Officially unveils seven inch Asus-built device.
The product, previewed for the the first time at yesterday's Google I/O conference in San Francisco, had been widely discussed prior to the event.
It comes with a a 1280 x 800 HD display, a Tegra 3 processor, a front-facing camera, wi-fi, Bluetooth, NFC and up to nine hours of video playback.
It will also run the new Jelly Bean OS, also formally introduced at IO.
Interestingly, Nexus 7 will sell first on Google Play, before shipping to retail from mid-July. All devices come with $25 credit to encourage users to buys apps and other virtual goods.
Google will clearly be hoping for a breakthrough in the tablet space, in which Apple's single product line accounts for 65 per cent of all sales despite the efforts of a multitude of Android OEMs.
The firm's last effort to indirectly make its own tablet - the Google-endorsed Motorola Xoom - was no more successful than any of the others.
This time, it could be different. And the reason will be price. A high-spec premium branded tablet costing $199 could chime with a huge number of consumers. It worked (to a degree) for Amazon and don't forget that HP's TouchPad sold prolifically after it was discounted.
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