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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

#501

Post by technofiend »

Veratyr wrote: post #423
technofiend wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As always the most compelling thing about the phone is Google's support - fast releases and minimal carrier bloat. You have a nice list of positives and I'm not disputing them. But the feature list for what is now Googles top phone is underwhelming. 4 GB of RAM is barely adequate - it should be 6 GB like the other Snapdragon 821 flagship. No water proofing? That's the new black. Bottom-facing speakers? Complete regre…

> 4 GB of RAM is barely adequate I'm not disagreeing with you but what makes you say this? I've never owned a phone with more than 2GB of RAM and I'm not sure what I'm missing out on. > no optical image stabilization I trust a software company like Google with EIS, particularly given their work with HDR+. I owned an iPhone 7 for about a week and loved the stabilisation Google's app did on my Motion Stills. > Google n…

> I've never owned a phone with more than 2GB of RAM and I'm not sure what I'm missing out on.

It's Linux under the hood which will always make use of more memory, but our phones are slowly migrating towards service platforms. When my phone is fully kitted out playing Ingress with friends I'm running Slack, Glympse, Zello, team-specific app(s), Ingress and maps. I want the device snappily switching between and/or giving cycles to all those apps as needed without being forced to save state off to my flash storage which is a wasting asset.

I would imagine VR apps will be even more hungry with the large and complex objects and interactions modeled and displayed.

On EIS yup if that replaces OIS I'm fine with it. The assistant may be really cool but it won't remain a google-exclusive for long and it doesn't justify a (in my mind) $200-$300 premium for the phone.

I'll probably pick up the pixel XL when the sales start but as someone who has been an Android acolyte since my developer's edition G1 came in the mail this is not a compelling upgrade for me from the Nexus 6, particularly at this price.

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

#503

Post by usaphp »

sz4kerto wrote: post #364
010a wrote: post #336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iPhone 7+ is a much better comparison considering the size of the first two devices.

Not really. HTC10: 145.9 x 71.9 iPhone7: 138.3 x 67.1 (-7.6, -4.7 vs HTC10) iPhone7+: 158.2 x 77.9 (+12.7, +6 vs HTC10)

I see how you conveniently avoided listing their thickness. HTC 10 is 20% thicker then iPhone 7 plus.

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

#504

Post by dpark »

gotthemwmds wrote: post #381
jitl wrote: post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All phones sold at Apple stores are unlocked, but they come with an unactivated carrier SIM. I purchased an iPhone 7 (t-mobile), then popped out the SIM and put in my old AT&T sim. No problem. I suggest just buying the t-mobile device and doing the same, if you're looking for a GSM device.

I just want a phone that works. All of those words are confusing. Seriously though I showed up at Apple with a credit card and a SIM card 48 hours ago and they were not able to sell me a phone. To make it even weirder, I had the (unopened) phone I wanted in a bag, but it is a "locked" one from TMobile. I thought that was ancient history. One day Apple will want my money!

What carrier do you want to use the phone with? If, say, you want to use it with AT&T, just go in and buy an AT&T phone. It will be unlocked. Just swap out the SIM card in the phone with the one you already have if you don't want to activate the provided SIM card for some reason.

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

#505

Post by newman314 »

atourgates wrote: post #493
mikeryan wrote: post #484

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Matías Duarte has been consistently at the forefront of mobile UI design. This is a pretty subjective statement. It seems that a lot of Duarte's designs are somewhat derivative. Material extends MS's Flat design. I'm also not sure how much of that is Duarte, its a pretty open secret that Google makes use of some pretty high end digital agencies who aren't allowed to let folks know what they're working on. WebOS was p…

> WebOS was pretty tacky though an interesting OS design - actually implemented better by LG on their SmartTVs. I've got to stop you there. WebOS was far ahead of its time, and especially considered in the context of a small startup going against established players, was brilliant. It offered in some ways better and more intuitive usability than iOS, along with a great app development ecosystem and philosophy. Palm's…

Agreed. WebOS was the only other OS other than iOS that offered the singular upgrade experience.

It was clunky under the hood and never received enough love. It would have been interesting to see where WebOS (phone) would be today had Palm survived.

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

#506

Post by AaronFriel »

I'm saddened by the continued fragmentation.

"Google Assistant" replaces the Google search bar... but only on the Pixel? So this is yet another Android device that behaves differently from every other.

The exclusive carrier is Verizon. Why not Google Fi?

The default video app is Duo. Why not Hangouts?

Does "Google Now On Tap" get replaced by the assistant for the Pixel? Is that just for the Pixel?

I don't get it. I don't understand how Google can think this produces a cohesive, meaningful experience for their users when they keep changing things or fragmenting their platforms.

Edit: Full disclosure, my only smartphone is a Nexus 5X. I like it, I don't like Google's platform chaos.

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

#507

Post by st3v3r »

maxsilver wrote: post #307
dman wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wish apple was as enthusiastic about processor specs for the mac lineup as they are for the iphone lineup.

Especially since there's not much effort from Apple needed to keep the Mac lineup modernized. Intel does much of the work for them. Apple could just drop new Intel chips into their existing MacBooks as they get released, and easily be getting improved speed + efficiency each year. The new Kaby Lake chips even do hardware 4K video and VP9. http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/08/intel-unveils-kaby-la... sigh

Isn't that what they were doing for a while? And then Intel slipped the date on the Kaby Lake chips?

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

#508

Post by richev »

codeflo wrote: post #482
mattmaroon wrote: post #453

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have both a nexus 5 and an iPad. I greatly prefer stock Android. Just yesterday my girlfriend was trying to figure out how to turn her ringer off at night while still being able to hear her alarm. Little tasks like that are trivial on Android but difficult on iOS.

Flipping the mute switch on the side of the phone is difficult?

Easy to do != easy to discover

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

#509

Post by Eridrus »

lumenwrites wrote: post #331

It blows my mind that there's not a single positive top level comment yet. Seriously, guys, what's up with the culture of entitlement and complaining? We're hackers, let's get fucking excited about the new cool gadgets! This phone is awesome . How about, before nitpicking and criticizing, we take a moment to appreciate and celebrate the new technology developed by our colleagues?

The Nexus 5 was amazing, the 5X was acceptable, this.... makes me want another option.

Maybe you care about the camera, but I barely use mine except as a scanner replacement when sending documents.

All of the interesting announcements were about everything except the hardware, which IMO was extremely boring, and they've discontinued their mid-range line of phones so it's not even clear that you can get the software on other phones. You could argue this is exactly what Apple does, but that's the reason I refuse to buy Apple products.

I'm expecting and hoping a flop that causes a return to the spirit, if not the name, of the Nexus line.

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

#510

Post by click170 »

snvzz wrote: post #371
neals wrote: post #208

I don't like Google because they're gonna use my data against me. I don't like Apple because it's a walled garden and millions other reasons. I don't like Samsung because they bloat Android. I don't like Huawei because I don't trust the Chinese government to not do stuff to it. I don't like LG and HTC because the smartphone market is slipping away from them. Am I just getting old?

Very happy with my Oneplus 3.

What's the deal with Dash Charging?

I see it uses USB-C but I don't understand the difference between Dash Charging and just regular fast charging over USB-C. It feels like unnecessary confusion.

Even after Googling I'm left wondering what the difference is beyond patents - as a user why do I care about this what method it uses to charge quickly?

Just charge quickly, and do it with any (specs compliant) USB-C cable if it can be negotiated with the power brick.

This is an interesting option for a phone despite that though, I'll have to find a colleague or friend who has it to checkout the OS and inspect for bloatware but this looks promising.

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