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Is the Google Nexus Q Subtraction by Subtraction?
Once upon a time, it was easy to characterize Google’s domain and business model: they provided well-organized internet search results through a simple, friendly interface, and made money through targeted advertising. Over the years, the company has grown more complex even faster than has the — still admirably spare — Google home page, as it’s either assimilated or originated all kinds of adjuncts to pure search. The Nexus Q, as the company’s first-ever fully home-grown consumer electronics product (as opposed to Google-branded but jointly developed phones and tablets) shows just how far that path has led, and hints at cooler things to come. By default, though, the device is severely limited, intended basically as an overqualified gateway to content stored at Google’s Play media store, or at (Google-controlled) YouTube. And if that weren’t constrained enough, it requires another Android device (phone or tablet, say) as a remote control. The Q is equipped with impressive hardware internally, though, which might soon be exploited with software more flexible than that which comes loaded.
The Q was announced at the recent Google I/O conference, and instantly drew both admiring gasps and dismissive chortling. The case is distinctively odd: it looks a bit like a Death Star the size of a Magic 8 Ball, with an equator lit by a string of 32 LEDs, with a bit sliced off to provide a base. You can link it to an HDMI-equipped screen with a longer cable, if you’d like, but you won’t be stacking anything on top. It combines a fast processor, a 1GB chunk of RAM, and 16GB of solid-state storage with an integrated power supply (which means no wall wart) and — probably the most interesting of its hardware features — a built-in stereo amplifier, described as 12.5 watts per channel, or (a bit coyly) as “25W.”
Aside: Since stereo amps are commonly described by their per-channel rating (so a “100 watt stereo amp” doesn’t typically mean 50 watts per *channel* but rather “100 watts per channel), I’m glad the specs at least call this out in the same size of typeface. They should also specify the total harmonic distortion when driven at their rated power; that’s one place that other class D amps especially tend toward misleading figures. (I’ve asked Google to supply this information.) On the other hand, it’s worth mentioning that a decent 12.5W/channel isn’t necessarily something to sneeze at. Just because some receivers have 7 or more channels and behemoth claimed power ratings, with efficient speakers just a few watts can fill any less-than-cavernous room with decent sound, especially if it won’t be pushing giant bass drivers. Google recommends bookshelf speakers as a good match, which makes sense both because they tend toward efficiency and small-to-medium rooms and because users with more complex systems probably don’t want to be tied to the internal amplifier anyhow.
With a dual-core Cortex A9 and a full gig of RAM, this is severalfold more capable than a mere gadget needs to be — or, rather, it *could* be more capable. Which brings me to this: biggest problem I see with the Q isn’t the price, even though a lower price would no doubt bring it closer to an impulse buy for more people.
No, The real drawback to an eccentrically shaped, limited purpose, $300 piece of home entertainment gear is that it’s got to overcome a raft of competitive alternatives as well as wallet friction. This is the electronics version of “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” The total worth of owning it has to compensate (and then some) for not using the same money on other stuff — or simply saving it, and particularly for the risk that for all its potential the Q will end up orphaned. (See also, Chumby.)
By restricting the feature set to Google’s own media store, Google is placing a bet that users (enough of them, at least) will be satisfied with that as their sole source, and guaranteeing a revenue stream. They’ve also bet at least some small piece of the farm that users will appreciate what strikes me as a hyper-specific music-sharing scenario. As demonstrated on the I/O stage, multiple users with Android devices as controllers can each add items to the device’s playlist, and take advantage of predictive search to find more items that might appeal. This “social streaming” is nifty, but requires a fiddly involvement in the “play music over speakers” process than typical users might find tiresome and twee, and it limits the in group with control of the device to Android users. That cuts out the huge chunk of smartphone users with some version of That Other Phone. It’s hard to know to predict sometimes what will become popular enough to spawn massive sales (cf Pet Rocks, hula hoops, and Scientology), but based on that demo this seems like a feature likely to be disproportionately enjoyed by Silicon-Valley style tech-heads rather than typical (“mere”) users.
It looks flexible with that collection of parts and ports, though, and Google’s explicitly announced that hacking is encouraged, which sounds impressive and provides hope that the 16GB of storage will have a use more interesting than as a giant cache. It’s easy to come up with cool scenarios for a tiny computer-with-amplifier, from zone controller for a flexible home audio system to the brains of a lightweight browsing station (perhaps with a purpose-built version of Cyanogen Mod?) or a home-control infobot like 3com's short-lived Audrey. A security system or weather app (think of a display for weather sensors mounted outside the house, coupled with a crowdsourced alert system for severe weather, and grabbing data from Weather Underground, too) would make it more appealing to me. The multicolor LED band could serve the same function that Ambient Devices pushed for its connected gadgets that used color and other indicators to convey information based on data streams from stock tickers to holiday calendars. Liliputing reports on some partial success in loading Android apps, but heavy on the partial: getting a game to appear on screen isn’t the same as being able to play it.
Why so difficult? Besides the lack of a touch-screen input, the version of Android 4.0 on the Q isn’t the does-everything Ice Cream Sandwich that many users are used to. The Nexus series of phones and tablets has first-class access to a collection of hundreds of thousands of apps; for the Q, exactly three apps are listed in the specs: Google Play Music; Google Play Movies and TV; and YouTube.
Until a greater selection of apps appears (whether from outside developers or from Google), the Q’s software is pared down to a degree likely to frustrate users who are used to playing all kinds of media from other devices — including smartphones that aren’t even as musically gifted on the hardware side.
In some ways, and especially with the intentionally sparse software set, Google will be competing with itself with this device, especially for users who’d rather employ separate sound amplification: the current generation of Chromebook plays streaming video just fine (and has a screen and a keyboard), and does a lot more besides. If you want to hook up to a larger screen permanently and thus don’t need a smaller one at all, the Samsung-made Chromebox costs only about 10 percent more, and seems a more flexible choice, since besides being a full-featured web-centric smart client, the Chromebox outputs video via a (full sized, no less!) HDMI port, and will play content from providers other than Google’s Play, like Netflix and Vimeo — and that’s just for video sources — as well as from locally stored media. Similarly, Google TV hardware fills much of the same niche, and it comes with a browser.
Also in competition, of course, are dedicated network media players from Boxee, Roku, and Apple, and (at prices that start a touch lower, thanks to the subsidize-then-sell-games business model) consoles like Microsoft’s Xbox 360. All of these offer a mature interface for streaming music and movies that might be less state of the art and exotic than the Q’s, but more accessible and more flexible.
I do have an Android phone, and have been considering a Roku box; now, I’m planning to set up the Q with a set of bookshelf speakers to see how livable (or frustrating) it turns out to be. I hope that the touted hackability means that its capabilities really do get a boost soon from tinkerers: for this Death Star, that may be the only hope.
Aside: Since stereo amps are commonly described by their per-channel rating (so a “100 watt stereo amp” doesn’t typically mean 50 watts per *channel* but rather “100 watts per channel), I’m glad the specs at least call this out in the same size of typeface. They should also specify the total harmonic distortion when driven at their rated power; that’s one place that other class D amps especially tend toward misleading figures. (I’ve asked Google to supply this information.) On the other hand, it’s worth mentioning that a decent 12.5W/channel isn’t necessarily something to sneeze at. Just because some receivers have 7 or more channels and behemoth claimed power ratings, with efficient speakers just a few watts can fill any less-than-cavernous room with decent sound, especially if it won’t be pushing giant bass drivers. Google recommends bookshelf speakers as a good match, which makes sense both because they tend toward efficiency and small-to-medium rooms and because users with more complex systems probably don’t want to be tied to the internal amplifier anyhow.
With a dual-core Cortex A9 and a full gig of RAM, this is severalfold more capable than a mere gadget needs to be — or, rather, it *could* be more capable. Which brings me to this: biggest problem I see with the Q isn’t the price, even though a lower price would no doubt bring it closer to an impulse buy for more people.
No, The real drawback to an eccentrically shaped, limited purpose, $300 piece of home entertainment gear is that it’s got to overcome a raft of competitive alternatives as well as wallet friction. This is the electronics version of “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” The total worth of owning it has to compensate (and then some) for not using the same money on other stuff — or simply saving it, and particularly for the risk that for all its potential the Q will end up orphaned. (See also, Chumby.)
By restricting the feature set to Google’s own media store, Google is placing a bet that users (enough of them, at least) will be satisfied with that as their sole source, and guaranteeing a revenue stream. They’ve also bet at least some small piece of the farm that users will appreciate what strikes me as a hyper-specific music-sharing scenario. As demonstrated on the I/O stage, multiple users with Android devices as controllers can each add items to the device’s playlist, and take advantage of predictive search to find more items that might appeal. This “social streaming” is nifty, but requires a fiddly involvement in the “play music over speakers” process than typical users might find tiresome and twee, and it limits the in group with control of the device to Android users. That cuts out the huge chunk of smartphone users with some version of That Other Phone. It’s hard to know to predict sometimes what will become popular enough to spawn massive sales (cf Pet Rocks, hula hoops, and Scientology), but based on that demo this seems like a feature likely to be disproportionately enjoyed by Silicon-Valley style tech-heads rather than typical (“mere”) users.
It looks flexible with that collection of parts and ports, though, and Google’s explicitly announced that hacking is encouraged, which sounds impressive and provides hope that the 16GB of storage will have a use more interesting than as a giant cache. It’s easy to come up with cool scenarios for a tiny computer-with-amplifier, from zone controller for a flexible home audio system to the brains of a lightweight browsing station (perhaps with a purpose-built version of Cyanogen Mod?) or a home-control infobot like 3com's short-lived Audrey. A security system or weather app (think of a display for weather sensors mounted outside the house, coupled with a crowdsourced alert system for severe weather, and grabbing data from Weather Underground, too) would make it more appealing to me. The multicolor LED band could serve the same function that Ambient Devices pushed for its connected gadgets that used color and other indicators to convey information based on data streams from stock tickers to holiday calendars. Liliputing reports on some partial success in loading Android apps, but heavy on the partial: getting a game to appear on screen isn’t the same as being able to play it.
Why so difficult? Besides the lack of a touch-screen input, the version of Android 4.0 on the Q isn’t the does-everything Ice Cream Sandwich that many users are used to. The Nexus series of phones and tablets has first-class access to a collection of hundreds of thousands of apps; for the Q, exactly three apps are listed in the specs: Google Play Music; Google Play Movies and TV; and YouTube.
Until a greater selection of apps appears (whether from outside developers or from Google), the Q’s software is pared down to a degree likely to frustrate users who are used to playing all kinds of media from other devices — including smartphones that aren’t even as musically gifted on the hardware side.
In some ways, and especially with the intentionally sparse software set, Google will be competing with itself with this device, especially for users who’d rather employ separate sound amplification: the current generation of Chromebook plays streaming video just fine (and has a screen and a keyboard), and does a lot more besides. If you want to hook up to a larger screen permanently and thus don’t need a smaller one at all, the Samsung-made Chromebox costs only about 10 percent more, and seems a more flexible choice, since besides being a full-featured web-centric smart client, the Chromebox outputs video via a (full sized, no less!) HDMI port, and will play content from providers other than Google’s Play, like Netflix and Vimeo — and that’s just for video sources — as well as from locally stored media. Similarly, Google TV hardware fills much of the same niche, and it comes with a browser.
Also in competition, of course, are dedicated network media players from Boxee, Roku, and Apple, and (at prices that start a touch lower, thanks to the subsidize-then-sell-games business model) consoles like Microsoft’s Xbox 360. All of these offer a mature interface for streaming music and movies that might be less state of the art and exotic than the Q’s, but more accessible and more flexible.
I do have an Android phone, and have been considering a Roku box; now, I’m planning to set up the Q with a set of bookshelf speakers to see how livable (or frustrating) it turns out to be. I hope that the touted hackability means that its capabilities really do get a boost soon from tinkerers: for this Death Star, that may be the only hope.
It is similar to the crappy little $75 Android on a sticks all over the sites like Alibaba with the following differences:
1. Built in power supply and audio amp. Audio out on TOS-Link along with the amp and over HDMI.
2. Dual core CPU. And only some of the cheapos come with 1GB of ram, most only give 512.
3. Cool housing with lots of LEDs. Because what nerd can resist a crapload of leds, amiright?
4. Less able to actually run android apps.
5. No MicroSD on the Q. Seems to be a trend, note that their new tablet also lacks expansion ability. Tethered media consumption device.
6. The Q gets Bluetooth, the cheapos don't.
7. 10/100 Ethernet on the Q.
8. About four times as expensive.
Things that they have in common:
1. No clearly defined reason to buy one.
Democrat delenda est
Nexus Q
Unfortunately this device is not for sale in your country.
So what do we care? It's like an Amazon Fire..
One device to rule them all.
I get mocked when I show up with my magical Backpack o' Holding (it weighs 2 lbs, add 5 lbs of stuff and it magically weighs 15 lbs all together) with a camera, a phone, a GPSr, a dozen charged and ready NiMH cells, and get the old "Ho ho ho, still lugging around a lot of individual dedicated devices, rather than an all-in-one whizzy iDoodad"
Well, with this Google is going back in my direction so the clod is on the other hopper now!
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
People who care about their audio setup have a dedicated 5.1/7.1 system in place already. Those who don't care can buy a cheaper alternative. Personally I have no intention to give the Google creeps a single cent, although I admit that it looks cool and polished.
--
Sundar Pichai is the utter asshole whose incompetence resulted in the shutdown of Google's Atlanta office. We don't forget!
Sorry but the Q is DOA. It's crippled and horribly over priced. Google didn't think this one out. Yes being made in the USA is cool and all but that doesn't justify three times the price over something like the Roku. It doesn't even come with a remote, you have to supply one yourself! The people that are running this need to be fired. It's possibly the worst product release I have ever seen. If I was Sergey Brin I'd be embarrassed this thing was released with my companies name on it.
I thought it came with a double-sided remote control: touch screen on one side and keyboard on the other (I hope it rejects key presses when upside down)?
The biggest feature of this thing is Made In USA as far as I'm concerned. I'd like that to be the beginning of a trend to bring manufacturing back to N America.
They're trying to position the Nexus Q as a high-end device, the 'cool, expensive thing' at the party.
It's the same business model Apple and Sony have had for years. Taking cheap product and making it seem high-end does make it high end-- at least to the average consumer.
I'd wager that they're also trying to make up some of the margins they slashed on the Kal-El Nexus 7.
I am a bit of a Google fanboy and I couldn't resist putting in an order for one of the first Nexus Qs.
This is in spite of the fact that I own two Rokus (one for my main TV, one for my GoogleTV) and have an XBMC box for my main TV. It's not like I needed one. But I am interested in seeing how it works.
It is likely a device that isn't going to make it, at least if they keep it bottled up and Google doesn't let other devices access the Q. If they do keep it open I think it has a slight chance. I have no idea what the chances of that are, but why shouldn't Netflix or Hulu or any other app not be able to access it? I am sure that the DRM-meisters will come up with reasons.
As for MicroSD... did everyone here forget that the Nexus 7 is going to have host mode? Sure it is not built in, but you can use SD cards all you want.
What does that mean?
On the other hand, it’s worth mentioning that a decent 12.5W/channel isn’t necessarily something to sneeze at. Just because some receivers have 7 or more channels and behemoth claimed power ratings, with efficient speakers just a few watts can fill any less-than-cavernous room with decent sound, especially if it won’t be pushing giant bass drivers.
Living Room: 22' x 24' x 14'
All your BASS are belong to us...
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
And their business model has changed?
They just adding entry/collection points for their tried and true business model. Nothing more; nothing less.
This device will be slow to adopt and I think that is alright. I don't have NFC on my phone, but I bet in a year or so, my phone will have it. Google doesn't want to wait for NFC to be common place before attempting to have applications and solutions for it (Google Wallet/Pay). I suspect Google is implementing this device/system as a means to eventually see us paying for groceries, dinners, bus fare, etc with our Android based phones rather than simply making playlists.
"So don't get programmed by anybody but yourself" --Bill S. Preston, Esquire
still admirably spare — Google home page
Last time I checked, the Google homepage was over 400k on a mobile phone. It is not spare by any definition.
Looks like an absolutely stupid device. There's no published audio specification. Something the size of an Apple TV (current gen.) with 32-bit DAC and RCA output for a current-generation stereo, +HDMI, +SPDIF or +toslink would be much nicer. 24/192 or better (32/384 KHz nice), and capable of double SACD bit-rate audio. Even just 24/96 or 24/192, with RCA +toslink in a nicer form factor for a $100 price would be ok for now. The ball form factor looks amazingly stupid, and the only interesting feature is the likely Class-D or Class-T 25W internal amplification, which would be ok in a bedroom setting, with lame-ass cheap speakers, but that's about it - you'd much rather spend the money for a Devaliet D-Premier, and go the Apple route, for sound-only streaming, anyway, should you want decent digital amplification, and most hobbyists would opt for powered speakers anyway, at the "budget-conscious" ($500 per toy) level.
I'm not an Apple fanboy (or Android). But I do like the AppleTV, its small and cheap ($99), and streams everything that I care about... my music library, Netflix, and I can rent moves from iTunes. While its missing some items like Hulu, or expandable apps... for $99 I don't care. And the new screen mirroring features are pretty nice.
Q could be interesting, but for 3x the price, what exactly am I getting? Android only, can't stream Pandora, etc, no screen casting option. Even AppleTV supports streaming from Android (via a 3-rd party app).
If Q were $100 or maybe even $150, I would seriously consider it just to get away from Apple, and for the potential hacks that will come, but they screwed up the procing big time.
Intentionally crippling the Nexus 7 so you have to buy the Nexus Q really is a FU to loyal customers.
Nexus 7 has no MHL and no SD Card. Cripple functionality to sell addons and services, that's not cool google.
I sat and watched IO and - I just couldn't figure it out. "What does it do?" I sat there thinking. Google couldn't articulate what the Q accomplishes, how do they expect people to want to buy them? HTPC, the AppleTV, they all solve a discrete problem set. This is sort of like "hey it plugs into the wall, buy it"
The point is that the Android Laff Factory continues to produce at an amazing pace.
When it comes to end-user products (I hate the word "consumer" which is just borrowed economics jargon trying to sound as if it means something) there is usually no clearly defined reason to buy A rather than B for most people. 16Gbytes on a Nexus tablet? I've used up barely a third of my 16Gbyte Playbook, and a fifth of the 16Gbytes on my phone. Not everybody wants to store movies on a tablet. 12.5W per channel? "Audiophiles" are a small minority. Many people have TV sets with far less audio output, and for them 25W total is a very significant improvement. So they have to buy a couple of speakers...the truth is most people do not want to pay $9000 for an amplifier every copper atom of which has been individually hand assembled by a time-served audio technician.
It looks as if the object here is to test drive a new class of appliance. It can't be compared to a $75 Android box. New services can be built on its architecture; NAS boxes can be made to work with it. HDMI monitors will plug into it. The design language is a world away from a well known fruit-centric product range. For a number of families in the world who don't happen to have six-figure incomes in dollars or euros, this plus a monitor plus a phone will plug into the ADSL router and away they go.
One of the besetting sins of many Slashdot posters is that they aren't US-centric: they are "My social class, age and income group in my profession in the US"-centric. That's because we don't work in marketing. Talk to anyone who has worked seriously in consumer product marketing and it's another world.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
It has quite good hardware specs. Why isn't this thing running the Google TV software already?
All it really is: a media player that must pull media from the Google Play store or from YouTube. For $300?
I like the design; it looks different, and I like the LEDs. If this thing grows a few more features I might actually buy one. But it would be a hard sell with just its current feature set.
steveha
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
The reason I hate the Q is because it seems Google removed HMDI (MHL) from the Nexus 7 to force us to buy a Q. But the result is that I won't buy a Q or a Nexus 7. My laptops are a bit dated and cannot play 1080p at full frame rate. I have a small highly portable projector with HMDI in. Nexus 7 would be perfect for me as portable media playback device. I could also use it for presentations using an HTML5 based slideshow. I can think of loads of cool use cases for Nexus 7 with TV out but none for the Q. I think would really annoy me having friends switching track after the intro of each song.
Right, everyone knows timothy is a new guy here and only has a job because he's on Google payola. /s
You should never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence.
And you must never buy Version 1 of -anything-. It is guaranteed to be as buggy and flawed as hell.
It will be fixed. Relax.
fsck round! There is no value in sphericality to _the owner_ of this device. The shape is a marketing gimmick to make it look enticing to a purchaser. I don't mind a little marketing, so long as it stays out of the way of usefulness.
Please go back to building me flat, stackable, rectangular boxen.
Beige ones.
And get off my lawn.
"We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals." --The American President (20.1.2009)