For the 7, doesn't have SD support and has very limited memory. It's obviously intended more for streaming than local playback. And at least based on the current specs, no video out (though that may be a misprint). Granted you can use other services besides Google Play, but obviously it's their hope that you'll use their services.What is gimped on the Q and nexus 7?
Then there's the Q. Based on the video and the description, only Google Play Music, Google Play Movies and TV, and YouTube videos actually work to stream to it. Currently no other services can be sent to it, and there's no indication they can be directly played on the device itself. As a matter of fact (at least in the video on the site), there's no indication it has the standard Android interface to actually run anything directly on it at all. They aren't even showing it. I suspect logically it's a custom UI and is only meant for Google services.
This is basically the exact opposite of traditional Android and Google TV, where the idea is to play whatever from wherever. Hell, this is more restrictive than AirPlay is. They updated it to do mirroring.
This. And it's a disturbing direction.It isn't a cost thing. SD Card slots are extremely cheap. They are even in the super cheap low end android tablets that cost closer to $100. It's all about locking people into the cloud google play service. Which is very Appley.