Google Takes Aim at Apple with New Nexus 7, Google Play Games and Chromecast

[LordVic]

edit: I did this only because I wanted to make everyone go glare blind from look at that picture.

Thank you. I am now seeing red squares and blue lines in my vision

there are a few other interesting comparison. you've got 4:3 to 16:10, but also throw in 16:9. all 3 side by side you'll see there is actually quite a remarkable difference between it all.

except for movie watching, I actually prefer the 16:10 size as it gives you a little more height for productivity.

The next thign that screen shape and physical size, doesn't also necessarily represent screen real estate.

higher resolution display, even while physically smaller, provides more pixels to be able to put more on the screen. some limitations being, you need UI elements that are both usable and readable. But, even if the N7's screen is technically smaller, at the higher resolution, you can put more stuffs on it.

there are trade-offs to both. after using both 16:9 and 4:3 tablets, I do much prefer the 4:3 ones myself. but I do recognise this is a personal preference

 

[Dontazemebro]

The biggest source for music and media and Google doesn't even support it. Fail.

It's why Android will always be second-rate.

Ha ha, this is probably one of the dumbest things I've ever read on this site and that's saying something.

Fail - Epic Fail

 

[zhenya]

The next thign that screen shape and physical size, doesn't also necessarily represent screen real estate.

higher resolution display, even while physically smaller, provides more pixels to be able to put more on the screen. some limitations being, you need UI elements that are both usable and readable. But, even if the N7's screen is technically smaller, at the higher resolution, you can put more stuffs on it.

there are trade-offs to both. after using both 16:9 and 4:3 tablets, I do much prefer the 4:3 ones myself. but I do recognise this is a personal preference

It's unlikely the extra pixels on the N7 will go towards showing more stuffs. It's almost certainly just there to make things sharper.

 

[LordVic]

It's unlikely the extra pixels on the N7 will go towards showing more stuffs. It's almost certainly just there to make things sharper.

I'm aware.

just trying to point out that blanket statements often can be misleading or wrong and that anyone trying to make informed decisions should take a seriously look at the entire picture. All aspects and take everything into account.

 

[Renzatic]

Thank you. I am now seeing red squares and blue lines in my vision

Hey, no problem. Just doin' what I do.

...also, I thought I said that, not Sam. God, I hope I'm not going all fugue state and making puppet accounts again. I got in a lot of trouble with my bank the last time that happened.

there are a few other interesting comparison. you've got 4:3 to 16:10, but also throw in 16:9. all 3 side by side you'll see there is actually quite a remarkable difference between it all.

K. I'll whip one up then answer the rest of your post, which'll pretty much just be me agreeing with you.

edit: Here you go

iPad at the top, Surface RT at the bottom, and the happy medium Android tablets in the middle. I admit the iPad is the most comfortable to hold in portrait, but 16:10 gives you the most space for apps without as many tradeoffs as 16:9.

 

[LordVic]

Hey, no problem. Just doin' what I do.

...also, I thought I said that, not Sam. God, I hope I'm not going all fugue state and making puppet accounts again. I got in a lot of trouble with my bank the last time that happened.



K. I'll whip one up then answer the rest of your post, which'll pretty much just be me agreeing with you.

the confusion is understandable!

it seems whenever these conversations get going. there's always the extremists, but the logical centrists who actually aren't brand centric are always the same group of people. and always ends up being you, samcraig and myself (when i come around) discussing technical merrits.

its something I never understand, Blind devotion to corporations.

if a product does for you what you want it to and youre happy with it, than thats a great thing. But it doesn't automatically mean that the competition is a polar opposite and a terrible thing.

But what do I know. I'm just a centrist

 

[macUser2007]

No offense, but this will end up like everything Google does. DOA....

Or like Android.

Clunky, awkward at the beginning, then slowing passing the competition.

Look, I have two Apple TV 3s at home. But I also ordered the $35 Chromecast from Amazon yesterday (figured I can carry it to hotels and watch Netflix on hotel TVs).

But the SDK is what differentiates Chromecast and Apple should have had it years ago.

 

[Renzatic]

it seems whenever these conversations get going. there's always the extremists, but the logical centrists who actually aren't brand centric are always the same group of people. and always ends up being you, samcraig and myself (when i come around) discussing technical merrits.

The way I see it, just about all of the big three offer up something nice, and give people something the others lack. Apple gives you the polish and best app selection, Android gives you the most flexibility, features, and freedom, and Winphone is about the fastest and easiest to work with of the bunch. I pretty much like them all for different reasons.

...but give me about 5 minutes, and I can find 15 things I don't like about each platform, and gripe about them constantly. I can easily say all of them are good, but none of them are perfect.

its something I never understand, Blind devotion to corporations.

Same here. You can like something without being a zealot about it. Like me, I do tend to like Apple stuff a little more than the others. It might be a little too simplified at times, but they do currently offer the best overall experience of the bunch.

But just because I like Apple stuff doesn't mean I have to go around digging up stupid reasons not to like something, or speak out of both sides of my mouth to justify my opinion. I mean I can argue merits and upsides all day long, but going as far as some people do here? Yeah, it gets stupid dumb sometimes.

 

[Todd B.]

Or like Android.

Clunky, awkward at the beginning, then slowing passing the competition.

Android is nowhere close to passing the competition.

 

[Dmunjal]

the confusion is understandable!

it seems whenever these conversations get going. there's always the extremists, but the logical centrists who actually aren't brand centric are always the same group of people. and always ends up being you, samcraig and myself (when i come around) discussing technical merrits.

its something I never understand, Blind devotion to corporations.

if a product does for you what you want it to and youre happy with it, than thats a great thing. But it doesn't automatically mean that the competition is a polar opposite and a terrible thing.

But what do I know. I'm just a centrist

Now that you've solved the problem here, would you be interested in running for President?

 

[JGRE]

Actually, it is. 16:10 is more squarish than 16:19, and fits pretty comfortably between it and the iPad's 4:3 screen.

Here's an example I whipped up real fast.

Image

This is assuming both devices are the same height when put on their sides. The one on the top is the iPad, the one on the bottom is a 16:10 screen. You can see that it does give you a little more screen space, but doesn't make it as lanky as a 16:9.

edit: I did this only because I wanted to make everyone go glare blind from look at that picture.

It is 16:9 compared to 16:10 not as you are comparing it with 16:19.

 

[walie]

This new Android OS seems wasting a lot of space on status bars - now there are two. What was the point of adding another status bar on top.

this makes me lol. you have no idea what you're talking about

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The biggest source for music and media and Google doesn't even support it. Fail.

It's why Android will always be second-rate.

Do you remember when Palm Pre's supported iTunes syncing and APPLE went out of their way with itunes update-after-update to remove the Pre's ability to support iTunes??

I thought not.

 

[FrozenDarkness]

Or like Android.

Clunky, awkward at the beginning, then slowing passing the competition.

Look, I have two Apple TV 3s at home. But I also ordered the $35 Chromecast from Amazon yesterday (figured I can carry it to hotels and watch Netflix on hotel TVs).

But the SDK is what differentiates Chromecast and Apple should have had it years ago.

I'm always a little disappointed in the potential Airplay could have, but I can't say airplay doesn't ahve a SDK or else how would Apps integrate it?

 

[Oletros]

It is 16:9 compared to 16:10 not as you are comparing it with 16:19.

That 16:19 is a typo, he wanted to write 16:9

 

[ThisIsNotMe]

Ill just leave this here.....

 

[pirg]

Ill just leave this here.....
Image

Eh it's thirty five dollars and plus when has Google ever really designed something that looks great? They're about cheap so they can serve you with ads. It'll do the job it was meant to do, but again this is not revolutionary at all and it's kinda funny how ppl are trying to pass it off as such.

I'll probably get one.

 

[dannys1]

There are two different paradigms ... one about specs and one about usage. Android users will always care about specs because it does matter. iOS users will not care (at least as much) because there's little reason to (they have little to no choice anyway). Apple knows they can milk every last bit of performance out of dated-tech because they can optimize their code for very specific hardware. Android simply cannot do this ... hence the emphasis on specs running fairly "generic" code.

Yes but if you look at the rest of my post, you'll see it in reply to a guy who just stated out of the blue that the iPad mini needs better processor and more memory, just because the Nexus 7 has got it - what a foolish request.

 

[zhenya]

iPad at the top, Surface RT at the bottom, and the happy medium Android tablets in the middle. I admit the iPad is the most comfortable to hold in portrait, but 16:10 gives you the most space for apps without as many tradeoffs as 16:9.

In my opinion, the thing that Apple absolutely nailed with the 768x1024 resolution on the iPads is that it is the perfect resolution to show the entirety of the vast majority of modern web pages in portrait orientation with no wasted space at all and large enough to be fully readable. 16:10 and 16:9 tablets typically require you to scroll a bit left to right to see the entire page, or use it in landscape which requires you to do lots of scrolling while wasting real estate on the sides.

I have a bunch of Windows and Android tablets on my desk for work, and this irritates me about every single one of them.

 

[Roessnakhan]

Ill just leave this here.....
Image

It'll be behind your TV and you'll never see it. It could literally be shaped like a hand giving me the finger and I wouldn't care.

 

[MegamanX]

Now you're either lying or trolling because I fail to see how you could do this when you plug in your Nexus to your Mac and absolutely nothing happens.

Nothing in iTunes.
Nothing.

The biggest source for music and media and Google doesn't even support it. Fail.

It's why Android will always be second-rate.

There is a world outside of iTunes. Also this quote alone shows massive ignorance on your part. Apple actively blocks non apple devices from connecting directly with iTunes. They have to go threw some other system.

I used to use a program call double twist which would take my itunes library and playlist and then use that to upload what would go on the device.

Since then I have completely done away with that part of the equation and moved over to Google music. If and when I add new files to my computer They are upload to Google Music automatically and new stuff I buy form Google Music is downloaded and added to iTunes automatically.
Now iTunes sucks for anything but music. It one of the worse video players I have found out there and refuse to use it for it.

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Ill just leave this here.....
Image

so your response is set it up in worse case set up. I can tell you on my TV it will be chromecaste and then plugged it into one of the TV's USB ports. Besides all of that is behind your TV any how. Not like you will see it. THey have long courts to solve a major issue of getting to the plugs. It is better htan the normal 3 ft plug you normally get.

 

[samcraig]

Ill just leave this here.....
Image

It'll be behind your TV and you'll never see it. It could literally be shaped like a hand giving me the finger and I wouldn't care.

Exactly.

Also - the power cord is only needed for tvs that don't have a USB port as well to power the device.

Sometimes a picture doesn't tell the whole story. But that doesn't stop people from posting them as if they are facts unto themselves.

 

[MegamanX]

Exactly.

Also - the power cord is only needed for tvs that don't have a USB port as well to power the device.

Sometimes a picture doesn't tell the whole story. But that doesn't stop people from posting them as if they are facts unto themselves.

I will add more than likely that hte long ass USB cord will never be used on Chromecaste for me. I will put one of my 3ft cords in place there and take the long cord for than likely for one of my phone chargers.

 

[samcraig]

I will add more than likely that hte long ass USB cord will never be used on Chromecaste for me. I will put one of my 3ft cords in place there and take the long cord for than likely for one of my phone chargers.

I'm not getting one at current. But my tvs are both wall mounted with the cables going through the wall. Even if I had one - I'd never ever see the cable, device, etc. Just like I don't see the HDMI and other cables already attached.

If Apple could make their TV simply plug into the HDMI port and be that small instead of a black box, I'd prefer it. Not that the Apple TV2 is ugly or bad - but it doesn't leave a lot of mounting/hiding options since you need the infrared remote/line of sight.

 

[nilk]

I use McTube as my YouTube interface. All the videos and none of the intrusive Google advertising. Unfortunately Google made the developer remove caching. Do no evil you know!

That's interesting, but I don't think it's relevant to what I'm talking about. Airplaying YouTube videos from an iOS device is suboptimal because the stream passes over wifi twice (or 3 times if your Apple TV is on wifi, too) just to get to your TV, and you can't use the device for something else while it's playing. There's no reason why the Apple TV couldn't play the stream directly, it even has it's own YouTube client.

 

[LordVic]

Now that you've solved the problem here, would you be interested in running for President?

Sorry, I'm Canadian, Can't fix your problems for you