Factory images for refreshed Nexus 7 finally released

Modders and hackers can now revel in modifying their 2013 Nexus 7s, since any changes made can now be rolled back. According to TheNextWeb , Google has published the factory images for the 7-inch tablet. Despite the new Nexus 7 having been out for quite some time now, release of the factory images took time because of rising tensions between factory image manager Jean-Baptiste Queru and chip maker Qualcomm.

Factory images are essentially resources that easily let you roll back to a “factory” version of your device, essentially undoing any software change it may have been through. Factory images are usually a must for modders and hackers since, after rooting a device, there is always a chance that some homebrew software or the other will go horribly wrong.

Modify it to your heart’s content

The new Nexus 7 hit Google Play back in July, albeit in the US only. The tablet is about 2 mm thinner and 50 g lighter than the older Nexus 7. In a major improvement over the last-gen model, the display on the sleeker tablet will have a 1920 x 1200 resolution with a pixel density of 323 ppi. The 7-point touch IPS panel is supposed to be not just scratch-resistant, but also fingerprint smudge resistant.

The Nexus 7 also has new internals, with the tablet being powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro SoC, which has four Krait cores clocked at 1.5GHz along with Adreno 320 GPU and a healthy 2GB of RAM. In a significant bump from the previous version, the newer Nexus 7 will have dual stereo speakers with 5.1 audio.

Nexus 7 has a modest 5MP rear camera and a 1.2MP front-facing one. The tablet will also sport Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and dual-band Wi-Fi capabilities. The tablet has a 3950 mAh battery that will last you for a good nine hours of active use and can be charged wirelessly. The refreshed Nexus 7 will come in 16GB and 32GB Wi-Fi variants with an additional LTE version also available. The 16GB WiFi Nexus 7 will be priced at $229 (approx Rs 13,500), the 32GB variant will set you back $269 (approx Rs 16,000) and the 32GB LTE Nexus 7 is priced at a slightly steep $349 (approx Rs 20,500).