benedict Evans [Wikidata] estimated that the device most likely sold between 4.5 and 4.6 million units in 2012.

[94] Following the 2012 holiday season, analytics company Localytics reported that the Nexus 7 accounted for 8% of the global Android tablet market share, based on estimates of app installations.

[1] In 2012, the Nexus 7 won T3's "Gadget of the Year" award, beating rival Apple's iPhone 4S, Sony's PlayStation Vita, OnLive, and others.