Unboxing: Google Nexus 7 tablet [Video]

The big star of the Google I/O conference was the Nexus 7 tablet announced at the keynote speech Wednesday, and one of them arrived at our office Friday.

At first glance, the Nexus 7’s box looks surprisingly small for a tablet and more like an oversized container for a smartphone. But when you take off the cover, you find the 7-inch-screen tablet takes up the entirety of the box and actually looks like a pretty good-size device.

The tablet, which is the first device to run Android Jelly Bean, takes a minute or two to get past the initial setup, but not too long after first being turned on, it’s good to go.

Google sent us an 8-GB version of the device, available to pre-order from Google Play for $199. The 16-GB Nexus 7 is also available for pre-order: $249 from Google Play or $249.99 from GameStop. They should ship next month.

After you get past setup, you first see a “My Library� widget with content that Google has pre-loaded onto the tablet. You get a couple of books, magazines and, the eye catcher, “Transformers: Dark of the Moon� -- all of which Google has tossed in at no extra charge.

From light use, the Nexus 7 seems to run very smoothly, browsing the Web quickly and downloading apps with ease.

Its 1,280-by-800-pixel HD display is very nice to look at. This isn’t the greatest thing I’ve ever laid my eyes on, but I have no complaints off the bat.

The Nexus 7’s exterior looks a lot like a very small iPad in the front, but the back is very different. It has an attractive backing designed to provide you with a good grip. As for the size, most people will be able to palm the whole thing, but I also could fit it in my back pocket and even my front pocket with just a tad bit of weirdness.

That’s all for now, but check back later for a full review of the Nexus 7.

[Updated, 12:20 p.m. July 2: In the video, I say, “They (Google) also throw in the Galaxy Nexus phone� in describing what Google had sent the Los Angeles Times to review. This has led to at least one reader to ask whether Google will give you a free Galaxy Nexus with the purchase of the Nexus 7. That is not the case. Sorry for the confusion.]

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