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Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

bloomberg.com

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Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#31

Post by ac29 »

coliveira wrote: post #21

Another me-too from Google. It doesn't matter how much money they put on it, it won't work until they do something innovative. Apple had to do it to get where they are.

> Apple had to do it to get where they are.

Apple aquired a lot of companies to get their "innovative" features. Siri was aquired (I know, its not great, but it was novel when it came out), PA-Semi was aquired (boosted their in house SoC development), and the original Kinect team for the iPhone X face recognition sensor suite come to mind.

A much bigger list is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio...

Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#32

Post by freeOpenBloat »

For sure, the only reason I’ve been on Apple devices these past few years is because Ubuntu is such an abomination. Windows is plainly unthinkable. And if you have my laptop, the mobile devices fall like dominos. I don’t love iPhones, but even at premium prices it’s worth it to integrate with OS X.

Android really makes me sick though. Touted as free and open, but you still have to root your phone with shady exploits, payloaded over some sketchy USB shell. And then when you do, the custom roms are trash. And I wouldn’t even be rooting these devices if I could just efface some of the stock brand and bloatware, but no, every mobile provider wants me to sign into their analytics package, and billboard their logos all over the place. It’s a wasteland in all directions.

Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#33

Post by shaklee3 »

ac29 wrote: post #30
sigmar wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Google's hardware approach sucks What is wrong with the Pixel hardware? (Have never owned one and have only heard good things)

Some people value headphone jacks, micro-SD expansion, dual-SIM support or other features that dont exist in the latest Pixels. These are all features that modern iPhones don't have either, so its a little hypocritical to call out Google if that is whats meant by the "sucks" part.

Those don't exist in the iPhone either, so I'm not sure what you're arguing for. There's a reason most flagships don't have those anymore.

Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#34

Post by nicetime »

For sure, the only reason I’ve been on Apple devices these past few years is because Ubuntu is such an abomination. Windows is plainly unthinkable. And if you have my laptop, the mobile devices fall like dominos. I don’t love iPhones, but even at premium prices it’s worth it to integrate with OS X.

Android really makes me sick though. Touted as free and open, but you still have to root your phone with shady exploits, payloaded over some sketchy USB shell. And then when you do, the custom roms are trash. And I wouldn’t even be rooting these devices if I could just efface some of the stock brand and bloatware, but no, every mobile provider wants me to sign into their analytics package, and billboard their logos all over the place. It’s a wasteland in all directions.

Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#35

Post by fnord77 »

Google has always been tone-deaf when it comes to how they treat their users. Apples treats their users as something special. Apple delights - google, well it's fast, but it sometimes creeps you out.

throwing more bodies at the problem isn't going to fix it - this is a top-down issue.

Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#36

Post by samfisher83 »

eanzenberg wrote: post #24
thomasfortes wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember reading somewhere that they did not integrate to not alienate other phone manufacturers, they were trying to avoid making the manufacturers feel like second class citizens.

That strategy worked out really well for them.

It did. The have a majority of the market. They don't make money selling phones. They make money selling ads. As long as all the phones are using google search and ads they do well.

Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#37

Post by chisleu »

elvirs wrote: post #7

after being an iPhone user for 6 years and recently switching to android (first a pixel, then one plus) I can say with confidence Google's hardware approach sucks. Android can do a lot more than iOS but it does most of the simple things in a user unfriendly way

Yep. Back when they were much more simple (like gingerbread?) I felt they hit the usability peak. My Pixel 2XL has a lot more features. It's certainly faster and better in almost every way, but it has so many trivial user experience bugs that it blows my mind that QA isn't fired.

Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#38

Post by feikname »

nicetime wrote: post #34

For sure, the only reason I’ve been on Apple devices these past few years is because Ubuntu is such an abomination. Windows is plainly unthinkable. And if you have my laptop, the mobile devices fall like dominos. I don’t love iPhones, but even at premium prices it’s worth it to integrate with OS X. Android really makes me sick though. Touted as free and open, but you still have to root your phone with shady exploits,…

That's the mobile provider fault, not Android's... And no custom ROMs are necessary for root usually.

Also, what makes you prefer macOS UX than Windows or Ubuntu? They surely have their downsides, but I don't think they're THAT bad to the point of not even touching one.

Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#39

Post by BaronVonSteuben »

chisleu wrote: post #37
elvirs wrote: post #7

after being an iPhone user for 6 years and recently switching to android (first a pixel, then one plus) I can say with confidence Google's hardware approach sucks. Android can do a lot more than iOS but it does most of the simple things in a user unfriendly way

Yep. Back when they were much more simple (like gingerbread?) I felt they hit the usability peak. My Pixel 2XL has a lot more features. It's certainly faster and better in almost every way, but it has so many trivial user experience bugs that it blows my mind that QA isn't fired.

If you could still use your gingerbread phone, you might be amazed how far it's come. I found an old Galaxy phone with 2.3 on it, and it was incredible how differently I remembered it. It was slow and clunky, and ugly by today's standard.

Re: Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

#40

Post by BaronVonSteuben »

nicetime wrote: post #34

For sure, the only reason I’ve been on Apple devices these past few years is because Ubuntu is such an abomination. Windows is plainly unthinkable. And if you have my laptop, the mobile devices fall like dominos. I don’t love iPhones, but even at premium prices it’s worth it to integrate with OS X. Android really makes me sick though. Touted as free and open, but you still have to root your phone with shady exploits,…

There's nothing sketchy about it if you buy a phone that is unlocked or unlockable. If you get a Samsung from Verizon, then yeah you're gonna have a hard time.
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