New Nexus 7 Heading to AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon

On stage in San Francisco, Google announced the new Nexus 7, a device that will be coming to replace the older Nexus 7. The new Nexus 7 will come with a number of upgrades including 4G LTE data speeds which will be available on AT&T, T-Mobile and the nation’s largest 4G LTE carrier, Verizon Wireless.

In the build up to the Nexus 7 2 launch, we had seen the device pass through the FCC on its way to launch. The FCC filing revealed 4G LTE connectvity, something that the Nexus 7 did not have, and it pointed to support for AT&T and T-Mobile as well as Verizon. However, given Google’s past with Verizon, it was unclear if a Verizon Nexus 7 2 would emerge.

Read: Nexus 7 2 Announced.

Fortunately, as it turns out, a Verizon Nexus 7 is indeed coming to shelves and it will be unlocked and run on the carrier’s massive 4G LTE network which is home in more than 400 markets and will see its roll out completed by the end of 2013. This is the first Nexus device to hit Verizon since the Samsung Galaxy Nexus which launched in December of 2011.

Given that this is a pure Nexus device, the device should get updated directly from Google, rather than through Verizon, though that has not been confirmed. The device is, however, going to be the same device that lands for both AT&T and T-Mobile.

That means that it will be coming with a 7-inch display with 1920 x 1200 resolution, a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, a 5MP rear camera, and a design that is both slimmer and lighter than the original Nexus 7.

The device is still unavailable on the Google Play Store but it should end up replacing the new Nexus 7 soon. Google has bumped the price of the Nexus 7 2 up from $199.99 to $230 without a contract. That price will net users a 16GB Wi-Fi only model while a 32GB model will check in at $270.

The LTE model will only come in 32GB form and it will be available for $349 or just $10 more than the iPad mini’s $330 starting price tag.