While Google enjoyed a summer of exceptional sales and reviews for its new 7-inch tablet, the Nexus 7, with the release of Amazon's Kindle Fire HD tablet, and announcement of Barnes & Noble's Nook HD, one major chink the company's armor has been revealed. The Nexus 7 has a serious storage problem.

The $200 Nexus 7, which launched in July, comes with just 8 GB of storage. A 16 GB version of the Nexus 7 sells for $250, but neither model has a MicroSD slot. Thus, once you're out of room, your only available option is to start deleting if you want to free up space.

The most highly rated feature of the Google Nexus 7 is its "pure Google experience," which allows it to get updates faster than other Android tablets. The exterior design is simple while the software is more complex.  Reviews have rated the Nexus 7's specs almost universally as excellent.

Google Nexus 7 specs

Seven-inch 1280×800 pixel 216 ppi  IPS display, Corning glass, weighs 340 grams, features front-facing 1.2 megapixels camera, 4325mAh batter, microUSB port, NFC (Android Beam), 1GB RAM, 8/16GB storage, microphone, 9 hours video, 10 hours of web browsing or reading, GPS, WiFi, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and quad-core Tegra 3 processor. Google's device also has over 600,000 to choose from.

Nexus 7's problems

When compared to computer-like use of the iPad and Apple media/app system, the Google Nexus 7  falls a little short of expectations. There's no expandable storage, no HDMI connector, it's plain-looking, the bezel is too big, and not designed for drawing. The device also lacks a rear camera, and some users are reporting lag issues.

Let's compare that to Amazon's Kindle Fire HD and Barnes & Noble's Nook HD.

Kindle Fire HD

The 7-inch Kindle Fire HD comes in 16 GB and 32 GB versions, for $199 and $249 respectively. Of course, there are a few hidden costs: a charger costs $10 extra, and the device shows advertisements unless you opt-out for $15. Like the Nexus 7, there's no expandable storage, but the fact remains that Amazon's tablets still have twice the capacity as Google's device. Plus, Kindle Fire HD's front-facing camera is slightly better at 1.3 megapixels, and its battery is a juggernaut that puts the rest of the 7-inch tablets to shame, offering 11 hours of continuous use.

Nook HD

Like the Nexus 7, the Nook HD contains 8 GB of storage in the $199 model, but a 16 GB version costs only $30 more.

Unlike Nexus 7, Nook HD features a MicroSD car slot supporting up to 32 GB of expanded storage, so Barnes & Noble's tablet has the highest possible capacity of all three devices. It also has the highest screen resolution out of any tablet available at its size with 1440 x 900 with 243 pixels per-inch, as well as HD video playback capability of up to 720p.

Barnes & Noble made a quirky design change with the 7-ich Nook HD by removing the faux carabineer clip seen in the original Nook on the lower left of the tablet body (when held in portrait mode).

For all but the most casual tablet users, the 8 GB offered by Google's Nexus 7 just isn't enough space, especially once you've subtracted the 3 GB or so that's taken up by the operating system itself. Even 16 GB cuts it close for users who want to install lots of apps or media. Barnes & Noble and Amazon have clearly adapted by offering options for more storage, and now Google's Nexus 7 is falling behind.

Rumor has it that Google and its hardware partner Asus are working on new Nexus 7 tablets, including a $99 model and a slimmer $199 version. We'd recommend keeping a high amount of skepticism on that one. However, the possibility of a Nexus 7 refresh could also be quiet confirmation that a Nexus 7 with greater storage capacity is indeed on the way.

According to The Guardian, Google was reportedly surprised by the demand for the 16 GB Nexus 7, so at least the company knows that users want more room and are willing to pay for it.

Of course, it seems unlikely the company would take such serious action this soon after launching the Nexus 7. But considering the impending release of Apple's widely-rumored iPad Mini in October, as well as Microsoft's supposed launch of its Surface tablets Oct. 25, if the company wants to remain competitive, it might be the best choice Google can make right now.