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Google Reportedly Working on Own-Branded Phone Set for Release This Year
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If you don't think selling phones at high profit margins is Apple's core business, then what the heck is???
Anyway, you all have a short memory if you have high expectations for Google's latest effort in phones. Perhaps they have learned enough from their experience losing *billions* on Motorola to avoid repeating the experience, but I'll believe it when I see it.
Yes! We are in dire need of more carrier agnostic devices free from carrier control that receive regular updates.
Once you take all the carrier controlled Android devices out of the pool you are left with very few choices. Especially in USA.
Once you take all the carrier controlled Android devices out of the pool you are left with very few choices. Especially in USA.
Please tell me that picture means Google will be naming their next Android OS "All-day Sucker".
I think we've been here before. Haven't they just sold Motorola, for a loss?
The problem is: just about how many people will buy these at a premium?
You could argue that Google doesn't need to actually make a profit on these, but it then becomes yet another unsustainable business they close after a few years. Which leads us to the next problem: who in his right mind is going to put up time and materials (money) to produce accessories for a product that may not even be around in two or three years, depending on how long the attention-span of the big G lasts this time.
Then, the Apple Stores are an incredibly steep hurdle to overcome for any competitor. It would take tremendous cap-ex to replicate that model at this point. Online-stores can only go so far with e.g. supporting older people or "having someone have a look" at a device.
Sure, Google online support can do stuff that Apple Care will never be able to do - but most of these cases are very unique and don't really translate well to the needs of Mom and Pop (which form an important demographic for almost all countries where Apple has a bricks-and-mortar store presence).
So, I wouldn't be surprised if this it yet another piece of dirt they're throwing to the ceiling, hoping that it will stick.
Because somewhere, some guy in a Google Lab is already thinking about the next piece of dirt that could be thrown to the ceiling, in the hope that it sticks...
The problem is: just about how many people will buy these at a premium?
You could argue that Google doesn't need to actually make a profit on these, but it then becomes yet another unsustainable business they close after a few years. Which leads us to the next problem: who in his right mind is going to put up time and materials (money) to produce accessories for a product that may not even be around in two or three years, depending on how long the attention-span of the big G lasts this time.
Then, the Apple Stores are an incredibly steep hurdle to overcome for any competitor. It would take tremendous cap-ex to replicate that model at this point. Online-stores can only go so far with e.g. supporting older people or "having someone have a look" at a device.
Sure, Google online support can do stuff that Apple Care will never be able to do - but most of these cases are very unique and don't really translate well to the needs of Mom and Pop (which form an important demographic for almost all countries where Apple has a bricks-and-mortar store presence).
So, I wouldn't be surprised if this it yet another piece of dirt they're throwing to the ceiling, hoping that it will stick.
Because somewhere, some guy in a Google Lab is already thinking about the next piece of dirt that could be thrown to the ceiling, in the hope that it sticks...
I always wondered why it wasn't Google-branded. Nexus isn't a good brand name, and neither is Motorola nowadays.
There were 300 million Android smartphones sold last quarter from 100 manufacturers across the globe.
What do we think is really gonna change by Google jumping into the mix?
It has been said that Google created the Nexus line to "show OEMs how it's done"
So what will the effects be when Google becomes a full-on hardware vendor?
What do we think is really gonna change by Google jumping into the mix?
It has been said that Google created the Nexus line to "show OEMs how it's done"
So what will the effects be when Google becomes a full-on hardware vendor?
It was inevitable, really. The open nature of Android has left us with a cesspool of devices running umpteen different versions of Android, many with their own modifications & skins and most of them never getting updates.
This is just Google trying to be like Apple - controlling the hardware AND software and setting up their own personal walled garden. What's funny is this could turn out to be the best Android phone ever made. And it will be the best because it's CLOSED and controlled 100% by Google. Just like the iPhone. Oh the irony.
This is just Google trying to be like Apple - controlling the hardware AND software and setting up their own personal walled garden. What's funny is this could turn out to be the best Android phone ever made. And it will be the best because it's CLOSED and controlled 100% by Google. Just like the iPhone. Oh the irony.
But therein lays the problem. Google doesn't have any real weight to force OEM's and carriers to sort themselves out.
Google are hardly likely to sanction Samsung when it's the prime Android OEM manufacturer especially when they have Tizen in the wings, an OS that can actually run Android apps and it wouldn't take a huge amount of work to transition users over, especially as many users know / think Touchwiz is Android rather than just a skin. Tizen skinned exactly as Touchwiz with the ability to run Android apps ... that would be a bad thing for Google. They won't jeapordise that.
Likewise they are unlikely to force carriers to back off, as one of the main incentives for them to embrace android handsets is the ability to pre-load their own carrier services ...
I guess we should look at the Google branded handset much like the Google Pixel C tablet and Pixel Chromebook. It won't challenge the likes of Samsung, but will fill a niche audience and potentially increase that audience over time.
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This is probably an iffy move for Google. Selling phones isn't exactly a profitable business unless you're Apple or Samsung (arguable). However, as a Nexus user, I would love for Google to go All-In on phones and develop a true Google handset. The benefits from a customer service perspective to consumers is that you no longer to have deal with two companies when there are issues.
Google would still allow unlocked bootloader and side loading apps. You will have complete freedom
they are just kicking the unneeded cooks out of the kitchen - the oem and the carrier
Except that Microsoft bought Nokia to try to get some sort of a market share, Google is already on majority of smartphones worldwide. And you have to give them credit; the newer versions of Anroid seem to scale well and work on $80 basic phone upto flagship
Google is set to launch its own smartphone by the end of the year in an effort to compete more directly with Apple and Samsung devices, according to The Telegraph.
Citing "senior sources" familiar with the matter, the report claims that the company plans to unveil a Google-branded handset that is separate from its Nexus range of phones, which are designed and manufactured through partnerships with the likes of LG and HTC. Google is also said to be in discussions with mobile operators about the release of the phone by the end of 2016.
The Nexus 6 handset by Motorola, one of Google's manufacturing partners.
If true, the news would signal a significant shift in ambitions for the company's mobile arm, which has historically focused on software development with its Android OS and left handset design largely in the hands of hardware manufacturers.
By contrast, Google's own internal handset division will take full control over "design, manufacturing and software," the newspaper reported. No other details were offered by the sources, while Google declined to comment on the story.
Last month, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company was "investing more effort" into phones, although this was interpreted to mean it wanted to work more closely with existing Nexus device makers. Similarly, in April, Recode reported that former president of Motorola Rick Osterloh was returning to Google to take over hardware development on the company's Nexus phones and its OEM partnerships, but no indication was given that an own-branded phone was in the works.
Google's Android OS is used on over 1.4 billion mobile devices globally, but differences in handsets have sometimes seen the company struggle to ensure rollout consistency between software updates.
A Google-branded phone would therefore make sense from a software point of view and allow the company to control the hardware running its OS and let it showcase its other mobile software services.
Such a move however isn't without risk. In April, the European Commission formally charged Google with monopoly abuse, accusing it of using the success of Android to unfairly push its search engine and Chrome browser on users. Not only that, much of the company's mobile service revenue is made through iOS devices, so Apple could potentially make life hard for Google if it felt threatened by its move into mobile hardware design.
Article Link: Google Reportedly Working on Own-Branded Phone Set for Release This Year
Rumor has it that MSFT earns more (from patent royalties) on the sale of android devices than GOOG.
Thanks for quoting the entire first article without any user additions. 
Just in case we all hadn't read it ...
Just in case we all hadn't read it ...
Will this phone be able to receive incoming phone calls?
Don't laugh. This is a serious question.
Many owners of the Nexus 5x and 9 have posted complaints in Google's Nexus forums that their phones STILL can't receive incoming phone calls. They don't know anyone has tried to call their phone unless, and until they receive a text or email notification of a missed call, or voicemail. This is reportedly a long standing, and ongoing problem for which there still is no fix.
Postings in those forums suggest that Google has identified the cause of the problem,, and that the fix, which might require changes to the phone's firmware and software, as well as to several mobile phone service vendor's "systems", is currently being worked on. But I'm not aware of any official announcement of this information.
If this new phone is the fix, will the current owners of Nexus 5x and 9 smartphones receive one of them in replacement of their current phones?
Don't laugh. This is a serious question.
Many owners of the Nexus 5x and 9 have posted complaints in Google's Nexus forums that their phones STILL can't receive incoming phone calls. They don't know anyone has tried to call their phone unless, and until they receive a text or email notification of a missed call, or voicemail. This is reportedly a long standing, and ongoing problem for which there still is no fix.
Postings in those forums suggest that Google has identified the cause of the problem,, and that the fix, which might require changes to the phone's firmware and software, as well as to several mobile phone service vendor's "systems", is currently being worked on. But I'm not aware of any official announcement of this information.
If this new phone is the fix, will the current owners of Nexus 5x and 9 smartphones receive one of them in replacement of their current phones?
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Now THIS is the phone I'm going to purchase.
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Come on, man. Why are you constantly giving the MacRumors community a hard time? You've been on a roll for a couple of weeks now. YOUR negativity is bringing me down.
Will be lost in 5 years, still here in 2 years tough... loooool just kidding, enjoy
Are you sure they will still let you unlock the bootloader on a new Google pixel phone? Rumors are they are trying to lock the OS down a little more and have greater control.