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Google Shows Off 2 New Nexus Phones, a New Pixel, and More
Two of the products officially unveiled at Google's much-anticipated (at least much-hyped) release announcement were widely and correctly predicted: a pair of new Nexus phones. The flagship is the all-metal Huawei 6P, with a 5.7" AMOLED display (2,560x1,440), 3GB of RAM, and a Snapdragon 810 chip. The Huawei overshadows the nonetheless respectable second offering, the LG-made Nexus 5X, which makes concessions in the form of less RAM (2GB instead of the 6P's 3), smaller battery (2700mAh, instead of 3450) and a lesser Snapdragon chip inside (808, rather than 810). Both phones, though, come with USB-C and with a big upgrade for a line of phones not generally praised for its cameras: a large-pixel 12.3-megapixel Sony camera sensor. Much less predicted: Google announced a new bearer for the Pixel name, after its line of high-end Chromebooks; today's entrant is a tablet, not running Chrome, and it's running Android rather than Chrome OS. The Pixel C tablet will debut sometime later this year; google touts it as "the first Android tablet built end-to-end by Google." Also on the agenda today, news that Android 6 will start hitting Nexus devices next week.
I'm disappointed by the lack of wireless charging on both the 5X and 6P. Sure, wired USB-C charging may be faster that wireless and the omnidirectional connector is more convenient than Micro-USB, but still, I like being able to drop the phone on my nightstand in the dark without fumbling for cables.
I don't use wireless charging (yet), but it seems for me the best advantage would be less wear and tear on the connector.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
I use this on my phone. It is nice as my phone has dust/water plugs in all the jack slots which are pretty flimsy. I also can simply drop the phone into the charger and not worry about plugging and unplugging cables. The ports also wear over time, wireless charging receivers don't. It is also nice in the car as I just drop it into a holder which keeps it in a decent spot for navigation and charges automatically.
Car: http://smile.amazon.com/Itian-...
Home: http://smile.amazon.com/gp/pro...
It is nice to have a water resistant phone and not have to worry about getting wet in the rain or falling into a pool, or whatever might ruin other phones.
APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
It seems Google is ignoring those people who don't want a HUGE phone. The two models should have been the giant screened phone, and a smaller phone for those who like to actually be able to climb stairs with it in their pocket.
They did get the memo. That's a feature that only people posting in this thread care about. >95% of those slots never got used on previous models.
A holster doesn't change the fact that I can't operate it with one handed, or that it looks like I'm holding a tablet to my ear while using it, or won't fit in a small clutch. I'm not wearing a holster with a formal/party dress. I want a phone to communicate when I need to, maybe check the weather, look something up or take a picture, not carry a full on portable computer or tablet. If I need that on a job, I take a tablet or computer with me.
Companies need to get it through their heads that many people have very legitimate reasons why they don't want a massive device. That doesn't mean I don't want the latest OS (don't even get me started on this), or a good camera/screen/processor/storage/memory. I just want it all in a smaller device.
Wear and tear is definitely one of the factors. With wireless charging I don't have to worry that my kids trip over the cord and rip it out of the phone -- together with the phone's USB socket. But there are other benefits, too.
I have a magnetic wireless charger in my car. When I get into the car, I just hold the phone against the charger, it positions itself thanks to the magnets, and it then stays in place and keeps getting charged for the entire trip. I can keep the GPS and the music player running on a long road trip and I don't have to worry about ever running out of battery.
I also have a wireless charging pad next to my bed. Rather than trying to find the USB port when the lights are out and I am already half asleep, I just hold the phone roughly in the right spot and it attaches itself to the charger. It charges (almost) as fast as with my USB 2.0 cable, but probably not as fast as with a 15W fast charger. But who cares if it takes 2h to fully charge while I am asleep.