Live data from Hacker News

Google pulls plug on Nexus One

zdnet.com

131–140 of 154 posts

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#131

What baffles me is that when I walk around New York, I don't see a single Android, Nexus One, etc. ad. But I do see iPad ads. I see iPhone ads. I see iPod ads. Often. Since Google's business is advertising, I am amused.

I saw enormous numbers of ads for the N1 - but only through the Google ad network (on web sites). I think they were very selected and targeted in who they were advertising to. I think they specifically did not want hordes of general consumers picking up this phone.

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never seen the android browser crash, for one thing, and the extra memory means less refreshing when switching between windows. Biggest for me is file browsers, being able to copy content onto the device from across the network, not needing to deal with iTunes. I've replaced the default media browser, video player etc. And I can use my phone in bed with auto rotate disabled without having to jailbreak. To me, th…

You had to replace the defaults because they don't work well. Android can't even play a damn wav file without downloading an app. iOS4 has the capability to lock portrait mode. I never once wanted to use my iphone or nexus one as a mass storage device.

The point is, I can replace the defaults, and because of the way actions work, the are proper replacements that integrate with other applications.

It isn't about using the phone as a mass storage device, dummy! It's about being able to e.g. add and remove music, movies, photos etc. to and from the device and a network location, over the air, without ever having to plug into another computer.

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#133
post #129
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a problem in that the old phones should continue to be supported and get the new OS's in a timely fashion. They shouldn't need to worry about which OS is on there, but I think the OS should continue to get better over the life of the phone regardless. I'm not saying it needs to be out there right now, it's more of a question of whether a random model x will ever get it. Some probably won't, even if they can supp…

Consumers, rightly or wrongly have been trained to have absolutely zero expectation that their phone OS will be upgradeable. Apple is the one company (outside of Android) doing that at all and I think most consumers are quite surprised when iTunes starts telling them they can upgrade. I don't think this is an issue at all, at least not yet. It will become so as the app market matures and large numbers of consumers fi…

Yeah, that's a decent point. I'm probably tainted by my exposure to the iPhone - it seems reasonable that most people probably don't even know about OS upgradeability. Good point about the app market, that will likely be one of the main areas where it matters. I know my friends who got a G1 felt stung by not being able to upgrade their OS to include new features within a year or so of buying it, though.

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#134
post #107

I feel it's worth pointing out that they haven't killed the phone, just their retail channel. Theoretically the thing could finally become available in carrier stores now, although they probably won't bother after Google's rather poor handling of the marketing and publicity. Sad to see them giving up on challenging the carriers, but with no retail 'Google stores' where people could examine the thing before paying ~$5…

One of the carriers here is selling them. http://store.vodafone.com.au/handset-htc-nexus-one.aspx?pid=...

But apparently they only have 1000 of them, and won't get any more, due to the Nexus One being End-of-life.

http://ausdroid.net/2010/07/02/vodafone-only-have-1000-nexus...

I was going to pick one up for cross platform game development with Unity3D, but this was before I found out that developers in Australia still can't sell apps on the Android Marketplace. I thought Google would have their shit together with this by now.

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here are the things I use regularly that iOS doesn't/probably-will-never have. - Free turn by turn navigation that's better than any dedicated gps device. - Wifi or bluetooth tethering. I recently was travelling with my girlfriend, and we both could access the internet on our laptops routed over WiFi through my phone. The hotel even had free wifi, but it was easier to not bother with figuring out how to set that up,…

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Jailbreak! Other than the turn by turn every other feature you said is available with jail broken ios. So you get the best of both worlds: slick usabe interface and powerful features. I honestly don't know why more people don't jailbreak their iPhones.

One of the reasons I don't usually keep mine jailbroken is that it becomes very annoying to upgrade. It's jailbroken right now, but the tethering is basically the only thing I miss when it's not, and that, only very occasionally.

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#136
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

actual capabilities of currently available Android systems vs. iOS 4 So how many devices are shipping now with Android 2.2 and how many are shipping/getting updated with iOS 4?

2.2 is basically 2.1 with some performance enhancements and a few features sprinkled in here and there. A better question is how many are shipping with >= 2.1? An even better questions is... who cares? I have an N1 with 2.2 on it. I was happy with it with 2.1 on it. I'm slightly happier with 2.2 on it. I know people with Droids with whatever is on it, and they're happy with it. I know people with Droid Incredibles, a…

Of the devices that have accessed the Marketplace, about 55% run 2.1: http://developer.android.com/resources/dashboard/platform-ve...

I have no idea how many of those devices shipped with 1.x and were upgraded, or shipped with 2.1 installed.

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can make meaningless statements too! "Here's the list of iPhone apps I can install on my iPhone without Apple's permission: {}" Incidentally, 2.2 (via the CM6 test) runs just fine on my Sapphire. The joy of Free Software is that I can fix my own device that is no longer the flavor of the month. T-Mobile will never give that device an Android > 2.0. But the community can, and it works much better than the stock imag…

So the options are either bloatware or git? How about something that just works?

Why is it that iPhone fanbois have such trouble understanding metaphors? I chose the word bloatware to imply that trusting the provider was not the best option; sure, carrier ROMs might not support Android 2.2, but what's so good about carrier ROMs anyway. I chose the git example as contrast -- it's the opposite of carrier intervention; it's a guy in his house, talking to nobody, making and Android 2.2 build for his own phone.

In the real world, the perfect balance lies somewhere between the two. For every Android phone I have owned, there is always a middle ground. On one side, is the carrier ROM with their ads removed. On the other side, is a community-supported open-source build, like Cyanogen Mod. These are the sort of possibilities alluded to by my posts, without worrying the reader about concrete problems (like how the first is copyright infringement, and the second can be unstable).

Oh well, next time I will just write a computer program to unambiguously represent the set of possible meanings, so nobody will have to do any thinking on their own.

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please tell me what Froyo does the iOS4 doesn't. I switched from a 3gs to an N1 and the primitive nature of android is apparent at every corner. Browser runs like crap. Try loading a page with a bunch of graphics and text. It will run like a flip book cartoon. The music player is laughable. It doesn't even match up to an ipod classic. The exchange syncing does not work correctly, especially calendar syncing. And a la…

Here are the things I use regularly that iOS doesn't/probably-will-never have. - Free turn by turn navigation that's better than any dedicated gps device. - Wifi or bluetooth tethering. I recently was travelling with my girlfriend, and we both could access the internet on our laptops routed over WiFi through my phone. The hotel even had free wifi, but it was easier to not bother with figuring out how to set that up,…

  - Wifi or bluetooth tethering.
Bluetooth tethering is already there (it was available in iPhone OS 3 too).

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Corporate customers can side load apps on iOs now. Company handsets no longer make up 99% of smartphone, if at all they ever did.

Apple's corporate side-load program requires you to prove that you have 250 employees. Running a local service company with 120 employees? Sorry, you're too small to qualify for side-loading. Build your custom competitive advantage apps and load them into the iTunes store for everyone or go without.

I couldn't believe this when I read your post, but it turns out there is a minimum employee count requirement, and it's now 500 employees.

Just wow.

Now, to be fair, the non-enterprise developer program lets you distribute your app to 100 devices too, but you need to pre-enter those devices's IDs beforehand. There's no way to hit between 100-500 devices.

Re: Google pulls plug on Nexus One

#140
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With all due respect, you're going off another tangent. Froyo, aka Android 2.2, was released on May 20. It's now July 19th, almost two months later. The fact that only one phone will support an OS for more than two months is a problem.

Froyo was not released on May 20th. It was formally announced at Google I/O at around that time. I don't know the exact release date but a quick Google reveals a staff member denying that it had reached final realease as recently as June 23rd. Why you (or Mr. Gruber) would consider it a problem that one phone model would receive updates sooner than others is something of a mystery to me, particularly on such a short…

I hope Google learns from this and doesn't announce future new version until the day they can ship the code. Android bashers have been complaining that 'it's taking months to get 2.2 deployed' which is a complete misrepresentation of the facts.
Post reply on HN