Google Play Store selling Nexus-7 Tablet to Canadians

I was looking at the upgrade for my Samsung Nexus-S (Galaxy Nexus) at the Google Store and noticed Google is accepting orders from consumers who want to purchase their new tablet the Nexus-7. Surprisingly when I went to the Google Play Store, I noticed Google was actually shipping this product (once it is available) to Canadians as well as to some other countries outside the US. This is somewhat unusual because generally a lot of the other products that Google releases isn't available in Canada (ex: Chromebook, Google Voice, Google Music, etc.)

I already have an Acer Android 7" tablet (Acer Iconia Tab A100) that I use but having something that is pure Android (without the customizations of the manufacturer) is something that is appealing to me. The Acer tablet doesn't have a lot of Acer customizations but I prefer using devices (cellphones, tablets, etc.) that don't have the carrier add-ins or the manufacturer's add-ins. It was actually one of the reasons why I opted to purchase a Nexus-S as opposed to purchasing another Android phone.

The Google Play Store seems to be using UPS to ship the item to Canadians and if the item is actually being shipping from the US to Canada using UPS, I will definitely not purchase it because of UPS's high brokerage fees when receiving items that were shipping from the US.

I'll continue to read the reviews about the Nexus-7 before I decide whether to purchase it or not. The hardware specifications look very nice and are better than my current Acer Iconia Tab A100 but then I've never really ran into a problem with my Acer Iconia Tab A100 (except that I consider the battery life to be somewhat on the weak side). The expected battery usage for the Nexus-7 seems good but normally I don't trust the values posted by the manufacturer since I often find these values don't represent real usage. If I do manage to get my hands on one either as a testing unit, I'll probably write a blog review on it.

If you live outside the US and you're interested in purchasing the new Google Nexus-7 tablet when it becomes available, check it out the Google Play Store. They have 2 models (8 GB & 16 GB). In my opinion, the price point for the 8 GB model ($210+taxes) is also good.

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