Interesting article about Galaxy Nexus.

[qnet]

I agree that making us wait has an advantage for VZW. I have read were people have opted for the Razr or Rezound because, they can't wait anymore. That certainly can't hurt VZW. I was even tempted by the Razr and, it's announcement was the final tipping point that made me return my Bionic.

After seeing the GN that's all I want now.

 

[Stang68]

This release will likely happen pretty quick. I'm thinking 2 week announcement and if preorders are available that will be 1 week from store release. I'm patiently waiting. Nerd alert, Mw3 is holding me over till skyrim on friday which will keep my mind occupied for a couple months....

Just beat Arkham City, gonna buy CoD and Skyrim this week, probably. Should hold me over until the 17th

 

[borgey401]

I, for one, will wait as long as it takes. This is the device I want - although would rather have Motorola hardware, this is as close as it will be to get the total package.

I used to be the same way about Motorola hardware. I think that Samsung has REALLY stepped their game up and now has the best hardware you can buy. I just don't like the path that Motorola has choose to take between software and while their hardware is nice and sturdy the style is getting old to me. HTC is in the same situation in MY opinion. It seems like HTC will release a device in basically the same shell ever since the Evo came out. Samsung has switched it up and it's going to be a nice change for me. You simply can't beat a Samsung screen and I think everyone will agree on that with me. I am with you, I will be waiting for as long as it takes to get that damn Nexus. I think we all will be very happy with the hardware in general once we can actually buy it!

 

[kharrigan]

It does seem like the release of the GN has been botched from a marketing perspective. To a degree, this simply highlights the unwieldy nature of the Android universe, existing as an unusual partnership between Google, manufacturers and carriers. Getting everybody on board to do an Apple-style product launch is probably impossible.

+1

Apple has a closed platform and competes via marketing. The Android Collective competes at a micro-level and no ONE company drives the product from an industry point-of-view because they aren't incented to so:

* Google is paid by searches - not phone sales
* Phone manufacturers don't know how carriers will customize phones, so only basic ads are done
* Carriers compete on networks and plans, so they don't care about phones per se

IMHO, only Samsung "gets it." They're aiming to compete directly with iOS devices, which means that they'll spend on marketing - but only for their Galaxy phones... not the Nexus line.

I also think that Google won't upset phone makers by pushing Nexus over others - especially with the pending Motorola purchase.

 

[humpagardengnome]

People already seem to be forgetting the general unhappiness over the iPhone 4S launch. Apple took the exact opposite approach as Samsung and Google, in that they released absolutely no information until just before the phone was ready for preordering. That led to massive amounts of hype and speculation that ultimately shot far beyond what the actual product ended up being. The 4S ended up being an incremental improvement, not a game-changer. Apple never promised a game-changer, but their wall of secrecy coupled with months of delays led things to get out of hand. I will say this: as a current 3GS user, the disappointment over the 4S is what led me to seriously start looking to switch to Android.

My impression of the massive preorder numbers for the 4S is that the bulk of it consists of existing iPhone users upgrading. I haven't yet seen how much of the 4S market is new business, so to speak. Any new iPhone generation is going to have massive preorders because of the upgrade factor. I don't know that Apple's marketing machine, slick as it may be, had a lot to do with it this time around.
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It does seem like the release of the GN has been botched from a marketing perspective. To a degree, this simply highlights the unwieldy nature of the Android universe, existing as an unusual partnership between Google, manufacturers and carriers. Getting everybody on board to do an Apple-style product launch is probably impossible.

They were atill filling in back orders last week at this time, so I guess the backlash was more hype than substance.

 

[pauldroidr2d2]

I agree that making us wait has an advantage for VZW. I have read were people have opted for the Razr or Rezound because, they can't wait anymore. That certainly can't hurt VZW. I was even tempted by the Razr and, it's announcement was the final tipping point that made me return my Bionic.

After seeing the GN that's all I want now.

In years past, I would have been one of those people who would've said, fine, Google and Samsung, don't have their act together, and I would have purchased the Razr. But, at this point, there are a couple of things which made me decide not to do that. First and foremost, the Razr, will not have the most current version of Android on it. After dealing with the headache that Motorola and Verizon created with the upgrade for the Xoom, I can't say that I'm interested in playing their game of well, we will be rolling out the ICS update within six weeks of its release. These are the same people that claimed we would receive our 4G LTE upgrade within a couple of months of the release of the Xoom. Clearly that didn't happen. In fact they missed every deadline they set for that upgrade.

As for HTC, they never put in a battery that is large enough to handle the needs of their phones. If you look at the specs for their phones and the equivalent specs of their competitors phones, they are almost always, if not always equipped with smaller batteries.

Having the delay in the release of the Nexus might also be a blessing since we will be able to see some of the comments, problems, and positives about these competing phones.

Finally, I'm excited to purchase a phone that is straight Google Android and hasn't been filled with the bloat that either Verizon, or the phone manufacturer fancies adding in.

 

[randyist]

Very nice write-up.

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

 

[humpagardengnome]

I used to be the same way about Motorola hardware. I think that Samsung has REALLY stepped their game up and now has the best hardware you can buy. I just don't like the path that Motorola has choose to take between software and while their hardware is nice and sturdy the style is getting old to me. HTC is in the same situation in MY opinion. It seems like HTC will release a device in basically the same shell ever since the Evo came out. Samsung has switched it up and it's going to be a nice change for me. You simply can't beat a Samsung screen and I think everyone will agree on that with me. I am with you, I will be waiting for as long as it takes to get that damn Nexus. I think we all will be very happy with the hardware in general once we can actually buy it!

I teeter on Motorola hardware but that's mainly cuz VzW isn't doing them justice. I agree their Droid lineup on Verizon is just the same stale clones. Yet, their lineup on AT&T is more diverse, just crap a skin. Photon & Atrix 2 are actually eye catching designs. I'm not sure I would've held onto my upgrade as easily if Moto would've brought over an LTE version of the Atrix 2 rather than invested so heavily in the Bionic. I'm not entirely convinced Verizon passed on the SGSII variant because of the Charge & eventual Nexus deal. Look at the online uproar, for lack of a better term, when news broke they opted out. Seems it was more of a move to save the Droid name, if they would've added one when around the time of the Bionic launch, it could've meant huge revenue losses if it competed against Sammies "media darling" in sales & sacked the entire Droid lineup for months until Moto stepped up their game w/ the Razr.
It's just a shame that Verizon haven't been capitalizing on Samsungs efforts while everyone else has been hanging ten on the wave. Now they have that opportunity but they sure aren't capitalizing on it, just marginalizing it.

 

[kashabrown]

I used to be the same way about Motorola hardware. I think that Samsung has REALLY stepped their game up and now has the best hardware you can buy. I just don't like the path that Motorola has choose to take between software and while their hardware is nice and sturdy the style is getting old to me. HTC is in the same situation in MY opinion. It seems like HTC will release a device in basically the same shell ever since the Evo came out. Samsung has switched it up and it's going to be a nice change for me. You simply can't beat a Samsung screen and I think everyone will agree on that with me. I am with you, I will be waiting for as long as it takes to get that damn Nexus. I think we all will be very happy with the hardware in general once we can actually buy it!

I truly hope you are right.

My last Samsung device was true crap, however, it was many years ago. I am really looking forward to this device!!

 

[tx_tuff]

the article is written by someone who is basically having a hissy-fit over not getting a Nexus when they want it.

^^^^ This should have been the title of the thread ^^^^
Didn't find it interesting at all.

 

[solido888]

Why do people care weather it competes with iPhone, how does that affect us? I just want the phone, not interested in what phone sells more than the other.

Pretty much this. I couldn't care less how many Nexus' (Nexii?) sell compared to RAZRs or Rezounds or Iphones etc. I couldn't care less if quad phone cores may be out in 4-6 months. I wouldn't mind having a firm release date to ease my anticipation, but I don't care about all the extra nonsense. This is the phone I am getting, and if you couldn't wait for it's release, or if the ~insert competition here~ had a marketing campaign that you couldn't resist, then good luck to you and enjoy your purchase. I am still going to enjoy my Galaxy Nexus when it comes out.

 

[borgey401]

It's pretty obvious the majority of the people in this thread are doing the same. Why do you think we're all going crazy (not literally). It's because WE ARE WAITING for the device and it's starting to get the best of some of us. Of course that does not mean we're going to say "ZOMG screw this, I'm going to go buy me some locked down Motoblur piece of crap device now" nah no way, not with me at least. I will wait until whenever the device comes out. All we want is a damn date, that's it. We've already went through this BS before with the Nexus One just to get completely let down so you can't blame people for getting uptight when a device like this is "coming to Verizon". Only thing that is keeping me hope right now is that no other US carriers have announced they would carry it. Other then that it's starting to seem like this is just one big prank on VZW customers and they'll eventually come out and say "ha no Nexus for you once again, but you can buy this Motorola Razr and be locked down on an open source platform though".

 

[charveldude]

There was no general unhappiness. It was more fanboy nonsense from blog writers and tech journalists. The average consumer purchases a phone every two years. That person will love the new iPhone because it's much better than their two year old phone.

The same can be said for the Galaxy Nexus. The average person isn't sitting out there wondering when they can buy a GN. They've probably only vaguely heard of it, if that. It'll either be there when they visit their local VZW store or it won't be. If it isn't, they'll buy a Droid RAZR and probably be perfectly happy with it.

I also do recall a fair amount of complaining in the regular non-geek media about the 4S and its launch. It wasn't all just Walter Isaacson giving hummers to the Apple folks.

BTW, I sort of am that average consumer. I only buy a new phone at upgrade time, and not necessarily even that quickly. I wasn't sitting around waiting with baited breath for the next big iPhone so that I could get rid of my 3GS. But I was unhappy with what the 4S turned out to be. It lacks too many things even non-geeks can appreciate, especially LTE, to be worth the upgrade price. However, I confess, I might becoming a little more of a phone geek.

 

[charveldude]

They were atill filling in back orders last week at this time, so I guess the backlash was more hype than substance.

I think there was too much hype both ways. The 4S is pretty clearly a good phone and an incremental step forward. The truth lies somewhere between the "where's my iPhone 5" whiners and Walter Isaacson's slobbery praise in the WSJ.

I can only say that, for me personally, the 4S is not enough of a leap forward to make me pony up $3-400 for an upgrade from the 3GS, and I'm exploring my Android options--particularly the GN.

Since I'm a newb, I'm trying to look at it dispassionately. The GN just seems to be the best combination of things coming up in the Android world for at least several months. Other phones might have individual advantages here and there, but the GN seems to be the best overall package. None of these devices is perfect, including the Apple stuff.

 

[mbaran]

I think there was too much hype both ways. The 4S is pretty clearly a good phone and an incremental step forward. The truth lies somewhere between the "where's my iPhone 5" whiners and Walter Isaacson's slobbery praise in the WSJ.

I can only say that, for me personally, the 4S is not enough of a leap forward to make me pony up $3-400 for an upgrade from the 3GS, and I'm exploring my Android options--particularly the GN.

Since I'm a newb, I'm trying to look at it dispassionately. The GN just seems to be the best combination of things coming up in the Android world for at least several months. Other phones might have individual advantages here and there, but the GN seems to be the best overall package. None of these devices is perfect, including the Apple stuff.

Honestly, on screen alone, the 4 was a huge upgrade from the 3gs. Just sayin. It's a really well put together screen and looks fantastic. Wish it was a tad bigger.

 

[borgey401]

Honestly, on screen alone, the 4 was a huge upgrade from the 3gs. Just sayin. It's a really well put together screen and looks fantastic. Wish it was a tad bigger.

While the screen may be nice there's certainly better out there. No OEM can manufacture screens as nice as Samsung can. Their super amoled+ screens blow retina out of the water IMO. Now that Samsung is making the regular super amoled screens in 720p they're going to start getting ever better too.

 

[ulnek]

Why do people care weather it competes with iPhone, how does that affect us? I just want the phone, not interested in what phone sells more than the other.

if they're trying to cut apple's market share, yes it does. the article is right in that the timing was all wrong for the device. ah well, i'll still get it anyway.

 

[solido888]

if they're trying to cut apple's market share, yes it does. the article is right in that the timing was all wrong for the device. ah well, i'll still get it anyway.

That affects the OEMs and google. That doesn't affect us consumers. The devs are going to wait for the dev phone, the average consumer may or may not, but it is negligent to my experience with my phone.

 

[crzycrkr]

if they're trying to cut apple's market share, yes it does. the article is right in that the timing was all wrong for the device. ah well, i'll still get it anyway.

But the article assumes that is what Google's intention with the GN is. I don't believe it is. Google still looks at the Nexus as entirely a dev phone

 

[qnet]

But the article assumes that is what Google's intention with the GN is. I don't believe it is. Google still looks at the Nexus as entirely a dev phone

I sure about that. If that's the case, why even market or sell it to regular consumers at all?