Asus explains Google Nexus 7 camera omission

Published Jul 20 2012, 18:23 BST  |  By Mark Langshaw

Asus has opened up about its decision to omit a rear-mounted camera from the Google Nexus 7.

The manufacturer explained that the tablet does not include the item because maintaining a low price point was the priority during production.



"To make this device accessible to the widest possible market, price is very important. Asus believes that for this device a good rear camera is important," said an Asus spokesperson.

"Adding a high-quality rear-facing camera will increase the price point and many users would not have a use for it.

"Adding a lower-quality rear-facing camera would compromise on the overall user experience, so the decision was made not to include a camera, therefore keeping the price down and user experience extremely high."

The Google Nexus 7, powered by a Tegra 3 quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM, does play host to a low-grade front-facing camera for making video calls via applications like Skype.

Hosting an impressive 1280 x 800p HD display, the slate will be the first device to run Google's next generation Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system.

The Google Nexus 7 is available now, priced at £159.99 and £199.99 for the 8GB and 16GB models respectively.