Image Credit: iFixit

A few days ago we showed the response Asus gave when asked why the Nexus 7 tablet that it created together with Google – apparently the device would have been a little more expensive with a back camera on board.

Therefore, the final Nexus 7 design offers only a front-facing camera with support for video chatting. The lack of a rear shooter has been mildly criticized by some users that for some reason want to take pictures with a tablet, no matter how big such a device is.

A recent xda-developers unboxing and teardown of the Nexus 7 reveals various things about the first ever Jelly Bean tablet and focuses on a certain detail about the internal components of the device that previous teardowns did not mention.

Apparently, the Nexus 7 was initially designed to sport a rear camera. The motherboard has space for a camera module, which was left unused, probably to cut costs, just as Asus explained earlier. The Nexus 7 uses apparently the same design of the Asus MeMo 370t, a tablet that Asus unveiled earlier this year, and which should have been equipped with a rear-facing camera.

As you can see in the first image, taken from the iFixit Nexus 7 teardown, the rear-camera slot is present, but the detail has been overlooked so far by the guys that performed the teardown but also by the media, us included.

Does this mean future 7-inch Nexus-branded devices will come with a back camera? It’s too early to tell, but we’ll definitely keep you updated.