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Google To Step Up Smartphone Wars With Release Of Own Handset (telegraph.co.uk)
According to a report by The Telegraph, Google is working on its first Google-branded smartphone, and plans to release it by the end of 2016. Unlike the Nexus program, in which Google mandates the design and specifications of the phone, but leaves the manufacturing aspect to its handpicked OEM, the new supposed phone will be built from the scratch by Google. From the report:The technology giant is in discussions with mobile operators about releasing a Google-branded phone that will extend the company's move into hardware, sources familiar with the discussions told The Telegraph. [...] The new device, which will be released by the end of the year according to a senior source, will see Google take more control over design, manufacturing and software.NYMag questions company's reported move:It's an unsurprising rumor to hear: Google CEO Sundar Pichai has publicly commented on the company's emphasis on phones, and Motorola's Rick Osterloh was hired earlier this year to head up a new hardware division. And there's also the much discussed Google Ara, a modular phone which lets you swap out pieces like a camera or speakers and is slated for release in 2017. But Google is already working with hardware companies like LG and Huawei on the Nexus line of phones, which are made to the company's exact design specifications but are manufactured by third parties. It's hard to see how Google could take more control over design or software than it already does with Nexus, and while the company is likely eager to move into the manufacturing space, the timeline for Ara hasn't changed, and it seems unlikely that this new mystery Google phone is going to jump in front and actually become available to the public by year's end.
I'm convinced that Google, as an entity is absolutely insane and should probably be heavily medicated. They bougth Motorola to move into smartphones, but sold them, because they couldn't integrate them (IIRC there were culture issues) so when they move back into mobile, they hire a Moto guy as CEO? I'm at a loss.
What part of "shall not be infringed" is so hard to understand?
Google's new but soon to be discontinued something...
My old smartphone with removable battery and SD card is working just fine still. Going to see how many more years this continues for.
Introducing the Google SpyPhone, now with 50% more data-mining ability!
We don't just connect you to the world, we paw through everything you do and say and track everywhere you go in order to monetize you better!
Free yourself from the constraints of bothersome privacy with the new Google SpyPhone!
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Yep and thats exactly why I haven't and wouldn't buy a Google phone.
Needing to swap in a second battery in the middle of the day isn't the issue. The problem is that batteries lose their capacity after a year or two. Being able to swap in a new battery and have the same battery life from when you first got the phone can put off that upgrade for another year or two. I can see why manufacturers don't want user replaceable batteries though.
You do realize that the Nexus line is built to Google specs and runs firmware directly from Google, right? Sure, they yank the removable battery and SD slot from those phones, but you sure can turn off the Google services. In fact, you can easily unlock the bootloader (it's a checkbox in the developer tools menu) and flash your own firmware, if you wish.
I've had phones with removable batteries before, and I used to actually think they were more convenient than USB battery packs. Back then, my phone was the only USB-charged device I owned, so I was probably right. They're definitely more efficient, as every bit of power they store goes to the phone; but, if you own more than one power-hungry USB-charged device, a USB battery pack is immensely more convenient as you can charge just one battery, which you can then use to charge all such devices.
When I got my first Android phone, a Motorola Atrix, I wished there was a battery charging cradle available for it; after all, it didn't quite match the battery life of my BlackBerry Bold (or the Curve I had before that, for that matter) and I used a spare battery for that. I did buy a spare, but it was a pain in the ass to juggle batteries in the phone for charging, so the spare battery ended up getting lost in a drawer and I bought a USB battery pack.
When I upgraded to the HTC One X, I had several other USB-charged devices, a few of which did not have removable batteries (bluetooth headsets and such), so I already had a couple USB battery packs. I thought I'd miss the removable battery as an option (even though I hadn't used it in the Atrix). I was wrong, the USB packs were great for the rare occasion that I might be away from power long enough to need one. Mind you, I plan my charging habits around my day, so I plug the phone in to fully charge before I'm going to be gone for an extended period.
This carried to the HTC One, which also had no removable battery. Then, I got an LG G3, with which T-Mobile included a spare battery and a cradle. I was excited, I had a viable (e.g. externally charged) spare battery again! And I used the USB battery packs... I always had one, to charge my other devices, so the battery itself was just another item to carry, which I never carried, just as spare batteries for the plethora of USB-charged devices I carry on a regular basis would have been. At the end of the day, a removable battery isn't as convenient as it seems on the surface.
Sure, there are fringe cases where it can be. If you're packing light, you can fit 3 or 4 of them in the space of one decent USB battery pack, which is fine if you only have one device that might need a battery; the moment you have more than that, the USB pack wins. If you actually let your phone's battery die completely, it's quicker to swap in a new one than to wait for it to charge enough to turn on; if you plan your charging habits around your day, though, you can top off that battery long before it reaches a critical charge level, rendering that a non-issue.
As for the SD slot, this is one thing I was absolutely positive I was going to miss on the Nexus 6, which I got because I wanted to try a plain vanilla Android experience. I didn't miss it one bit, in large part to my no longer carrying tens of gigs of music with me, having replaced that with Rhapsody (free through T-Mobile, though I do pay $6.99/mo to get all the features, including downloading favorite tracks so I'm not stuck without music when in airplane mode). Now, I'm not everyone, and some people might record a lot more video or take a lot more photos than I do; an argument I made for the iPhone having an SD slot at least on the 128GB models, because you're likely in an area with little or no coverage if you're also in an area where you can't find a computer to dump that content onto; but we're talking about Android here, there are options, if you need the SD slot, you buy a phone that has one.
When I upgraded to the Galaxy S7 Edge, I
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
I want a removable battery so I don't have to pay a $100-$300 charge when my battery completely dies after a couple of years. I'm still using a Galaxy S3, and am about to switch to my 3rd battery.
No, I don't upgrade my smartphone like a lemming every year...it's a phone...I don't need a faster processor, more memory, fingerprint scanner, rectal thermometer or any of the other widgets offered on new phones. I think it is insane that society now considers a $500-$1000 computing device "throwaway".
That being said, I will likely be upgrading in the next year or two for a larger screen & better camera. I will only look at phones with a replaceable battery.
But Google isn't going to support OS and security updates on their phones for any longer than the lifetime of the battery.
The s7 has an SD card slot... it's hardly niche.
Being able to swap in a new battery and have the same battery life from when you first got the phone can put off that upgrade for another year or two.
That can be done pretty easily on all devices with "non-replaceable batteries" that I've used. It generally requires a screwdriver, but that's okay if you only do it once every couple of years (which means you do it maybe once during the life of the phone). Also, today's batteries have better life than those from a few years ago did, so the issue is declining in importance.
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