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Google To Drop Nexus Brand Name, Move Away From Stock Android (theverge.com)
tripleevenfall quotes a report from The Verge: Google's newest smartphones won't be Nexus devices after all. According to Android Central, Google is dropping the Nexus branding with its two upcoming, HTC-made smartphones. Instead, the company is expected to market the devices under a different name and to lean heavily on the Google brand in the process. This shift is more than just symbolic. The report states Google will load the devices with a special version of Android Nougat, as opposed to the standard "vanilla" version of the operating system that's shipped on past and current Nexus devices. Android Police reported earlier this month that Google may remove the Nexus branding from its upcoming smartphones and replace it with a "G" logo. It's too early to tell which direction Google is taking with its upcoming Android Nougat smartphones. Google has spent years marketing the Nexus brand as a hardware entity, while Google has reserved its own name for software services.
The only reason I bought the Nexus devices was because of the vanilla version of Android. So where does that leave me? Is Cyanogen still evil too? Any good alternative after market firmware?
So what's your problem? There's no reason to believe that other than changing the branding, there's going to be any major change in direction. They probably want to drive some slightly more interesting hardware designs, as the Nexus phones have become a little boring.
I had a Nexus S back in the day (still in a drawer somewhere actually), with the contoured Super AMOLED screen; that was an interesting and distinctive phone at the time. By comparison, there's not much exciting about my Nexus 5, it's a good phone at a decent price, but that's as exciting as it gets. So if they're going to make things more interesting again with the hardware, I'm all for it.
Oh no... it's the future.
I don't understand the reason for going away from "vanilla" Android.
Wasn't the point of the Google Nexus line to produce reference implementations of devices for the Android operating system, to show to other brands by competing with them which minimum features and specifications that Google thought that Android devices should have?
"We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
This, combined with the gutting of Google Fiber, reminds us yet again that Google is akin to having a hot but crazy lover; really exciting until one day you wake up on fire.
Aha, features like no boot unloking, no rooting, no adblocking, no means to block tracking.
Actually, most people buy Nexus devices for the lack of bloatware and the security updates. I'm thinking that they might add additional experimental/dev features that aren't going to be a stock Android feature, as opposed to meaningless apps.
How is this not in their interest? Why should Google give two shits about what Nexus users want, especially as far as having a bloatware-free phone?
If you're one of these people who wants a bloatware-free phone, what are your options? Right now, it's to get an iPhone, get a Nexus, or use an alternative ROM like CyanogenMod. Presumably, people who really like Nexus really don't want an iPhone for various reasons, or else they would already have one; I think it's safe to assume that these people are invested in the Android ecosystem and want to stay away from the Apple ecosystem. So that leaves Nexus and CM. If they were technically skilled and comfortable with doing things like rooting phones and installing alt-ROMs, they probably would have just gone that route already, since you can get much better phones that way (like the Galaxy S series, with removable batteries up to S5 and expandable storage and the best screens available, plus excellent availability of spare parts). So Nexus users appear to be people who don't like Apple, and aren't comfortable with or don't want the hassle of the DIY approach that CM offers; they want something they can just buy off-the-shelf and have a bloatware-free, stock Android experience phone with timely updates.
Now Google is removing that. So what are these people going to do?
I don't think any of them are moving to iPhone. Maybe a select few will finally decide to take the CM plunge. But the rest are just going to get the new bloated-up "G" phone, and any others will just get some other Android phone. Either way, Google wins, as they get to push more bloatware and spying on the users and increase profits.
This is no different from everyone bitching and complaining about Windows 10 and how it's bad for MS's customers. It's good for MS because the customers aren't going to go anywhere, they're just going to complain and then bend over.