As widely leaked Google announced a new Nexus 7 and Android 4.3 yesterday. Android 4.3 is still called Jelly Bean is a fairly minor update to the Android but does bring some new features. In 4.3 Google have new Restricted Profiles where you can restrict app usage and content consumption, so you could share your device with you kids and restrict access to certain apps or in-app purchases. Each user of a device can have their own profiles and you can easily switch between profiles, each user can have their own home page, backgrounds and widgets.

Other changes include support for Bluetooth Smart accessories (4.0) for things like fitness sensors and pedometers. There are improvements to widgets, they now resize automatically when you place them on a home screen. The sharing features have been improved, you can share photos and videos via NFC to another Android device. Added for the Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 is Miracast support, so you can stream anything from a phone or tablet to the TV including video streaming.

Google say Android 4.3 is available now for Nexus devices (none of my devices have been offered the update yet).

Google announced an updated Nexus 7 with a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 2GB ram, dual band Wi-Fi and a 1920×1200 display (323 ppi). The updated tablet is slightly lighter and has longer battery life than the 2012 Nexus 7. The new Nexus 7 will be available July 30th from £229 in the US and Google say more countries coming soon.

Also announced is a new TV dongle called Chromecast, the device is a video streamer that works with Netflix, YouTube and Google Play. You can also stream anything from a Chrome browser to the device. The little device costs $35 but is not available in the UK at the moment.

I am looking forward to getting 4.3 on my Nexus devices, I don’t seem rushing out to order the new Nexus 7 when it’s available as I am happy with my 2012 version but it is a very nice and low cost Android tablet. The Chromecast dongle sounds interesting but I don’t really have a need for a device like that, anybody else thinking of getting one?

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