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Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

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Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#121

Post by benologist »

jusben1369 wrote: post #76
mikestew wrote: post #13

And yet not a single hard detail in the article as to why the headline might be true. For going on ten years we've seen the "iPhone killers" come and go, and this article does nothing to tell me why this time it will be different. Perhaps because it won't be. Of what very few details the article outlines, they just go on about nifty hardware. Have we not learned by now that cool hardware still sucks when hamstrung by…

Given that we all know headlines are made for clicking, I think it's pretty clear why this time is very different vs the previous 10 years: "He notes that the company is now managing inventory, building relationships with carriers, sourcing components, making supply chain deals and managing distribution. Google is even making accessories, including cases and cables." This article isn't about the technical approach, i…

Isn't that what literally every android manufacturer has been doing since day 1?

Google doing it "too" doesn't sound like a game changer.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#122

Post by davidw »

lmedinas wrote: post #108

The interesting part will be for how long will the Phone + Software be supported. Now that the price is the same I think it's fair the support should be the same as the iPhone.

My Nexus 4 from several years back keeps getting timely updates. And still works pretty well.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#123

Post by mdellavo »

geodel wrote: post #86

I think it is just me but I find this 'book me a concert and fancy dinner' schtick rather boring. May be well off people are so busy and book these things so often that these virtual assistant really save time if price is of no concern to them.

I thought it was odd they used SMS when they had a few other communication apps to chose from.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#124

Post by bryanlarsen »

Someone wrote: post #60

"The Pixel phones will also be the first to run the next version of Android, Nougat 7.1 […] Everyone is treated the same, including Rick’s team" Treated the same, to a limit, I guess. If everyone is treated the same, they wouldn't be able to guarantee to be the first ones out with Nougat. Let's see how short or long the lead start is they will give their own phones.

LG V20 was the first device with Nougat, although that was Nougat 7.0.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#125

Post by rayiner »

noobermin wrote: post #78
kogepathic wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've been on android for a while, so I'm sure I'm biased, but stock AOSP Android is pretty much perfect for me. Very minimal and aesthetically beautiful, but still powerful and customizable. You can get AOSP on a lot of phones, you just have to be comfortable flashing a custom ROM. I don't understand why anyone would pay iPhone prices for an Android phone. Even if the hardware quality is similar (which it won't be,…

>(which it won't be, because Apple SoCs are at least a generation ahead of everyone else) Can anyone confirm if this is true? I thought the general advantage for i[a-zA-Z0-9]\+ is a well defined small N number of targets, which allow great optimization. Generally, the parts on apple things are a bit older than the competition but they pull off more (at least in user's eyes) compared with Android due to that optimizat…

Recently, Apple has been about a year ahead. Compare the A9 (which shipped in the 6s in fall 2015) with the Snapdragon 810 (which shipped in the Nexus 6p at the same time).

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9837/snapdragon-820-preview/2 http://www.anandtech.com/show/9686/the-apple-iphone-6s-and-i....

Heck, in many cases the A9 leaves the Snapdragon 820 behind, and that hasn't even shipped in a Nexus phone yet (the Pixel will probably have the 821).

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#126

Post by joezydeco »

“Google is now the seller of record of this phone,”

And who is the servicer of broken phones? Is there a warranty? Can I get a customer service agent on a real voice line?

Given Google's track record of hardware they could have answers for all of this and I still wouldn't own one.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#127

Post by bduerst »

geodel wrote: post #86

I think it is just me but I find this 'book me a concert and fancy dinner' schtick rather boring. May be well off people are so busy and book these things so often that these virtual assistant really save time if price is of no concern to them.

Eh, it's boilerplate.

Supposedly it's open for integration with mobile apps, so you could say 'Order ahead my usual at Philz', and it would ask you back, 'Order a large tesora for pickup at Philz Coffee in Santa Clara in 15 minutes?', to which you say 'yes'. Theoretically, anyways.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#128

Post by vetinari »

Touche wrote: post #120
guelo wrote: post #92

The product announcement page https://blog.google/products/pixel/introducing-pixel-our-new...

Info on how to preorder is vague. Says it's available to preorder today, doesn't say where or how.

> Pixel is available for pre-order today starting at $649 in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany and Australia. Pre-orders in India will begin October 13.

In the Google Store.

However, availability in 5 countries? Google, you want to take on iPhone with that? Apple phones are available globally. Even with previous Nexuses, they were available in many countries because the manufacturers did sell them, not because Google. Google sold them only with few countries; even in EU, they bothered only with about 14 of 28 (depending on product).

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#129

Post by wnevets »

hyperbovine wrote: post #90
wnevets wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not when you can control 85% of the market and just want your software in front as many people as possible so you can sell them ads. Do you really think google cares that much about making profit on smartphone hardware?

Then why have they made this phone?

probably the same reason they released the pixel (notice the name?) chromebook, to have a high end reference design.

Re: Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone

#130

Post by sucrose »

czhiddy wrote: post #8

“The difference with this device is that we started from the beginning,” says Dave Burke, who runs Android engineering. Started from scratch, yet the end result looks like a iPhone knockoff from a random Chinese shanzhai company? http://i.imgur.com/LlqaAPO.png

In the image you linked: why are the OS home-screens switched?
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