Behind the Pixel: Google’s First Real Threat to Apple’s iPhone • Hacker News Board

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

#621

Post by pasbesoin » Tue, Oct 04, 2016, 11:56 PM UTC

paublyrne wrote: post #430

pasbesoin wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah. I did think a bit of that. Agree. Not that I'm defending it, but it looks like Google is moving from being a platform provider to a (for profit) device provider. Given the endless bullshit surrounding third party vendor foot dragging, abandonment, etc., I'm not sure they had any other choice. For my part, I'm done with anything Android that isn't directly from Google (or maybe Samsung, for a phone). And even Goog…

And even Google, I distrust, after they left Motorola and my Moto X to "rust" before I was even done with its contract/payments term. The Moto X is still getting prompt updates, regardless of the sale, no? My Moto G does at least. Certainly no rust on it.

My 2013 Moto X, bought in early 2014, got left by Google/Moto/Verizon on the 5.whatever that doesn't fix Stagefright.

Until I switch away from Verizon, I stuck my already activated SIM into a Nexus 5x -- the first Nexus to work on Verizon's network.

That Nexus 5x just got the upgrade to Android 7. Because the update is shipped directly from Google and Verizon has no control over it with respect to my independently acquired Nexus 5x.

At the time I bought the Moto X, from a Motorola then owned by Google, Google/Motorola/Verizon was promising that this new ownership/alliance would ensure timely updates. Yeah... so much for that. Updates came slower, and all too soon choked out.

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

#622

Post by rtkwe » Tue, Oct 04, 2016, 11:58 PM UTC

technofiend wrote: post #501

Veratyr wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 giv…

I would be shocked if RAM and not GPU were the limiting issue in a phone running VR.

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

#623

Post by cloudjacker » Wed, Oct 05, 2016, 12:05 AM UTC

adamweld wrote: post #29

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…

>Now, Google is no Samsung, but they're a long way from Apple or even Microsoft on the UX front. Not sure I agree with this. 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.

I have a feeling that the repetitive series of Google Play Services on this device will be very far from stock android

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

#624

Post by cloudjacker » Wed, Oct 05, 2016, 12:15 AM UTC

technofiend wrote: post #319

Veratyr wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> what does this have that the year-old Nexus 6P and 5X don't, other than incremental hardware improvements? As someone who owns a 5X: - The Pixel is a premium 5" phone, not a budget one. It has a flagship SoC rather than a mid-tier SoC. - The camera is better and more responsive (the camera on the N5X is slow and annoying). - The body isn't plastic, which means there will be less issues with heat and CPU throttling…

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…

But DXOMARK! The camera metric we've been relying on to buy our phones! Its the highest score ever! Think about how relevant the incrementally better lens will be. Wait till your friends read the EXIF data on your Facebook and FOMO at the mouth. "I saw the DXOMark for that lens" immediately escalating your life from the mundane to the exciting.

Innovations in photon capturing technology like light field be damned. This is the best.camera.ever.

Did this not factor into your decision?

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

#625

Post by megablast » Wed, Oct 05, 2016, 12:15 AM UTC

julianpye wrote: post #354

Last week we tried to launch an Android-first app at a major startup conference with 5000 visitors. 95% of the visitors (startups, entrepreneurs, investors, executives) had iPhones. We later confirmed this by looking at the network stats and couldn't believe it. In a country where Android statistically has 80% marketshare. The Android users loved the product, but we failed because we couldn't generate word-of-mouth.…

Most Android devices sold are not Galaxy S7 or S6, they are cheap $100 to $200 devices, sold to people who just want a new phone and maybe facebook.

The market share is bottom heavy.

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

#626

Post by cloudjacker » Wed, Oct 05, 2016, 12:16 AM UTC

technofiend wrote: post #501

Veratyr wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 giv…

Its October and you are still playing anything from Niantic?

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

#627

Post by pikachu_is_cool » Wed, Oct 05, 2016, 12:17 AM UTC

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?

Jailbreaking solves the walled garden issue. What are the millions of other reasons?

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

#628

Post by wruza » Wed, Oct 05, 2016, 12:17 AM UTC

mhomde wrote: post #478

erikpukinskis wrote: post #367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, in terms of staff UI design cred Android is in better place than iOS right now. With the Sidekick, PalmOS, and then Material Design, Matías Duarte has been consistently at the forefront of mobile UI design. Jony Ive is probably the most brilliant consumer electronics hardware designer in the world, but I have yet to see any indication that he has any idea how to lead a platform UI design project. I had issu…

iOS is in a tough position, the road of incremental changes is coming to an end. The icon-based home screen is showing it's age and will need a revolution rather than an evolution. You can kinda see Apple dipping it toes into the widget arena with the notifications area, yet they're probably hesitant to remake the whole home screen and risk alienating their current users. Tech savvy people won't mind a new home scree…

This kind of thinking is the one of them forces that drive initially good-enough designs into complete bullshit by spiral "aging" and "revolution" of even simple things. Thanks for all software that I dumped because of that.

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

#629

Post by hossbeast » Wed, Oct 05, 2016, 12:21 AM UTC

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…

Google has universally better UX than Apple. Have you used the enormity that is iTunes?

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

#630

Post by freddyc » Wed, Oct 05, 2016, 12:26 AM UTC

sly010 wrote: post #159

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…

You probably haven't used a Google branded Android phone in the last 3-4 years. Project Fi + Nexus 5X + Stock Android is as good as it gets in integration and UX. The other day I lost my phone so I typed "where is my phone" into google. It showed me immediately. How many passwords do you have to type and licences to accept to do that on your Apple cloud? I agree the article doesn't explain it very well, but the botto…

> How many passwords do you have to type and licences to accept to do that on your Apple cloud?

I made the switch to Nexus last year for work, but my wife is still a devoted iPhone user and recently upgraded to the 7. As I was setting it up for her I was shocked at how poor the UX was and the number of times the iPhone asked for a password (in some cases asking for the same password multiple times). Just a week earlier I had set-up a new Android device and I entered my Google login details once and that was it. The contrast was jarring.