The year old 2013 LTE enabled Nexus 7 tablet already has Android 4.4.4 via an update that Google pushed out earlier this year. So don’t go getting all crazy over “it already had it.” In all actuality the 2013 LTE Nexus 7 didn’t have a stock factory image available. Yes, an OTA and a factory image are different. The factory image is the entire software package for the device and is usually used in instances where you flashed a bad ROM and borked your device. The factory image would ring it back to life, like magic. It is also very handy if you have gone so far down the rabbit hole that your best option is to start over from scratch.
Google is generally pretty fast to upload factory images of the Nexus line shortly after launch or after an OTA starts rolling out. In the case of the N7 LTE device, it took a number of months longer than usual. I assume it was related tot he device being LTE enabled. Licensing agreements and all that legal stuff. Bounce on over to the Google Developers Nexus Image page to get the file at your leisure.
Via 9to5Google
