Sound and fury, signifying nothing —

Drama over: Google posts images and binaries for 2013 Nexus 7

The software's fate was uncertain just a couple of days ago.

Google has released factory images and binaries for the 2013 Nexus 7 (left) to go along with the 2012 version's (right).
Google has released factory images and binaries for the 2013 Nexus 7 (left) to go along with the 2012 version's (right).
Andrew Cunningham

Android modders who want to get to work supporting the 2013 Nexus 7 can breathe a sigh of relief: Google has released a factory image and driver binaries for the tablet, just as it has done for nearly all of its other Nexus phones and tablets. This news comes a couple of days after former Android Open Source Project technical lead Jean-Baptiste Queru said that he didn't know whether they would be released at all.

Queru strongly implied that legal issues were preventing these files from being distributed, specifically the software needed to support the tablet's Qualcomm-made GPU. Frustrated by the hold-up (which he took great pains to anticipate), Queru quit AOSP not long after making his initial complaints.

It's unclear whether the release of these files has anything to do with Queru's departure or the news coverage that his implications prompted. In any event, the story has a mostly happy ending for anyone waiting to get their hands on support software for Google's latest tablet.

Channel Ars Technica