Google’s I/O conference has revealed a slew of valuable information to the Android community this week. A number of big announcements have been made, but leading the conference from day 1 was the Nexus 7 – a $200 tablet that looks to erase any misconceptions people had about “lower end” tablets.

The Nexus 7 runs Android’s Jelly Bean 4.1 operating system, which, according to the Android website, is the “fastest and smoothest version of Android” yet. The device has a crystal-clear graphics display and features fast transition between apps from the sleek main menu screen.

Android 4.1 also features an expanded notification system, allowing you to see multiple things going on in your life with just the click of a button. Google has tweaked the keyboard menu, adding a new language model that adapts to your vocabulary over time, and they’ve also expanded the text-to-speech feature.

Websites like Engadget have already weighed in with their reviews of the Nexus 7 tablet. The tech website said the 1280×800 display is noticeably vivid, especially in the 7-inch “discount” tablet range. Since the closest competitor to the Nexus 7, the Kindle Fire, runs at a resolution of 1,024 x 600, the Nexus 7 is noticeably at the top of its class.

Throughout the review, Engadget continued to look for areas in which the Nexus 7 was scaled back. They had trouble finding any – from battery life to performance benchmarks, the Nexus 7 is certainly impressing early adopters.

Basically, the only way the Nexus 7 loses to its closest competitor, the Kindle Fire, is through its selection of content. Android’s store has less selection at higher prices than Amazon’s online store, although the pricing differences on books, music, and movies isn’t too extreme (generally less than $1 per item ).

Also announced at Google’s I/O conference were Project Glass prototypes, which you can own for the low price of $1,500. The flashy pair of virtual reality glasses aren’t ready to be released yet, but those who pre-order prototypes today will receive their pair early in 2013.

Judging by the positive reaction to the I/O conference thus far, the future looks promising for Google and Android owners.

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