Database Users

WTF is going on ?? (Calling for death of Nexus One))

http://newstrendstoday.com/nexus-1-...the-3g-screen-problems-on-the-nexus-one/03117
Some users say they have trouble calibrating the touch screen on the Nexus One, the Google smartphone.
The first steps of Google and their Nexus One on the smartphone market does not seem as peaceful as what the Internet giant could wait. After linkage problems encountered on the 3G network T-Mobile in the United States, some users are pointing the finger at the screen of their device.
Android forums on Google, as stated by our colleagues from Engadget, there are reports of problems calibrating the touch screen One of the Nexus. They would start to feel the phone and he would put it to sleep, then on again to resolve them. Google provides to address these problems, they come from a software bug will be resolved by a patch. If the material is concerned, HTC, manufacturer of the Nexus One, might have to intervene under the warranty.
For its first week of marketing, Nexus One has sold 20 000 copies in the United States. A rather low figure who led Google to drop the $ 100 price of the device.
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http://www.nytimes.com/external/gig...m-should-google-kill-the-nexus-one-60352.html
Google this morning postponed the launch of two Android handsets in China in a clear indication that the company’s rift with Beijing threatens its booming mobile business. Meanwhile, the Nexus One has seen lackluster sales amid widespread complaints of technical glitches. So with Android’s future in China uncertain, and problems mounting with Google’s decision to build and sell the ideal Android phone — the Nexus One – is it too early to wonder whether Google will pull the plug on its flagship phone?
Google indefinitely pushed back the launch of two handsets slated to debut tomorrow from China Unicom, dramatically upping the ante in its high-profile showdown with the Chinese government. As Om noted last week, China accounts for more 638 million wireless users, and handset sales are expected to grow by 21 percent this year alone. And the market could be especially ripe for Android given its support by some key players in the region: members of Google’s Open Handset Alliance include operators China Mobile and China Telecom as well as Huawei and ZTE.
While a governmental crackdown could lead to versions of the open-source OS that are far less integrated with Google’s mobile apps, the escalating conflict means that Google will be unable to control the evolution of Android in China. And it surely closes the door on any potential Chinese sales of the Nexus One — throwing yet another roadblock at the struggling handset.
Google appears to have overreached in launching its own branded handset. The search giant was clearly unprepared to deal with the customer service issues that inevitably arise in the retailing business, and splashy headlines of customer backlash are tarnishing its highly respected brand.
The company has obviously overestimated demand for an “official” Google phone, selling just 20,000 handsets in the first week it was out, and its strategy of competing against its handset and carrier partners has limited upside and risks losing the widespread support that has fueled Android’s growth. It may be unfair to predict doom for a handset that came to market just two weeks ago, but it’s becoming clear that taking on the role of mobile retailer was a mistake for Google. It’s too early to predict that Google will kill the Nexus One, but it’s not too early to wonder whether it should.
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Ive been a techy most of my life. Ive been on nerd bomber and geek forums since 97 followed every bit of Tech I could get my hands on since that time.....I am having a miserable time trying to find another piece of consumer electronic with this many "news sources" hell bent on seeing it fail.
Not windows ME , Not XBOX 1 , Not Nextel , Not Wii....nothing.
Im baffled as to wtf is going on.

I thought I was the only one who noticed all the negative attention google is getting. I freakin love this phone. There is nothing that will make me think this isn't the best phone I've had, ever.

It's not about the quality of the phone

rockky said:
It's not about the quality of the phone
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So what is it ?
Is fanboyism that strong ?
Are people THAT pissed at Google for not giving it away free and saving them from telecoms...or
Are Apple/MS/Palm lining writers pockets ?
Im by no means saying Google isnt having a multitude of problems. On 2 big fronts right now....but the tone of these articles is blatantly biased.

Perhaps people are scared of something different. Google is the punk kid to Apple's primp and proper 'young adult'. They must be heathens.

Huh?
its about Google completely miscalculating the process of selling this product via their site.
Its about Google releasing a product not ready for consumption.
Its about a failed marketing ploy....(ie: a lack of, ...trying to create a mystique and engender a word of mouth wildfire.....backfiring, as the word of mouth has been primarily about the issues with the device.
What does fanboyism have to do with any of this?

Personally, I don't think I would "listen" to a website review and analysis that can't even form a proper sentence. That first article was seriously hard to read, and didn't make sense for about 50% of it.
None-the-less some of the tech community loves to hate the phone. Fanboys, or whatever may have you, they are not being fair or balanced in the coverage. Granted, we are a biased community, but we are also one of the most critical as well. I haven't seen such love for a phone on XDA ever! Usually, we are all sitting around saying we can't wait for it to be properly unlocked so we can flash some crazy cooked ROMs so the phone doesn't suck too bad. Instead, many are wondering whether it is even worth rooting the phone(and eventually flashing custom SPLs) because stock already is so damn good!
Here is the deal, IMO, given that Android is bursting onto the scene right now, and starting to hit that tipping point, just ignore it! By the end of this year, over half the available smartphones on the market will be Android. And that is the real reason for the outcry. There is a lot of money at stake, and many tech publications have owners/sponsors they need to keep happy. Google is not known for being a very profitable advertiser for websites(great for small sites, but big ones make much more money off a true sponsor), and Google doesn't and isn't willing to do that.
But those sites will, given time, have to come around. If they do not, they run the very real risk of allienating their following, and in turn losing out on advertising dollars because they are no longer the hot site. Engadget, and the such, have to keep on top of and out in front of the trendy wave, or they are screwed.

rockky said:
Huh?
its about Google completely miscalculating the process of selling this product via their site.
Its about Google releasing a product not ready for consumption.
Its about a failed marketing ploy....(ie: a lack of, ...trying to create a mystique and engender a word of mouth wildfire.....backfiring, as the word of mouth has been primarily about the issues with the device.
What does fanboyism have to do with any of this?
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I'm not talking about Engadget perse an obviously biased review... im talking about say the average daily return of say a google search of Nexus One which brings predominantly a litany of commentary of.the problems google and.customers are having with the device.
That is NOT good and is NOT fanboyism.

For its first week of marketing, Nexus One has sold 20 000 copies in the United States. A rather low figure who led Google to drop the $ 100 price of the device.
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I'm pretty sure Google only lowered the price for an upgraded plan on T-Mobile because of the network issues that were occurring on their service. That statement from the article is misleading because the original prices are still in place aside from a $100 reduction for upgrading on T-Mobile.
I've also noticed a lot of negative publicity, more so than other things. I think with something this big, there's bound to be more scrutinizing going on than usual. You've got the best hardware spec'd phone releasing on the market, on the newest Android platform (basically ready for mainstream consumption), with Google selling it (of all companies).

On the 20,000 N1's sold.
I dont see Google giving up on the N1.
The day Vodafone sold 50,000 iPhones in Europe, the tech-press was quick to jump on comparisons with the 20k N1 sale figure. This is so wrong, it ain't even funny.
The online sales model is
a. New
b. Untested
c. Unique
On account of #a and #b above, Google would not have pegged a very large demand figure for the first month of the N1. The strategy they've adopted will take time to settle in, and I'm sure they're prepared to do that. The N1, as they've repeatedly stated, is the -first- in what will be a long series of phones, and the N1 online sales figure will be viewed as a test case by Google, not as an indictment of the model's success/failure.
Agreed, Google has not hyped up the N1 as much as they ought to have done. As others have pointed out before, the Moto Droid's marketing campaign has done much more for Android than the N1's launch has done, and for that, Google alone is to blame. Forget comparisons to phones of a fruity nature, the N1's launch and subsequent marketing is disappointing even against other Android devices.
Here's something for the tech-press to chew on though.
What would've happened, had Google launched this (admittedly) superphone for $179 in brick-and-mortar stores, whether their own or in T-Mobile's and other networks' stores? What would the number have been then?

I don't see where you're getting the idea that everybody is hell bent on seeing the Nexus One fail.
I've had "nexus one" in the news and weather widget since day one, so I get just about anything with those two words in it as a news article. Yes, there are a few iPhone fan boy web sites out there that just wont admit the N1 is a great phone. But by and large, after the first week, and after other writers have had time to spend with the N1, they always like it, and a few have even dumped their iPhones for it.
The rest (and vast majority) of the articles out there are pointing out Google's major miscalculations with regards to the launch, shipping, and especially support of the Nexus One. They just weren't ready.
Now, since Google and the Nexus One are getting SO much press attention, any little problem the phone encounters, whether it be HTC's fault, Tmo's, or Googles, is getting sent out on BLAST.
It's Google that screwed up. Not the Nexus One. And nobody is calling for it's death, save for a couple loser fan boys.

From what ive seen and heard (like my tech podcasts) lots of people are 'reviewing' the phone with out actually getting their hands on it to test it for themselves. There does appear to be a significant amount of bad press for what seems like no real reason.
Oddly on the GDGT podcast they talk about the nexus one, the first 30seconds of the review they talk about how awesome the phone is and its the best thing they have used since the iphone, and then they spend the remaining 30minutes of the review highlighting all of its faults?! Odd!
Nevermind, think its probably just die hard iphone fan bois coming up with negative press. bah.

There is definitely some biased reviews out there from people obviously bent on not showing the whole truth or just completely stating b.s.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/187147/what_google_must_learn_from_its_nexus_one_troubles.html
When the Nexus One was announced, I was disappointed, since there were just a few improvements over existing Android devices. The fact that Google was selling the device directly over its Web site seemed to be much ado about nothing, given that buyers had to sign a T-Mobile contract to use it. Plus, it's not as if Web sales is a new idea.
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Didn't know buyers had to sign a contract to use the phone. That's interesting.

This is the best phone i ever had. My friends with iphones are shocked by how good it is. Iphone become a history on nexus release. Paid reviews will be popping everywhere against Nexus one.
I never had any problems. Market forces do not want google succeding in delivering a better product than existing technologies of windows and iphone.
You would listen to any lie, and all of them are proved wrong by good people in youtube videos.
Thanks Google and HTC for making such a wonderful phone.

I was suprised how Engadget is attacking it and google...Stopped respecting their news now.

britoso said:
I was suprised how Engadget is attacking it and google...Stopped respecting their news now.
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I haven't visited the engadget site since their review. That review was ridiculous; Especially the browser test. Therefore, I will no longer give them my ad revenue generating views.
htcmagic said:
This is the best phone i ever had. My friends with iphones are shocked by how good it is. Iphone become a history on nexus release. Paid reviews will be popping everywhere against Nexus one.
I never had any problems. Market forces do not want google succeding in delivering a better product than existing technologies of windows and iphone.
You would listen to any lie, and all of them are proved wrong by good people in youtube videos.
Thanks Google and HTC for making such a wonderful phone.
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This has been my experience also. I've had die-hard apple fans gush over my nexus one. No joke. People see it, ask to play with it, and then they want it. Now, if google would only allow family plan upgrades.... I've had multiple friends who have family plans say that they would order it without hesitation if they could use their upgrades.

britoso said:
I was suprised how Engadget is attacking it and google...Stopped respecting their news now.
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britoso, i thought i was the only one. I was following their coverage of nexus launch and where so ironic and nasty about the phone, i couldn't believe it either. I have unsubscribed from their rss in google reader. They are not worth the read for me.
Aslo lots of people proved them wrong about the browsing speed on youtube compared to iphone.

britoso said:
I was suprised how Engadget is attacking it and google...Stopped respecting their news now.
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You won't understand unless you are experiencing the problems. I am not a Engadget fan at all but this time I am very glad that they covered it and put some pressure to Google. I am really frustrated about the touch screen issue.

I would of had ordered the nexus one the day it came out, but had issues with tmobile. Because no one at tmobile had a clue what was going on, and trying to fix my account, so i could order the phone for a reduced cost is not googles fault its tmobiles! i talked to 11 different people including 2 supervisors. they all are to dumb to look at my paperwork in the system to realize i got an upgrade 12 months prior when i got my g1. the people at tmobile store are to dumb to update the system. oops!!!!
i received the phone 5 days after the inital release, thought it was bs to pay 379, but thats what i paid for the g1 and its half of the hardware in the n1. i took it out of the box, started it up to make sure it worked. then rooted it!!!!
there may be a glitch here or there, which is not a big deal. its a brand new version of android, which no other phones have currently. so obviously there will be a few complaints. but when thousands of people are using a new device, they happen to find a few more problems then a few hundred. its just common sence.
those people that have an issue take a chill pill, this phone has great hardware on it, and has a great operating system. my phone has better hardware on it then some of my friends labtops...... and what did i pay..... 279 compared to what they paid for their labtops....
so regardless of what people say, i am a big fan of android!!!! have been since the day i picked it up and found out it was a linux kernal. thats the reason i bought my g1. but it was laggy, and slow, and didn't have a headphone jack. i had to wait a year for the n1 to come out, but it finally did. so everyone that has an issue with the N1 then go f*** yourself!!!!! ill be waiting happily for android 3.0 to come out!!!!

SANTilt said:
I don't see where you're getting the idea that everybody is hell bent on seeing the Nexus One fail.
I've had "nexus one" in the news and weather widget since day one, so I get just about anything with those two words in it as a news article. Yes, there are a few iPhone fan boy web sites out there that just wont admit the N1 is a great phone. But by and large, after the first week, and after other writers have had time to spend with the N1, they always like it, and a few have even dumped their iPhones for it.
The rest (and vast majority) of the articles out there are pointing out Google's major miscalculations with regards to the launch, shipping, and especially support of the Nexus One. They just weren't ready.
Now, since Google and the Nexus One are getting SO much press attention, any little problem the phone encounters, whether it be HTC's fault, Tmo's, or Googles, is getting sent out on BLAST.
It's Google that screwed up. Not the Nexus One. And nobody is calling for it's death, save for a couple loser fan boys.
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Maybe I need to capitalize the N in nexus one. Because my widget and going online has pointed to almost exclusively negative statements about the N1.
There was an explosion of articles based on Engadgets reviews...there was another explosion after that ridiculous screen test ...then another batch with the 3G issues.
Very few places are givig the N1 a fair shake. Ars technica , Diggnation/Kevin Rose , Leo Laporte being the only ones I can name that seemed either unbiased or admitted any bias.
Engadget , Boygenius ,TechCrunch,PC ,World etc have given some bizarre reviews and baseless feedback.

Tmobile USA HTC HD2 sells out in a matter of hours

http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/03/26/t.mobile.hd2.may.be.runaway.success/
Although selling 21k units at launch isn't THAT impressive, the fact that it sold out is pretty impressive. T-mobile either purposely kept a short supply of them to create marketing buzz when it sells out, or they miscalculated the demand for the phone and didn't stock enough.
Whatever the case is, the HD2 is being well received here in the states.....I've gotten compliments on it here and there as I've been out and about. A lot of people saying 'I hear its better than the iPhone.' I pull out my iPhone and I tell them 'it is'.

mystik610 said:
http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/03/26/t.mobile.hd2.may.be.runaway.success/
Although selling 21k units at launch isn't THAT impressive, the fact that it sold out is pretty impressive. T-mobile either purposely kept a short supply of them to create marketing buzz when it sells out, or they miscalculated the demand for the phone and didn't stock enough.
Whatever the case is, the HD2 is being well received here in the states.....I've gotten compliments on it here and there as I've been out and about. A lot of people saying 'I hear its better than the iPhone.' I pull out my iPhone and I tell them 'it is'.
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i wonder why? i mean there hasn't been not as much commercials as the nexus1? and the nexus 1 sold about 20k in 1 month i think?

well myself loves the HTC brand first one was the 8525 aka the brick lol....this one with some custom work will be great it think

shu8i said:
i wonder why? i mean there hasn't been not as much commercials as the nexus1? and the nexus 1 sold about 20k in 1 month i think?
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The Nexus 1 is an excellent device...and really represents the best technology that's available for mobile phones. As a device its great, but from a marketing/distribution perspective, its a flop. Google has had an enourmous amount of success in the software/digital/web marketspace. 'Google' is a household word now and the word 'google' itself has become an adjective for looking something up on the internet. 'Google it'. Android is really taking off and showing a lot of promise, and is posing enough of a threat to Apple and Microsoft , and are forcing them to react. Apple is reacting in the form of lawsuits, Microsoft in the form of WP7.
The problem with the Nexus 1 is that google tried to apply concepts that led to their success in the software arena to the software/digital arena to the hardware arena. A lot of the success of Android is attributed to its open-source nature...its ability to grow and evolved without being inhibited to a closed platform. They tried to apply a similar concept to the Nexus 1 by trying to circumvent carriers and selling the phone directly through their website. They believed that carriers inhibit the growth of mobile devices.
In the end, they overlooked the importance of being able to go to a store and experience of phone first-hand. The beauty of the AMOLED screen is something you can only appreciate if you see it in person. They also overlooked the importance of having actual people marketing, selling, and flat-out educating people about the device. They can only sell so many units by relying on the tech-savvy folks who would go out of their way to follow and research the device online.
Beyond that, the market is saturated with Android phones, and by putting Android on so many platforms, they end up indirectly competing with their hardware partners (ie droid outselling the Nexus 1). This is in stark contrast to the iPhone, where they alone sell only 1 version of the iPhone and mobile OSX themselves. Why do you think the iPhone's sales figures look as good as they do?

Here's the reason why Nexus 6 is so expensive

No, it's not the "flagship hardware" argument.
It's about the fact that the Google decided to stop competing with it's own supporters: Samsung, LG, Sony, Motorola, etc. I can bet the hardware makers were beginning to be quite pissed off because of the Nexus bargain prices, and complained loudly. Yes, the Nexus was a great way to show the hardware makers and developers a direction for the Android hardware and - more important - for the Android software, but enough is enough, Google doesn't really need the hardware business so putting more pressure on its own allies is the last thing it needed to do. So the Nexus will remain that direction, with the difference that it will not unnecessarily compete with its partners.
Samsung already posted declining sales. The last thing the hardware makers need now is more competition.
A similar story happened with Microsoft and it's hardware partners. The Surface and Surface Pro tablets are priced quite high in order to avoid competing but they are still able to show the hardware partners a direction in which it wants things to evolve.
So there you have it. This is the real reason Google decided to price the Nexus 6 so high.

kevinlevrone said:
No, it's not the "flagship hardware" argument.
It's about the fact that the Google decided to stop competing with it's own supporters: Samsung, LG, Sony, Motorola, etc. I can bet the hardware makers were beginning to be quite pissed off because of the Nexus bargain prices, and complained loudly. Yes, the Nexus was a great way to show the hardware makers and developers a direction for the Android hardware, but enough is enough, Google doesn't really need the hardware business so putting more pressure on its own allies is the last thing it needed to do.
Samsung already posted declining sales. The last thing the hardware makers need now is more competition.
A similar story happened with Microsoft and it's hardware partners. The Surface and Surface Pro tablets are priced quite high in order to avoid competing but they are still able to show the hardware partners a direction in which it wants things to evolve.
So there you have it. This is the real reason Google decided to price the Nexus 6 so high.
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Was disappointed by the price, but this makes sense, well ill have to go and get another phone, possibly, Nexus 5 or OPO

kevinlevrone said:
No, it's not the "flagship hardware" argument.
It's about the fact that the Google decided to stop competing with it's own supporters: Samsung, LG, Sony, Motorola, etc. I can bet the hardware makers were beginning to be quite pissed off because of the Nexus bargain prices, and complained loudly. Yes, the Nexus was a great way to show the hardware makers and developers a direction for the Android hardware, but enough is enough, Google doesn't really need the hardware business so putting more pressure on its own allies is the last thing it needed to do.
Samsung already posted declining sales. The last thing the hardware makers need now is more competition.
A similar story happened with Microsoft and it's hardware partners. The Surface and Surface Pro tablets are priced quite high in order to avoid competing but they are still able to show the hardware partners a direction in which it wants things to evolve.
So there you have it. This is the real reason Google decided to price the Nexus 6 so high.
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Don't buy that argument. Why would google even go through the trouble of making a Nexus device then? Nexus phones certainly weren't cutting into the sales of the Galaxy line. It's a niche market. If google wanted to play nice with hardware manufacturers they would just continue to release Google Play Edition versions of existing devices rather than create their own device.

They probably thought well Apple can sell plenty of iPhones at a hefty markup then we will have a slice of that action.

qwerty12601 said:
Don't buy that argument. Why would google even go through the trouble of making a Nexus device then?
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To give the hardware makers and to "the world" a direction, a benchmark on how an Android device should look and function, a direction in which the Android ecosystem is evolving.

kevinlevrone said:
To give the hardware makers and to "the world" a direction, a benchmark on how an Android device should look and function, a direction in which the Android ecosystem is evolving.
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But on the same token, this device is an enlarged Moto X. Where is google's influence on this device other than a larger foot print?

anees167 said:
Was disappointed by the price, but this makes sense, well ill have to go and get another phone, possibly, Nexus 5 or OPO
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I agree. So today, I chose the N5 over the OPO because of wireless charging and I want android L asap

qwerty12601 said:
But on the same token, this device is an enlarged Moto X. Where is google's influence on this device other than a larger foot print?
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The most important is in the software and how updates are delivered.
The fact that the Nexus 6 is similar to the Moto X (the designs converge) means that Google almost reached its goal of showing the hardware makers how it wants and Android device to look and function.
Remember how the Nexus One seemed like a huge step up compared to all the other Android devices ? Then how a new Nexus (don't remember which - maybe Nexus 4) introduced the software keys instead of the hardware/capacitive permanent keys ? Google steered the hardware into the direction it wanted, over time. Now we are at a point in which the hardware makers know how to properly build Android devices.

qwerty12601 said:
Don't buy that argument. Why would google even go through the trouble of making a Nexus device then? Nexus phones certainly weren't cutting into the sales of the Galaxy line. It's a niche market. If google wanted to play nice with hardware manufacturers they would just continue to release Google Play Edition versions of existing devices rather than create their own device.
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I don't buy this argument either. If anything, Google, according to most reports, is actively trying to wrestle even more control as it seeks to increase competition from other vendors, such as Samsung, which has all but lobotomized Android. With this device, even the price point suggests that a Google device can step out of the niche market and go toe to toe with the heavyweights. Google wants to show it can marry the best hardware with the best form of its newly revamped OS. And, this price point only exudes Google's confidence in this direction.

kevinlevrone said:
The most important is in the software and how updates are delivered.
The fact that the Nexus 6 is similar to the Moto X (the designs converge) means that Google almost reached its goal of showing the hardware makers how it wants and Android device to look and function.
Remember how the Nexus One seemed like a huge step up compared to all the other Android devices ? Then how a new Nexus (don't remember which - maybe Nexus 4) introduced the software keys instead of the hardware/capacitive permanent keys ? Google steered the hardware into the direction it wanted, over time. Now we are at a point in which the hardware makers know how to properly build Android devices.
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I don't doubt that hardware makers have grown to shape their devices to google's goal. But at this point, why would google want to showcase a device that theoretically has been designed in 2013 (original moto x). They're is no device innovation this time. There really hasn't been for years, and that's been accompanied by affordable devices.

qwerty12601 said:
I don't doubt that hardware makers have grown to shape their devices to google's goal. But at this point, why would google want to showcase a device that theoretically has been designed in 2013 (original moto x). They're is no device innovation this time. There really hasn't been for years, and that's been accompanied by affordable devices.
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Did you see any innovation in the new iPhones, other than the larger screens, faster processors and better OS ? Same with Nexus - larger screen, faster processor and better OS. The perceived lack of real hardware innovation it's not Google's fault, it's just that this is the state of technology today.

kevinlevrone said:
Did you see any innovation in the new iPhones, other than the larger screens, faster processors and better OS ? Same with Nexus - larger screen, faster processor and better OS. The perceived lack of real hardware innovation it's not Google's fault, it's just that this is the state of technology today.
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The iphone hasn't innovated anything in years. Their sell is an easy device to use with a super loyal following, and extremely consistent pricing. The price of a new Iphone hasn't changed in many years.
If that's the direction the nexus line wants to go, then good luck! But Nexus doesn't have that large loyal following, and with prices going up and down it's going to make people look at other options.

qwerty12601 said:
If that's the direction the nexus line wants to go, then good luck! But Nexus doesn't have that large loyal following, and with prices going up and down it's going to make people look at other options.
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I think that Google doesn't want (anymore) that many people to buy its Nexus devices - especially phablets which are Samsung's most profitable devices and would really hurt it if Nexus was sold at bargain prices - what Google wants is that those Nexus devices to exist as a reference.
It may be that Samsung had a lot of saying in how Google positioned the Nexus 6. Google needs Samsung, badly. And Samsung released many of its wearables with the Tizen operating system instead of Android Wear. It may be that Google did Samsung a favor in order to ensure that it doesn't lose the wearables war in the future and get Samsung in the Android Wear boat.

Its expensive now not because they were not competing. the nexus line didn't make a dent in anybody's pocket except google's
Fact remains is nexus 5 sales numbers were never released, most likely because they were so poor compared to flagship devices.
Google wanted a way to compete with samsung/apple and now they have found it: contract with more carriers, set it at a price point where other people not familiar with the nexus line would consider it a flagship device, etc.
i can understand, from a business standpoint the nexus 5 didn't make sense and it was time to compete with the big players.
Though i'm sad and will not be buying one. The point of a nexus for me was both the price and no contract needed.. now they got rid of that and at this point i'd rather get something tried and tested like a galaxy note especially if im going to be forced into a contract to get an affordable price for it.

kevinlevrone said:
I think that Google doesn't want (anymore) that many people to buy its Nexus devices - especially phablets which are Samsung's most profitable devices and would really hurt it if Nexus was sold at bargain prices - what Google wants is that those Nexus devices to exist as a reference.
It may be that Samsung had a lot of saying in how Google positioned the Nexus 6. Google needs Samsung, badly. And Samsung released many of its wearables with the Tizen operating system instead of Android Wear. It may be that Google did Samsung a favor in order to ensure that it doesn't lose the wearables war in the future and get Samsung in the Android Wear boat.
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Which is why I feel if that's the direction they really wanted to go, just doing GPE on existing devices where manufacturers are aware and optimize their devices with googles input would make more sense. That way the manufacturer gets to sell the device at full cost, featuring stock android.

floepie said:
I don't buy this argument either. If anything, Google, according to most reports, is actively trying to wrestle even more control as it seeks to increase competition from other vendors, such as Samsung, which has all but lobotomized Android. With this device, even the price point suggests that a Google device can step out of the niche market and go toe to toe with the heavyweights. Google wants to show it can marry the best hardware with the best form of its newly revamped OS. And, this price point only exudes Google's confidence in this direction.
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I believe you nailed it. Its as good as anything top notch out there, and cheaper. Had it been a $450 phone, people would have complained it could have been more.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

So to prevent competition they sell it for a price not many are willing to pay. And to top it off, make it gigantic for even more clout.

theoneofgod said:
So to prevent competition they sell it for a price not many are willing to pay. And to top it off, make it gigantic for even more clout.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, to *help* competition among its partners. Google is not in the hardware business, they don't care if it sells or not. It only cares for the Nexus line to exist and show the world how Android should be.

An alternative take.
Motorola are hurting for cash. Google bought them, did nothing with them and then sold them to Lenovo, but not before taking all the good IP with them. Lenovo added a stipulation that they make the next Nexus device and get to price it, making more profit. Motorola are the only ones to name the price so far, not Google.
That's my take, it's pure stipulation, but that's my opinion.

Kryten2k35 said:
An alternative take.
Motorola are hurting for cash. Google bought them, did nothing with them and then sold them to Lenovo, but not before taking all the good IP with them. Lenovo added a stipulation that they make the next Nexus device and get to price it, making more profit. Motorola are the only ones to name the price so far, not Google.
That's my take, it's pure stipulation, but that's my opinion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting and I find it possible. Motorola doesn't have a non-Nexus phablet yet, so the Nexus could be their own entry into the phablet market. The fact that it will be sold through carriers with subsidy, etc. just like a regular phone also adds to this possibility.
However, would Google abandon their Nexus strategy with this one-time deal/screw-up ? Not sure. And I'm also not sure that the Nexus line sold so well as to be a desired deal by Motorola. The Nexus line was positioned in a certain way, you can't easily switch this positioning and expect huge success (Google doesn't care about sales but Motorola does).
However I believe Google (or Motorola, or both) will learn its lesson from this. People expect lower prices from Nexus devices. If they launched a similar phablet but non-Nexus branded, no one would have complained about the price. But calling it a Nexus will surely make many people hate Google for it.

Why does Google not make a bigger deal about the Nexus6?

This is clearly one of the top of the line phones.
If Google advertised this phone like samsung does theirs, it would be a top seller (it already is in my mind), but a top seller globally just like the iPhone is.
I dont understand why Google doesn't promote this phone, especially since it is the creme de la creme of Android phones.
I'm also wondering, why does Google tell us preorders begin Sept 29th, and then when Today (its basically 11AM already) is Sept 29th, the pre-order is not up yet, and we are all shrouded in mystery as to when it will actually be available for pre-order.
They stopped doing events for the Nexus releases (but do events for other lesser important releases)...
Google, Step up your game ! This is the best phone out there, and you're letting it sit on the sidelines hopefully to be discovered.

slickromeo said:
This is clearly one of the top of the line phones.
If Google advertised this phone like samsung does theirs, it would be a top seller (it already is in my mind), but a top seller globally just like the iPhone is.
I dont understand why Google doesn't promote this phone, especially since it is the creme de la creme of Android phones.
I'm also wondering, why does Google tell us preorders begin Sept 29th, and then when Today (its basically 11AM already) is Sept 29th, the pre-order is not up yet, and we are all shrouded in mystery as to when it will actually be available for pre-order.
They stopped doing events for the Nexus releases (but do events for other lesser important releases)...
Google, Step up your game ! This is the best phone out there, and you're letting it sit on the sidelines hopefully to be discovered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's October

Were in October dude, it will be available to buy when its available, no sooner, no later, no matter what you are told.
Why do they need to make a bigger deal out of, when what they are doing already has you feeling like this?

I am a rare breed of android purist, enthusiast.
I would like for people to ask me when they see my phone "Oh is that the new nexus?" instead of "Oh is that the new Galaxy phone?" <-- THIS
we need to change this, lol.
this is part of the reason why android gets a bad reputation, people complain about sub-par phones (compared to the nexus), and they rarely experience the lag-free pureness of NEXUS...
I seriously met someone once, who compared a crappy $50 android phone to the iPhone, and concluded to themselves that android sucks because of it. because they've already tried out android, and it didnt work for them... Android gets diluted by being modified by so many crappy U.I.'s and specs that any manufacturer's whim puts out. This is another reason why Nexus should be more well-known.

B/c the phone is so big as it is that they are worried that making it a 'big' deal about it will make it too 'big.'

slickromeo said:
I am a rare breed of android purist, enthusiast.
I would like for people to ask me when they see my phone "Oh is that the new nexus?" instead of "Oh is that the new Galaxy phone?" <-- THIS
we need to change this, lol.
this is part of the reason why android gets a bad reputation, people complain about sub-par phones (compared to the nexus), and they rarely experience the lag-free pureness of NEXUS...
I seriously met someone once, who compared a crappy $50 android phone to the iPhone, and concluded to themselves that android sucks because of it. because they've already tried out android, and it didnt work for them... Android gets diluted by being modified by so many crappy U.I.'s and specs that any manufacturer's whim puts out. This is another reason why Nexus should be more well-known.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do you care so much what other people think?

237
slickromeo said:
I am a rare breed of android purist, enthusiast.
I would like for people to ask me when they see my phone "Oh is that the new nexus?" instead of "Oh is that the new Galaxy phone?" <-- THIS
we need to change this, lol.
this is part of the reason why android gets a bad reputation, people complain about sub-par phones (compared to the nexus), and they rarely experience the lag-free pureness of NEXUS...
I seriously met someone once, who compared a crappy $50 android phone to the iPhone, and concluded to themselves that android sucks because of it. because they've already tried out android, and it didnt work for them... Android gets diluted by being modified by so many crappy U.I.'s and specs that any manufacturer's whim puts out. This is another reason why Nexus should be more well-known.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get your Nexus, live your life.
Who cares what other people think?

its more about caring about the widespread ignorance, that is all.

Agree with _MetalHead_ definitely.
In my point of view, the Nexus brand of Google was not entirely was supposed to be a customer's alternative.

I always wondered the same thing. It's almost like they don't care about their Nexus line. Google tends to be the same way about a lot of their products. Jack of all trades, master of a few.

besides all that, it still sucks that google doesn't want to or hasn't for whatever reason given us an exact time when we can pre-order.

I think they are making a big deal about it just by the fact that they are offering it subsidized on all carriers which is a huge step away from the Nexus philosophy.

I think they are leaving it with the carriers. I do have to agree though, I craps deal with third party android ui and all the lags it come with that the pure android doesn't. ..that automatically confirm their ignorance. I personally don't care though. .... I still rock my note 4, despite its ui lag it is better than iPhone lmao.

I suspect they keep the Nexus low-key to avoid angering the various other Android OEMs.

Maybe that made sense when they were $349. but now that they're basically the same price, and they're not competing with other OEM's on price anymore, I think it has become a non-issue, and suspect its for other reasons they're so low-key.

Google, in my eyes and with the past Nexi, wants to sell the SOFTware more than their HARDware. If they wanted to they could make a commercial just like the other OEMs; they have cash to do so. Instead have you noticed their push with Android as a whole? Software is where they make money. So instead of trying to explain to people what the Nexus 5 really is, I just tell them it's the Google Phone.

slickromeo said:
Maybe that made sense when they were $349. but now that they're basically the same price, and they're not competing with other OEM's on price anymore, I think it has become a non-issue, and suspect its for other reasons they're so low-key.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Even at $649+ it is less expensive than similar flagships. I suspect the price is higher than N4 and N5 to avoid what happened to the LG G2, and they keep it low-key to keep all OEMs happy.

Pixel Prediction (6 months from now 10/5/16-4/5/17)

I've been talking a lot with my friends about this who are also Android users. I know there are a lot of opinions about the Pixel, so I thought it would be interesting to make a thread to check back on in 6 months from launch to see how things panned out. At the end of the day either Google is correct with this phone, or the community was right in predicting the change. I figured 6 months is enough time to get the phone in the pipeline and where a price cut would be susceptible if one were to occur.
Here's my analysis:
Existing problems:
1. Pixel phone contains basic vanilla Android at the same price as an iPhone and Samsung with feature filled software skins.
2. Apple and Samsung both have established their product in the marketplace, unlike the Pixel. Samsung didn't get any real traction until the Galaxy S3/Note 3.........three generations in.....this is Pixel's first.
3. The biggest competitor (Galaxy/Note 7), both have expandable SD card storage and water resistance that the Pixel does not.
4. Only exclusive on Verizon, which allows only a small population to get it subsidized. (Both Apple/Samsung sell contract subsidized phones for BOTH Verizon and Sprint which creates a lower barrier to entry).
5. Google assistant which is one of its selling points, I don't see a huge immediate use for it unlike a better camera, or water resistance. There is a variant of this type of technology already out. It's called "SIRI" for iPhone and "S-Voice" for Samsung. It's been out for years and I don't know anyone personally who uses either on a daily basis. (or at all)
6. There are no "frills" to this phone. I keep saying that, however; the typically buyer of iPhone/Samsung do not know anything about the internals or the hardware. (How else would Apple get people to buy $3,000 laptops ? It's not the hardware they are buying). The phone is just too plain for mainstream appeal. Next time you see someone with a Samsung ask them if their bootloader is locked........then ask it in Japanese....you'll get the same response.
Pixel is taking aim at "mainstream", yet offering very little in terms of "frills" that mainstream typically likes yet charging flagship pricing. There is already a significant conflict in this strategy.
It's obvious based on the chart I uploaded Google's competency is not hardware unlike Apple......which would explain a lot. While I love Android, it's a small revenue of their overall revenue. Most likely, they are looking to diversify from just search and add to the bottom line as well from the smartphone market. It's very bold to try and compete against Apple that gets 53% of their overall revenue from iPhone alone, when Google has very little experience in that area (hardware).
Prediction:
In 6 months (or less), the Pixel phones will get price cuts to the same price as the 5x ($379) and 6p ($499). The phone won't be a flop and Google will keep it, but the price point was set too high. I don't think the phone is a total bust, but I do think with 99% certainty that this was priced too high to be competitive........Google just doesn't know it yet
Google right now can't even manage a proper messenger app (messenger, hangouts, allo.....seriously which one am I supposed to use Google ?), canceled Project Ara, canceled Google Glass, etc.......there's a lack of direction with the company needless to say.
Edit: Google search for Pixel compared to iPhone and Galaxy S7 (I left out Note 7 due to exploding battery interest) which has fallen off a cliff since the Pixel debut.

great post =) I agree with you

Well written. Very clear.
For me there is also a design problem.
The material design is too white and hurts my eyes especially in the evening. A dark theme is needed. So I am using Aquamail and not Gmail and apps with a dark theme. And black layers.
Maybe the Chinese will produce a better and cheaper phone. Who knows.
Maybe G is heading to a closed system ?

Or it could be the repeat of Google Pixel C with temporary "developer" discounts before the price goes back to list price. They don't seem to be too bothered about shifting stock.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA-Developers mobile app

According to The Verge websites interview with Google's hardware chief, Google knows the first generation Pixel phone won't sale in volumes and expects to gain little market share, apparently there is long term strategy behind the scenes with the release of these first Pixel phones. Here's a quote from that article.
"We certainly arent going to have enormous volumes out of this product. This is very first innings for us." Googles metric of success for Pixel wont be whether it picks up significant market share, but whether it can garner customer satisfaction and form retail and carrier partnerships that Google can leverage for years to come."
http://www.theverge.com/a/google-pixel-phone-new-hardware-interview-2016
As for the cancellation of Google Glass and other Google hardware, that was done by the recently hired Google hardware chief so he could bring all the hardware teams together to focus on same objectives, so it appears Google now has a sense of direction, thanks to this new hardware chief aka ex-Motorola president. Here's a quote from another interview, just for reference.
"When Osterloh, 44, came on board in mid-April, he brought Google hardware groups into one division, shuttering projects he didn't see contributing to Googles future. Now the engineers and designers from Google Glass, Chromecast and Pixel all work together. Keeping them separate, he says, made it hard to drive toward the goal of portfolio strategy and focus."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-google-s-first-real-threat-to-apple-s-iphone

In order to gain customer satisfaction they need to have customers, and the feedback everywhere I look is that they've already caused dissatisfaction with their prices and therefore won't have a solid customer base - especially after alienating so many Nexus owners with the ludicrous six-week Nougat delay and the dropping of the Nexus line.

dahawthorne said:
In order to gain customer satisfaction they need to have customers, and the feedback everywhere I look is that they've already caused dissatisfaction with their prices and therefore won't have a solid customer base - especially after alienating so many Nexus owners with the ludicrous six-week Nougat delay and the dropping of the Nexus line.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As much as I love the Nexus and it's contributing users, they probably don't make up enough market share for Google to care. Most Nexus owners are phone enthusiasts, who make up a very small percentage of the smartphone market.
Some Pixel phones are already sold out in the Google Store, so people are buying them. It remains to be seen if it will be enough for their "Customer Satisfaction" goal but from their interview, they don't seem to feel the need to sell a whole lot in order to make that goal, at least initially.

mikeprius said:
I've been talking a lot with my friends about this who are also Android users. I know there are a lot of opinions about the Pixel, so I thought it would be interesting to make a thread to check back on in 6 months from launch to see how things panned out. At the end of the day either Google is correct with this phone, or the community was right in predicting the change. I figured 6 months is enough time to get the phone in the pipeline and where a price cut would be susceptible if one were to occur.
Here's my analysis:
Existing problems:
1. Pixel phone contains basic vanilla Android at the same price as an iPhone and Samsung with feature filled software skins.
This is called Bloat to me basic vanilla Android is a huge plus
2. Apple and Samsung both have established their product in the marketplace, unlike the Pixel. Samsung didn't get any real traction until the Galaxy S3/Note 3.........three generations in.....this is Pixel's first.
Even though Samsungs are some of the most bloated locked down devices and iPhones are not Android devices Google with Pixel branding I just a continuation. I do agree more Samsung Devices and iPhones will be sold but so what?
3. The biggest competitor (Galaxy/Note 7), both have expandable SD card storage and water resistance that the Pixel does not.
My new phone will have 128Gig do I really need more, unlimited cloud storage for photos will help too
4. Only exclusive on Verizon, which allows only a small population to get it subsidized. (Both Apple/Samsung sell contract subsidized phones for BOTH Verizon and Sprint which creates a lower barrier to entry).
I am not American but they do sell SIM unlocked devices in the States do they not?
5. Google assistant which is one of its selling points, I don't see a huge immediate use for it unlike a better camera, or water resistance. There is a variant of this type of technology already out. It's called "SIRI" for iPhone and "S-Voice" for Samsung. It's been out for years and I don't know anyone personally who uses either on a daily basis. (or at all)
I owned 16 smartphones since the iPhone and not once did lack of water resistance bother me and I had zero devices with water damage. Google Assist can not see me using it often but only time will tell
6. There are no "frills" to this phone. I keep saying that, however; the typically buyer of iPhone/Samsung do not know anything about the internals or the hardware. (How else would Apple get people to buy $3,000 laptops ? It's not the hardware they are buying). The phone is just too plain for mainstream appeal. Next time you see someone with a Samsung ask them if their bootloader is locked........then ask it in Japanese....you'll get the same response.
First to get Android updates, first device with Qualcomm 821, first with official daydream support, and yes at least some say this will have the best camera
Pixel is taking aim at "mainstream", yet offering very little in terms of "frills" that mainstream typically likes yet charging flagship pricing. There is already a significant conflict in this strategy.
Why do you think they are gearing this for the mainstream, they never had in the past?
It's obvious based on the chart I uploaded Google's competency is not hardware unlike Apple......which would explain a lot. While I love Android, it's a small revenue of their overall revenue. Most likely, they are looking to diversify from just search and add to the bottom line as well from the smartphone market. It's very bold to try and compete against Apple that gets 53% of their overall revenue from iPhone alone, when Google has very little experience in that area (hardware).
Google builds nothing they are contracting HTC to build the Pixel, Pixel XL. Nobody expects them every to sell more of the current Pixel phones than Apple sells
Prediction:
In 6 months (or less), the Pixel phones will get price cuts to the same price as the 5x ($379) and 6p ($499). The phone won't be a flop and Google will keep it, but the price point was set too high. I don't think the phone is a total bust, but I do think with 99% certainty that this was priced too high to be competitive........Google just doesn't know it yet
Google right now can't even manage a proper messenger app (messenger, hangouts, allo.....seriously which one am I supposed to use Google ?), canceled Project Ara, canceled Google Glass, etc.......there's a lack of direction with the company needless to say.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Who knows about the price I do know the 32 Gig Nexus 6p was selling for $600 Canadian (I do not know what American pay) and in 6 months I can not see Google pricing the Pixel XL 32Gig lower. Sell more than Samsung and Apple no not believes this will every happen but different people by Samsung and Apple. People that generally never visit XDA and they are happy with whatever bloat Samsung and Apple gives them.

Maybe they are trying to create the equivalent of surface devices like Microsoft? I have no clue how that helps either of the companies. Maybe the idea is to just create a premium brand Google running Android even if every device sold loses money. Kind of like what Acura has to do with the NSX. It's an attempt to push the brand into a premium device discussion.
However, I definitely don't see anything that premium in the device. I don't see anything that premium in an iPhone either except that the lemmings have decided it is a premium product so like the unreliable Mercedes Benz cars out there, they retain resale value. At some point it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.
To achieve a perception of being a premium product like Apple products, Google probably has to fire most of the tech guys running the hardware division and hire a real marketing team. The Oct 4 presentation was astonishingly lackluster. Same amount of glamour as a BlackBerry presentation. Bunch of geeks thinking just because they have a search engine cash cow, they must know everything else there is to know about the business world.
Honestly what the Nexus/pixel and allo/duo/messenger/hangouts mess should teach us is that these guys like going back to the drawing board way too often. This is not a mature company and will abandon loyal customers without hesitation if someone decides that's the cool thing to do. Project Fi customers, you will be next.
So in a nutshell don't over analyze Google, it's just a bunch of high school kids doing experiments in a Chemistry Lab. At some point there will be purple foam and a few explosions.
And there is no point hitching yourself to this wagon. Don't buy anything Google tries to market as premium. They don't have the discipline to maintain a message. Eventually everything they sell will be priced like a commodity.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA-Developers mobile app

might want to modify the thread title's date. It's currently "10/5/16-4/5/16"; I'm pretty sure you meant "10/5/16-4/5/17"

First device with SD821? Not.

Google/Nexus phones were successful, because they targeted a specific niche that no one else did; devs/enthusiasts/folks who wanted to tinker and modify their phones completely and without restrictions.
Pixel phones have NOTHING that is "niche" driven; they are just like Apple/Samsung/who ever, with nothing really unique(S Pen, etc) to attract anyone really..
Sure, they will get the curious newbie/Iphone/Samsung lovers, but, those folks already have alot of choices, and those choices have alot more "features" that those folks want.
So, I cant fathom how this device will be anything more than a novelty, especially at that ridiculous price point..

mikeprius said:
I've been talking a lot with my friends about this who are also Android users. I know there are a lot of opinions about the Pixel, so I thought it would be interesting to make a thread to check back on in 6 months from launch to see how things panned out. At the end of the day either Google is correct with this phone, or the community was right in predicting the change. I figured 6 months is enough time to get the phone in the pipeline and where a price cut would be susceptible if one were to occur.
Yadda, yadda, yadda............................................[emoji23]
.
Google right now can't even manage a proper messenger app (messenger, hangouts, allo.....seriously which one am I supposed to use Google ?), canceled Project Ara, canceled Google Glass, etc.......there's a lack of direction with the company needless to say.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great post! Lots of info there. [SARCASM] You might have a bit too much time on your hands though. [emoji1] [/SARCASM]
khanam said:
Honestly what the Nexus/pixel and allo/duo/messenger/hangouts mess should teach us is that these guys like going back to the drawing board way too often. This is not a mature company and will abandon loyal customers without hesitation if someone decides that's the cool thing to do. Project Fi customers, you will be next.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IMO, Nexus/Pixel is not a mess, they are simply trying to gain market share other than the developer/techie community. I would bet that they will end up partnering with all of the major carriers to sell the phones subsidized, Verizon just got the nod for release day because it is the biggest. The pixels will also come down in price from the play store as well.
As far as the Duo/allo/hangouts/messenger thing, from what I've been reading they are trying to market hangouts to the enterprise side of the mobile market. I never really used it for anything other than video calls now and again. Duo is much more convenient for video calls, although I wish they would have just incorporated it into the dialer kind of how FaceTime is on iphone. I don't know what to think about allo. It doesn't handle sms, and it doesn't do anything that other already established apps do as good or better.
I'm just going to wait it out to see if the price comes down, or if my carrier gets it. If not, oh well, I will explore other options at that time. After all I'm still paying for my N6 through January...
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

mikeprius said:
1. Pixel phone contains basic vanilla Android at the same price as an iPhone and Samsung with feature filled software skins.
2. Apple and Samsung both have established their product in the marketplace, unlike the Pixel. Samsung didn't get any real traction until the Galaxy S3/Note 3.........three generations in.....this is Pixel's first.
3. The biggest competitor (Galaxy/Note 7), both have expandable SD card storage and water resistance that the Pixel does not.
4. Only exclusive on Verizon, which allows only a small population to get it subsidized. (Both Apple/Samsung sell contract subsidized phones for BOTH Verizon and Sprint which creates a lower barrier to entry).
5. Google assistant which is one of its selling points, I don't see a huge immediate use for it unlike a better camera, or water resistance. There is a variant of this type of technology already out. It's called "SIRI" for iPhone and "S-Voice" for Samsung. It's been out for years and I don't know anyone personally who uses either on a daily basis. (or at all)
6. There are no "frills" to this phone. I keep saying that, however; the typically buyer of iPhone/Samsung do not know anything about the internals or the hardware. (How else would Apple get people to buy $3,000 laptops ? It's not the hardware they are buying). The phone is just too plain for mainstream appeal. Next time you see someone with a Samsung ask them if their bootloader is locked........then ask it in Japanese....you'll get the same response.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. If you asked a user what was the difference between Touchwiz and vanilla Android, until Material Design the only thing they said was: Samsung looks nicer. Because Holo was ugly. But Material design changed that, so now basic Android is not ugly anymore. As for the gimmicks, a casual user will only use a fraction of the TouchWiz "features", and a vanilla Android user will not be missing any of those "features".
Pixel ha nice round icons, and a praised camera. You can consider it sold.
2. From the above linked interview this is the first step to establish Pixel as a product for the masses and not just for the techies. The are planning to sell 3-4 million units (good look with that). But even that's at least one order or magnitude below of the quantity Samsung and Apple sell. Google never bragged how many units they sold, you can't find official statistics, but it's obviously "not a damn lot", that's for sure.
3. And the iPhone does not have an SD card slot. The Galaxy S6 was a mistake for Samsung in every aspect, because they took away three things in one step: SD card, removable battery and custom roms. So there was a huge uproar, much bigger if they only played with these feature one at a time.
I too prefer an SD card, coming from Samsung phones, it was given, yet after one year using a mere 32GB phone I still live. So it's not a make/brake condition for me when buying a new phone.
5. It's a gimmick like Samsung's air gestures, keep awake when reading, knock twice on top to scroll to the top. You use it once then forget it. I bet for a week or two everybody will play with the assistant then forget it.
Compared to that Google Now cards are very useful, I use the Time to work, Time home card every day, and it helps avoiding the construction that kills the city, and to decide when it's totally beyond reason to leave home.
6. There are no real "frills". There are only those that some marketing think tank succeeds in convincing you that you actually need it. The camera is a frill enough to sell it, so it's the speed. Having the hardware from the start Google could optimize it a little to be better than the other manufacturers.

It is a mess. I compare it to the failures Apple had right after the Lisa, nonsense sales prediction with a exorbitant price point.
They can partner with as many carriers as they want over there (America, the world isn't just that) or try to subsidise phones.
Worldwide subsidisation of phones is impractical. And outside America the prices are even worse.

Highway 55 said:
IMO, Nexus/Pixel is not a mess, they are simply trying to gain market share other than the developer/techie community. I would bet that they will end up partnering with all of the major carriers to sell the phones subsidized, Verizon just got the nod for release day because it is the biggest. The pixels will also come down in price from the play store as well.
As far as the Duo/allo/hangouts/messenger thing, from what I've been reading they are trying to market hangouts to the enterprise side of the mobile market. I never really used it for anything other than video calls now and again. Duo is much more convenient for video calls, although I wish they would have just incorporated it into the dialer kind of how FaceTime is on iphone. I don't know what to think about allo. It doesn't handle sms, and it doesn't do anything that other already established apps do as good or better.
I'm just going to wait it out to see if the price comes down, or if my carrier gets it. If not, oh well, I will explore other options at that time. After all I'm still paying for my N6 through January...
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not sure why they abandoned hangouts for consumers - it was quite an all encompassing product for most of us between everything it handled - it just needed some tightening and polish but we finally had SMS, Voicemail, Video calling, IM, IP Calling all in 1. Now i have too many apps - when i instead want to simplify my life. No one likes to have something they were finding useful suddenly lose features - that just reeks of big brotherism - someone else deciding whats best for me instead of considering my own inputs.
On the pixel/nexus thing though - the way they should have done it is kept the nexus line alive and added a pixel or 2 phones with slightly more premium features but at a slightly higher price, then next generation a little higher price and so on.
That would have given all of us time to adjust and experiment. You do not just increase prices and abandon the nexus line without warning. That feels like them deciding what is best for us - like apple does. Give consumers choice, price products appropriately and allow them to cross bridges on price, features etc.
This abandoning nexus and replacing it with a non vanilla high priced pixel move is too sudden. That is why it feels like they do not listen to consumers and instead impose their vision on us. Who would like that? I chose to abandon iOS to have freedom - but the more they take those away from me - the more i look at Google and say, well this is not what i wanted. Locked bootloaders - does that not go against the very foundation of Android?
Another point - this AI push through Allo/Assistant is slowly going to convert you into a data contribution toward an engine - do you actually need to pay extra to lose your privacy - should that not happen in such a way that you get a discount on other products (i.e. your phone for example) which act as the conduit for your revealing your choices to the central database/skynet?

unfortunately, the mopes who sit in the production/sales meeting, only care about looking good to their bosses/making their bosses look good, and raise profits for shareholders..
They talk about how much Apple/Samsung charge for their phones, and sell 20 times more than Google does, so they figure, hey, lets just copy their business model, and we will look like heros.
Customers needs/wants get pushed to the back of the list, and market share/greater profits are all that matters..
And yeah, it sucks that we can now pay more for another "me too" phone, and, at the same time, surrender even more of our privacy, while paying through the nose for another Apple Clone..
No thanks, never a Pixel phone for me, at ANY price..

mixedguy said:
As much as I love the Nexus and it's contributing users, they probably don't make up enough market share for Google to care. Most Nexus owners are phone enthusiasts, who make up a very small percentage of the smartphone market.
Some Pixel phones are already sold out in the Google Store, so people are buying them. It remains to be seen if it will be enough for their "Customer Satisfaction" goal but from their interview, they don't seem to feel the need to sell a whole lot in order to make that goal, at least initially.
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Nexus no..it's a small segment. Android as a whole for Google is a very small amount of their revenue. Clearly the release of the Pixel is designed to make it a more considerable source of revenue for Google. They are not very diversified at the moment. All their money is in search.
AstroDigital said:
Who knows about the price I do know the 32 Gig Nexus 6p was selling for $600 Canadian (I do not know what American pay) and in 6 months I can not see Google pricing the Pixel XL 32Gig lower. Sell more than Samsung and Apple no not believes this will every happen but different people by Samsung and Apple. People that generally never visit XDA and they are happy with whatever bloat Samsung and Apple gives them.
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The United States there are 4 primary carriers (there are others, but the big 4 are AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, and T-Mobile). Before all 4 carriers did this, but 2 still do and that is offer 24 month contracts to be signed for a subsidized phone. So for example a $800 iPhone can be bought at Verizon or Sprint for $200-$300 depending on the model, current or past, etc, etc. That's how iPhone was able to be made available in mass. There's no way the people in the US could buy these phones outright at their current cost in large populations. It's outside many people's affordability.
All these products full price are out of the affordability for nearly everyone, so either they use the contract or use payments. With exclusive Verizon, everyone will do payments or buy outright (smaller population)......many people still use the contract that I know, taking this off the table for one carrier reduces accessibility.
Also, 2 of the 4 carriers in the US are CMDA technology not GSM so unlocked phones are limited. My carrier is CMDA so I cannot buy Xperia, One plus 3, or Axon 7. If I could, I'd have bought the One plus 3. Instead I'm stuck with the Nexus or some "whitelisted" device.

istperson said:
1. If you asked a user what was the difference between Touchwiz and vanilla Android, until Material Design the only thing they said was: Samsung looks nicer. Because Holo was ugly. But Material design changed that, so now basic Android is not ugly anymore. As for the gimmicks, a casual user will only use a fraction of the TouchWiz "features", and a vanilla Android user will not be missing any of those "features".
Pixel ha nice round icons, and a praised camera. You can consider it sold.
2. From the above linked interview this is the first step to establish Pixel as a product for the masses and not just for the techies. The are planning to sell 3-4 million units (good look with that). But even that's at least one order or magnitude below of the quantity Samsung and Apple sell. Google never bragged how many units they sold, you can't find official statistics, but it's obviously "not a damn lot", that's for sure.
3. And the iPhone does not have an SD card slot. The Galaxy S6 was a mistake for Samsung in every aspect, because they took away three things in one step: SD card, removable battery and custom roms. So there was a huge uproar, much bigger if they only played with these feature one at a time.
I too prefer an SD card, coming from Samsung phones, it was given, yet after one year using a mere 32GB phone I still live. So it's not a make/brake condition for me when buying a new phone.
5. It's a gimmick like Samsung's air gestures, keep awake when reading, knock twice on top to scroll to the top. You use it once then forget it. I bet for a week or two everybody will play with the assistant then forget it.
Compared to that Google Now cards are very useful, I use the Time to work, Time home card every day, and it helps avoiding the construction that kills the city, and to decide when it's totally beyond reason to leave home.
6. There are no real "frills". There are only those that some marketing think tank succeeds in convincing you that you actually need it. The camera is a frill enough to sell it, so it's the speed. Having the hardware from the start Google could optimize it a little to be better than the other manufacturers.
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While I can laugh at most people who become enamored with gimmicks, that's what sells. The stupid air gestures, and whatever toggles Samsung has that people flock to. They have no idea what chip is in their phone. Same goes for iPhone.
Everything else you are saying are your own personal preferences, not what mainstream people want. Majority of society is easily distracted by shiny gimmicks, engages in herd mentality buying decisions, and want instant gratification........these people are not "astute buyers" by any means, but they are the people who open their wallets and purses to buy these products.............it's pathetic but that's how the market is. Samsung and iPhone meet all these "needs". Pixel does not.

mixedguy said:
According to The Verge websites interview with Google's hardware chief, Google knows the first generation Pixel phone won't sale in volumes and expects to gain little market share, apparently there is long term strategy behind the scenes with the release of these first Pixel phones. Here's a quote from that article.
"We certainly arent going to have enormous volumes out of this product. This is very first innings for us." Googles metric of success for Pixel wont be whether it picks up significant market share, but whether it can garner customer satisfaction and form retail and carrier partnerships that Google can leverage for years to come."
http://www.theverge.com/a/google-pixel-phone-new-hardware-interview-2016
As for the cancellation of Google Glass and other Google hardware, that was done by the recently hired Google hardware chief so he could bring all the hardware teams together to focus on same objectives, so it appears Google now has a sense of direction, thanks to this new hardware chief aka ex-Motorola president. Here's a quote from another interview, just for reference.
"When Osterloh, 44, came on board in mid-April, he brought Google hardware groups into one division, shuttering projects he didn't see contributing to Googles future. Now the engineers and designers from Google Glass, Chromecast and Pixel all work together. Keeping them separate, he says, made it hard to drive toward the goal of portfolio strategy and focus."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-google-s-first-real-threat-to-apple-s-iphone
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The Google glass and other hardware that they were experimenting with does make sense b/c it was untested and they were looking at pioneering a new potential product. There's no existing prior benchmark. That has more leeway including cancellation which I understand. I think long-term it is a good idea Google has more control over the hardware and not just software because there has been too much fragmentation across the board in devices and with other Google products.
With that said, smartphones have been out for many years now, with the saturation really beginning to take hold in 2009 and forward (where more and more people were rapidly buying smartphones). There's enough data they could have made a more intelligent analysis on how to price the product (which I suspect is way too high).