Too many companies have learned the hard way not to mess with Apple. But nothing lasts forever, and we personally are wondering if and when consumer interest will start to wane and possibly open up a sliver of space in the market for other gadgets. So, when we took a tour of Google's NYC offices (don't worry, we have a slideshow coming out so soon!), we kept an open mind. Besides peeping their crazy cafeterias, we spent a couple hours playing around with the tech behemoth's plan to break the iPad's iron grip, a.k.a.
the Nexus 7 tablet
, which has all the same fun features of Apple's tablet, but retails for only $199, versus upwards of $500 for an original iPad. We watched some previews, checked out the R29 site, Instagrammed...even listened to some Frank Ocean. Our prognosis? Two thumbs up (or one, depending on your touchscreen typing prowess).
Nexus 7, $199, available at Google Play.
Photo: Courtesy of Google.