What the Nexus S Should have been

[mojonation1487]

Thought I'd start this thread.

Should Have-
AT&T Bandwidth support like the n1 did.
Removable storage
Dual Core

This what I can think of thus far. Let me know what you guys think!

 

[hkklife]

Agree on all counts. The lack of a dual-core CPU I can understand, as a 1Ghz Hummingbird is still PLENTY speedy for 99.9% of most users' needs. The lack of AT&T support is troubling but the lack of a microSDHC slot is REALLY upsetting to me, if only as a possible harbinger of bad things to come for future Android devices (much like the trend of Samsung digital cameras pointless going to microsdhc from fullsize SDHC).

I hope this isn't a trend towards Android devices becoming more iPhone-like. Expandable storage is a HUGE plus for the family of Android devices, since you can pop in a cheap SDHC card instead of having to upgrade your entire handset.

I have a 32gb and 2x 16gb microSDHC cards that I rotate between on my Droid X, depending on my specific needs for a trip or whatever (one is full of movies, one's full of music and the other has maps & 'empty' storage).
It'd be a huge shame to lose that flexibility.

Trying to mimic Apple, like Palm has done with their fixed storage, is just another way for handset manufacturers to be cheap, lazy, and greedy and deny users ultimate flexibility.

Besides, wouldn't some older apps that require external memory card storage have problems if they haven't been updated to be Gingerbread-friendly? I am specifically thinking of some GPS apps and games like Gameloft's HD 3D games that DL a ton of data onto your storage card after the base install.

 

[mojonation1487]

Agree on all counts. The lack of a dual-core CPU I can understand, as a 1Ghz Hummingbird is still PLENTY speedy for 99.9% of most users' needs. The lack of AT&T support is troubling but the lack of a microSDHC slot is REALLY upsetting to me, if only as a possible harbinger of bad things to come for future Android devices (much like the trend of Samsung digital cameras pointless going to microsdhc from fullsize SDHC).

I hope this isn't a trend towards Android devices becoming more iPhone-like. Expandable storage is a HUGE plus for the family of Android devices, since you can pop in a cheap SDHC card instead of having to upgrade your entire handset.

I have a 32gb and 2x 16gb microSDHC cards that I rotate between on my Droid X, depending on my specific needs for a trip or whatever (one is full of movies, one's full of music and the other has maps & 'empty' storage).
It'd be a huge shame to lose that flexibility.

Trying to mimic Apple, like Palm has done with their fixed storage, is just another way for handset manufacturers to be cheap, lazy, and greedy and deny users ultimate flexibility.

Besides, wouldn't some older apps that require external memory card storage have problems if they haven't been updated to be Gingerbread-friendly? I am specifically thinking of some GPS apps and games like Gameloft's HD 3D games that DL a ton of data onto your storage card after the base install.

Werd on every point. Google's whole thing is openness in comparison to iOS and the iPhone. Android and flagship devices should be as open as possible including removable storage.

I'd be wary of the upcoming market of android phones. Nexus S is the new flagship phones for android which means in one way or another, these other OEM's will be using it as a starting point. grrrrrr

 

[diverbelow]

Thought I'd start this thread.

Should Have-
AT&T Bandwidth support like the n1 did.
Removable storage
Dual Core

This what I can think of thus far. Let me know what you guys think!

Don't know if this is a rumor, but I read that the Nexus S will be released on all 4 US carriers. Which I really hope they do.

Not having a removable storage SD card is a bummer

Wonder if Samsung's dual core was not ready yet for mass production and/or Gingerbread was not ready for dual cores. Second theory is, there is a dual core but GB is not ready for dual core.

 

[mojonation1487]

Don't know if this is a rumor, but I read that the Nexus S will be released on all 4 US carriers. Which I really hope they do.

Not having a removable storage SD card is a bummer

Wonder if Samsung's dual core was not ready yet for mass production and/or Gingerbread was not ready for dual cores. Second theory is, there is a dual core but GB is not ready for dual core.

Tmobile only. Check out the bandwidths. total bummer.

 

[brodieduncan]

I think it should be on all 4 major networks in USA without any bloatware like previously mentioned and maybe a trackpad/trackball like on the Desire, Nexus One, Droid Incredible but, I suppose the trackpad/trackball is a HTC thing

 

[lukesvenn]

exactly how does this "no expandable SD" work when one of the main key for 2.2 was to move app to SD card.

 

[onthecouchagain]

I'm disappointed by the lack of HSPA+ support. It seems that's what the carriers are moving toward; toward 4G-like speeds. Disappointing this will not be able to take advantage of that.

However, the current iPhone 4 doesn't support 4G either.

EDIT: I brought this up in the other thread:

I understand the Nexus name has become the quintessential Google phone, but was the Nexus name really meant to push hardware and set the example for all future Android devices? Or was that something that was brought about only because it happened to be the most impressive specs when it was first released?

I might have missed this. Did Google themselves say this is the point of the Nexus branding? Because if they did, then it is a little baffling that they would allow the Nexus S specs to only match (in some cases not even match) the current market of hardware. However, I can't recall them actually saying that about their Nexus branding. Can anyone clarify?

 

[nyc_rock]

No removable storage is moronic. As is locking it to Tmobile. I just dont get it. The Nexus was to represent the most open aspects of Android. No mfg crappy UI's, no carrier bloatware. Its amazing, it took one iteration, but the nexus experience has already been lost.

 

[onthecouchagain]

What I'm worried about is if Samsung will release a second version of the Nexus S with a dual-core. Androidandme's article a few weeks ago (here: http://androidandme.com/2010/11/news...dy-in-testing/) had this to say:

"Testers with access to the Nexus S have reported seeing two versions of the phone which look fairly similar but the old one is single-core and the new one is dual-core."

It's obvious now that the leaked Best Buy specs from Phandroid last month were more or less true, but is there a dual-core Nexus S floating around out there still in testing perhaps? And if so, will it ever be released? Or was the dual-core actually a Galaxy S2, as rumored by Elder (here: Twitter).

Thoughts?

 

[frenzy757]

Im still considering the Nexus S just for the pure android experience...

What would have made this a dream phone?

Kinda Big for me (things that I would assume are not HARD to put in):
-Removable SD slot - Or at least tell us why there isn't one...maybe they have a good reason for not putting it in, but then I want to know it
-Better Resolution...I don't need Retina, but more is better
-More Ram 750-1gig would have been great
-Better Camera


Would have made this the best effin phone (and semi future proof for a year I think)
-Really high resolution on the screen
-HDMI out
-1080p recording
-Orion Dual Core (even if apps cant use dual core yet...it would make it future proof)
-I would have liked a solid metal design
*edit* - World Wide Radio, with CDMA, GSM with 4g capabilities...a true "unlocked" experience

 

[frozencloud]

Im still considering the Nexus S just for the pure android experience...

What would have made this a dream phone?

Kinda Big for me (things that I would assume are not HARD to put in):
-Removable SD slot - Or at least tell us why there isn't one...maybe they have a good reason for not putting it in, but then I want to know it
-Better Resolution...I don't need Retina, but more is better
-More Ram 750-1gig would have been great
-Better Camera


Would have made this the best effin phone (and semi future proof for a year I think)
-Really high resolution on the screen
-HDMI out
-1080p recording
-Orion Dual Core (even if apps cant use dual core yet...it would make it future proof)
-I would have liked a solid metal design
*edit* - World Wide Radio, with CDMA, GSM with 4g capabilities...a true "unlocked" experience

If they said they took out some of these things because it make the phone lighter, that will be plain sad.

 

[frozencloud]

What I'm worried about is if Samsung will release a second version of the Nexus S with a dual-core. Androidandme's article a few weeks ago (here: http://androidandme.com/2010/11/news...dy-in-testing/) had this to say:

"Testers with access to the Nexus S have reported seeing two versions of the phone which look fairly similar but the old one is single-core and the new one is dual-core."

It's obvious now that the leaked Best Buy specs from Phandroid last month were more or less true, but is there a dual-core Nexus S floating around out there still in testing perhaps? And if so, will it ever be released? Or was the dual-core actually a Galaxy S2, as rumored by Elder (here: Twitter).

Thoughts?

hmmm...interesting. But wouldnt this be a big "middle finger" to all those that bought the single core version?

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

I'm wondering if Google just flat out dumped the dual-core design for the Nexus S in the end. There were tons of rumors going around that Google didn't like how Gingerbread was playing with dual-core and had to delay the launch of Gingerbread and/or the Nexus S.

 

[frozencloud]

I'm wondering if Google just flat out dumped the dual-core design for the Nexus S in the end. There were tons of rumors going around that Google didn't like how Gingerbread was playing with dual-core and had to delay the launch of Gingerbread and/or the Nexus S.

Now wouldnt it be a kick in the behind if it initially had dual-core then the "hardware problem delay" was to replace the dual-core with single-core due to the reason u mentioned.

And if this is the case, how would that go along with all those dual core phone that suppose to be coming up in Q1? Or do you think there will be some update to better optimized the dual core?

 

[bnrbranding]

Pure Android is sweet, but I am rather disappointed in the Nexus S. I think Google should have waited and released something a little more fitting, this is just a de-TouchWized Galaxy S. Everything Frenzy mentioned should have been in this phone. The specs of the Nexus S are very underwhelming.

 

[onthecouchagain]

This is precisely what I was talking about in my other thread, "The Nexus S Story". Here's what I wrote regarding the dual-core/single-core thing:

I hope more light is shed regarding the Nexus S story. Some things don't add up to me.

Google's Eric Schmidt said during the Summer that there would be no Nexus Two, saying that the Nexus One accomplished what they set out to do. Some have construed this to mean other things, and even Eric himself has said what he really meant was that he didn't want to use the name "Nexus 2" or something to that effect. Is this true? I'm not sure. Or did Google see the success of Samsung's Galaxy S line to all four major carriers (and others), which was something Google was hoping to accomplish with the Nexus One, and see the quality of Samsung's SAMOLED and felt it would optimize 2.3's darker color format well, and so decided to reach out to them to have them revise their Galaxy S line to a Nexus brand? Or did Google reach out to them before they released the Galaxy line to make the next Nexus, and if so, why would Eric make such comment implying there would be no future Nexus phones? It could, of course, be simple misdirection.

Considering the Nexus S is not being developed from the ground up, and is more or less based on the Galaxy S line, research, development, and manufacturing time could have been accomplished between the late Summer/early Fall release of Galaxy phones to now December, for the Nexus S launch. Considering Samsung doesn't seem to have any real history of "shortages," their manufacturing plants could be up for the challenge?

Then, you have the supposed "delay" of the Nexus S. It turns out the Best Buy leaked specs were real (the official specs is almost exactly what the BB specs said it would be - 1 GHz single core, no HSPA+ support...). So what was the delay? Well, just last week the FFC received radio changes to the i9020 model (aka the Nexus S number). Was that the slight hardward delay/tweak? And not what Androidandme thought was the scrapping of single-core to have dual-core? But they also said dual-core Nexus S prototypes were out in the wild in testing. Did the tests not go well with Gingerbread, which has been reported to not be optimized yet for dual-cores, and thus Google deciding to stick to the single-core for final production? Or were those supposedly dual-core Nexus S prototypes really prototypes of Samsung's i9200 phones, aka Galaxy S2?

I don't know. This is all speculation and musing. The Nexus S story doesn't add up. Given some baffling decisions regarding the official specs - namely lack of HSPA+ (or "4G") support - I suspect Google rushed this when they saw the success of Galaxy S and Samsung's SAMOLED technology, and tried, but couldn't get dual-cores to work properly and in time to meet their December release deadline (Gingerbread had to be released before Christmas).

Is a dual-core, HSPA+ capable Nexus S floating around out there in prototype/testing form to be released in 2011? Does the Nexus S story add up to you guys?