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Google Delays Nexus Q Launch, Pre-Orders Get It Free
MBCook writes "After a mixed reaction from the press, Google will be delaying the launch of the Nexus Q. People who pre-ordered will receive the current version of the device for free. 'When we announced Nexus Q at Google I/O, we gave away devices to attendees for an early preview. The industrial design and hardware were met with great enthusiasm. We also heard initial feedback from users that they want Nexus Q to do even more than it does today. In response, we have decided to postpone the consumer launch of Nexus Q while we work on making it even better.'"
is it too late to preorder?
In response, we have decided to postpone the consumer launch of Nexus Q while we work on making it even better.
"In response to learning of possible patent litigation from Apple, et. al., we have decided to delay the launch of the Nexus Q while we cover our asses and try to remove the infringing bits."
There, I fixed that for you.
Silence is a state of mime.
Yeah, most reports are that they're scrubbing the launch because the reviews have been pretty bad.
It only does Google content out of the Play store and YouTube videos. You have to use a second screen device as a remote. It was going to be $300.
They botched it and they know it. I won't be surprised if they tack on some software to play other content and release it just to get them off the shelves... but they really need to be working on the next attempt.
I'm one of them.
Yeah, most reports are that they're scrubbing the launch because the reviews have been pretty bad.
It only does Google content out of the Play store and YouTube videos. You have to use a second screen device as a remote. It was going to be $300.
I agree, it just doesn't do enough out of the box. Though hopefully getting the current iteration into the hands of devs will yield some actual usefulness when the device does ship to consumers even if Google don't change much between now and then. Hopefully they add DLNA natively (it would nice, though highly unlikely, to have AirPlay too).
Yeah, 'cause that's just what the Nexus Q is, numbnuts. An iPad killer. Derp.
That because the don't give out release dates until the product is finished and being manufactured in mass quantities.
Even with revisions I kind of want this product to fail. I recently purchased a nexus 7 which is a fantastic tablet but the earlier prototype had an sd slot and hdmi port. I suspect as others do, these features were taken out not as a cost cutting measure, but to steer you towards the Q.
If users have a nexus 7 with hdmi out most would say good enough and be happy with that. The nexus Q has more ports for audiophiles but the vast majority will be happy simply using hdmi to the hd display and then to whatever audio system they have for that.
And with hdmi, I could browse the web on a large screen, run games, apps etc. With this it's just stream content from your play purchases (no local content) and oh you can have a friend come over and queue (queue get it? see how smart they are?) their content that they have from the play store.
So it's pluses are neat queuing functionality and additional audio ports
it's cons are: no local content. can't run games, apps to your tv. and it's 300 bucks.
Scratch that. I don't kind of want it to fail, I hope it bombs. Reason being if it's a success less and less tablets will have hdmi in the future.
Again the nexus 7 is an amazing tablet, I just wish I had the version that wasn't downgraded for the validity of this device.
an idiot with free hardware, apparently.
... for realizing the Q was a big old ball of fail.
Seriously, what were they smoking that led them to think the $300 Q was going to receive any real-world reception other than general laughter?
#DeleteChrome
Thanks for that Ouya reference. The first I've heard of it and now I think I need to contribute $99 to get a hold of one. Q is overpriced. Google TV was way overpriced. Maybe Google thinks it's name holds as much cache as Sony used too?
the Nexus Qcat?
No wifi, less space than a Nomad....lame.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
They need to buy out the people behind the Ouya system and incorporate that and make it $100. All Ouya has is money anyways. Roku is close to offering this already, now that they offer games. Google needs to control this out of the gate instead of diving in late in the game like they usually do. Android-powered, web-connected TV interface that supports gaming. KIS,S
Microsoft should do the same with Windows 8. :)
I'd love one if it could become my android tablet/phone controled media box that would pass the wife test.
It needs DLNA, netflix, hulu plus, amazon VoD, pandora, slacker, etc etc etc and I need to be able to control them fram any android device in the house.
It would be neat to be able to play angry birds/etc on it using the tablet as a touchscreen as well. I bet my kids would get a kick out of that.
All of the above was encrypted with a Quad ROT-13 method. Unauthorized decryption is in violation of the DMCA.
It only does Google content out of the Play store and YouTube videos.
And only if you are in the US. If you are somewhere else the Nexus Q android application *will not be available* to download to your android device, period. And even if you manage to download it by cheating, the youtube application won't display the icon to 'play on Q'.
We complain about DVD and blu-ray zones all the time, but this is even worse. With a blu-ray at least if you take the player with you you can play your media everyone, but with this you are fucked. You can't use the Nexus Q *at all*, even to stream a fucking youtube video you just uploaded yourself.
I disagree. When I read more about the Q, I was confident that it would fail. Why? You don't create a general purpose computer, put Android on it, and market it to a bunch of tech enthusiasts when you only give the YouTube and Google Play apps the capability to render to the screen. That's a completely broken model, ESPECIALLY for the target audience. Bad idea.
That said, this device is quite capable. Sure, you have annoyances about input issues, but that can be solved if the platform is opened by third-party controllers/remotes. If you'll recall, the Ouya is just a little box that runs Android. If they remove all the red tape in this device and open it up to developers, it can easily eat the entire market that Ouya would've had, long before Ouya's official launch, AND it can still support all the awesome stuff Google wanted to put on it.
The Q has the potential to be awesome. Google just has to let go of their fears of it being used for piracy and open the device. Then we'll see something pretty awesome.
Who cares about the Nexus Q, I want a Nexus 6.
Just reading about the [lack of] capabilities of the device, it was clear what Google's concern was, and ultimately what is going to drive the company to evil. In 5 years, when we talk about what went wrong with Google so that they became the next Apple, my next paragraph is what we're going to be talking about.
It's not piracy. It's anything that doesn't involve looking at Google ads. That's the only explanation for the otherwise-capable device's shocking crippledness. They want you to use their streaming services, but that's not anything that anyone wants. Only lock-in will get people to use that stuff, so they're trying lock-in, without even disguising it with some stupid pretense.
"Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
It was probably a bunch of people pulling it in various ways treating it as a pet project without realizing the practicalities of it.
First - it only pulls from the internet. You queue up stuff on your Android device to it, but the content must exist "in the cloud". E.g., YouTube, Google Music, etc. You could not stream video from your personal device to it, or from your home content server. It has to be in the cloud.
Heck, an Android device with an *AppleTV* is more useful - there are various Android apps that can stream local content to it, for 1/3rd the price.
The other thing was, they decided to manufacture in the US. The problem was they did not optimize for domestic manufacturing. Looking at the tear-apart, and there are plenty of things you would NOT do in the US. If I had to guess, they were going ot manufacture in China, then someone decided it would be cool to manufacture in the US as-is, without re-doing the design-for-manufacture stage to optimize it. The build was complex already, and while probably acceptable for Chinese manufacture, it's not something you'd want to build in the US - too complex, requiring too much manual labor to put together (== expensive).
Finally, no one really understood what it was *for*. I paid $300, I got what? A ball that plays music, OK, but not any kind of music... Phone, I understand. tablet, I undrestand. Media streamer/player, I understand. This... not so much.
I suppose it's like a ChromeBox or something - something that costs way too much for what it does and lacks what a lot of competing devices also do.
Because it is made in USA...that added up the cost...
If Google really wants a win in the TV streaming arena, they need to make the Q stream Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. None of the current offerings out there can do it. You need a different one for each service which is idiotic and based in marketing politics.
If Google ends up with "just another box" streaming MP3s, youtube, and Google TV it's just fail waiting for the fail boat on fail island. People will use their phone or tablet for that before plunking down $300 bills.
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Yes, they're going to deliver them for free.
Jesus saves and takes half damage.
I hope they reintroduce it with the same shape... With the Nexus Q and the Boxee Box I'm one pyramid shaped device away from recreating the old EA logo on my TV stand!
Georgia Tech, the leader in Chia(tm) technology.
Partially.
It was made in the USA, from a manufacturing design for China. If you take a design to manufacture something in China and move it ot the USA, it's going to cost way to omuch. Instead, you have to iterate and optimize the design for domestic manufacture - understanding what the robots can do and ensuring your assembly and build process will work within those limitations so you employ as few human hands as possible (it's a dull, boring job that fall into the same range of jobs as janitor, housemaid, unskilled laborer, farm picker, etc).
" postpone the consumer launch of Nexus Q while we work on making it even better.'"
should be
" postpone the consumer launch of Nexus Q to fix critical bugs"