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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

#761

Post by notyourwork »

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.

This is part of the problem though. Everyone's experience is different. You are on stock, not everyone is. Android market is fragmented whereas with Apple you and your Mom and neighbor are all on the same iOS. Its not hype its real. You showing off your stock android running smooth as butter doesn't help convince someone running a phone preloaded with bloatware and a different UI.

I don't know what the right answer is but Apple has one phone and one OS, android has many phones and many looks to their OS. This could be part of why there will never be an iPhone killer aside from Apple themselves.

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

#762

Post by simonh »

winter_blue wrote: post #417
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,…

I picked up a used Nexus 6 (in excellent condition) recently, and it is an incredible device. I'm also on the bleeding edge OS-wise, as I get Android Beta/Preview releases. My primary device is an iPhone 6 Plus, and I have to say, Nexus 6 and Android N is really impressive from both a hardware and software perspective. That being, I wish Google decoupled device drivers from the Android image. If they adopted the Wind…

>If they adopted the Windows on PC device driver model, it would be so great for users...

I seriously doubt it. I just changed my broadband provider at home. Our Macs, mobile devices and WDTV connected to the new wifi router immediately, but it took 2 hours to get the Windows laptop to connect to the internet. It found the wifi network fine, but no internet. This has happened before. Googling found dozens of hits for this issue, all with different solutions that worked for different people and each time it's happened to me on the same laptop different solutions have worked, such as: Delete the device in device manager and then scan for new hardware; ipconfig /renew; fiddling with Advanced driver settings.

This time I fixed it by reverting from the Microsoft driver to the vendor provided driver. The last thing we need on our phones is hardware, drivers and OS developed by different companies that don't talk to each other and don't do proper whole-system integration testing on all builds and upgrades.

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

#763

Post by lagadu »

neals wrote: post #291
stonemetal wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you don't like LG and HTC simply because of popularity metrics then perhaps you are getting too young rather than too old.

Nah, I'm old enough to see that if their mobile division tanks, I'm not going to get updates.

You're implying that Samsung and Sony aren't well known for not giving updates.

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

#764

Post by jug »

It seems roughly equivalent to a fairly recent iPhone. I see nothing like being officially water resistant like the iPhone 7, and seemingly no now widely lauded portrait mode thanks to dual cameras and its depth perception. The iPhone 7 also seems to use an (in normal use) more powerful CPU.

So maybe it's more like a premium priced iPhone 6s or so. Outside of Apple's ecosystem. How in the world would that be a "real threat"? The 32 GB Pixel is expected to land at $650, the (now finally) 32 GB iPhone 6s will cost you $550. It'll cost you $100 more and it'll make you lose your ecosystem!

It looks like a method for Google to stop the drain to Apple through an alluring Apple design at best, not something that will do much in the other direction.

As an iPhone user, this doesn't interest me in the slightest, other than an "academical" interest where it's interesting to see Google finally seeing the light. Now let's see if Google will introduce a certification program so people can look at a label in the specs of any Android phone and know that the smartphone will not be loaded with crap. Let the OEM's be still free to do it, but let people have an easier time to vote with their money.

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

#765

Post by lagadu »

lintiness wrote: post #317
drewrv wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely agree. I know there are other cheap android phones but Nexus was always a good bang for your buck. This is like Toyota discontinuing the corolla to compete with Maserati.

the phones were great because they were universally unlocked (rare). the camera on my nexus 5 is trash, however.

Just order your favourite phone from outside the US. We have all of them unlocked for sale at any major retailer across the pond.

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

#766

Post by anonred »

mastax wrote: post #288
wmeredith wrote: post #5

I'd like someone to save me from Apple's garbage cloud services, but I just can't get away from their hardware. It's just too good. So... Can anyone convince me that this thing is going to be different from the iPhone killers that are reported on every year in these regurgitated press releases?

What about the iPhone hardware do you think is missing in high end Android phones nowadays? Legitimately curious.

I don't claim to be knowledgable in all of the Android devices, but I don't believe there's an Android device with an equivalent to the Taptic Engine and 3D touch.

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

#767

Post by obj-g »

pmontra wrote: post #749
mhomde wrote: post #478

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

The problems I have with the iPhone are 1) lack of a back button, so I have to learn every single screen of every single application and 2) the app store. I had to help a friend to find a qrcode app on Sunday. Look for qrcode in the store, 842 found. Wow... None of them has a review or stars. How do you trust them? We kept scrolling for a while, nothing. Compare that with the Google store. It doesn't tell me how many…

A back button would make no sense to me. There are situations in apps when you can't "go back" -- wait, do you mean some physical back button?! Otherwise, there's the "Return to..." feature, the fact that the back button in most iOS apps is always the top left button of the navigation bar, and there's always the left edge swipe. If you can't figure out how to go back in an app, then it's the app's fault, not the phone's. "I have to learn every single screen of every single app" -- come on, bro, that's a bit much.

As for the store, well, the App Store actually has standards and minimums for apps and reviews. I would think a google search for "best qrcode app ios" would yield better results than your strange method, but, hey, to each his own.

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

#768

Post by romanovcode »

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?

> new cool gadgets

Only thing new here is camera enhancements. Nothing new, really.

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

#769

Post by simonh »

tn13 wrote: post #606

Android has already won. It is the hardware that has not managed to challenge hardware. But then Android's key selling point has always been about "choice". Blackberry like Android phones ? check. Android phones that feel like Windows UI ? Check, $30 phones? check, phones that look more like gaming devices ? check.

I'm a dedicated iOS user and don't own any Android devices, but you're quite right. Google's objective with Android was to ensure that there would always be an open mobile platform with a standard browser and access to Google services without a platform gatekeeper getting in the way. Mission accomplished. The mere existence of Android keeps Apple honest in a lot of ways.

Because their goals are different, Apple and Google can both win in Mobile. Android's success hasn't stopped Apple becoming the most valuable company in the world and Apple's success hasn't stopped Android serving many market segments Apple has no interest in addressing. As consumers, regardless of which platform we prefer, we've all won.

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

#770

Post by radiorental »

tedunangst wrote: post #656
radiorental wrote: post #635

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure the NSA has something to say about that, at least with consumer grade encryption.

That's why I always use military grade encryption.

> military grade

I see what you did there (o;

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