Google’s big Android 4.3 Jellybean, $US35 Chromecast and Nexus 7 unveiling

Google has unveiled a slew of new products, including the latest version of its Android operating system, a new Nexus 7 tablet and the successor to its Nexus Q television device.

Android 4.3 Jellybean includes a range of new features, including the introduction of restricted user profiles, allowing parents to restrict the apps their kids use, an autocomplete phone dial pad, Bluetooth low energy support, and surround sound for 2013 Nexus devices.

Android 4.3 Jellybean will ship with a new app called Google Play Games, which allows users to interact, as well as keep track of achievements and high scores.

The updated operating system also boasts a range of other improvements, including OpenGL ES 3.0 high performance graphics support, low latency input for gamepad buttons and joysticks, improved international language support and increased enterprise security.

The company also announced a $US35 dongle called Chromecast, a successor to the company’s ill-fated Nexus Q set top box and allows users to stream content from their device to their television, with a July 28 US release.

The device works with a range of apps, including Netflix, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV and Google Play Music, with the mobile and search giant promising support for additional apps, including Pandora, in the future.

“Unlike other streaming solutions, you can still multitask—send emails or surf the web—while enjoying what’s on the TV screen. It works across platforms—Android tablets and smartphones, iPhones, iPads, Chrome for Mac and Windows (more to come), so your personal device is also now your remote control,” the company states.

Finally, the company has announced an updated 7-inch Google Nexus 7 tablet, with a price of $US229 for the introductory 16 gigabyte model, and a US release date of July 30.

Google’s chief of Android and Chrome, Sundar Pichai, says Nexus 7 accounts for around 10% of all Android tablet sales, with the company expecting 70 million Android tablet activations in 2013, compared to 10 million in 2012.