Slashdot Mirror
Google Unveils Pixel and Pixel XL, the First Phones It 'Designed Inside and Out' (www.bgr.in)
At an event on Tuesday, Google unveiled the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, the first phones "designed inside and out by Google." Focusing less on the hardware, the company says the biggest selling point of the phones is Google Assistant, which will be available to users wherever they go. Both Pixels have a quad-core 2.15GHz 64-bit processor, 4GB of RAM, 32GB or 128GB of storage, a 12.3MP rear camera, an 8MP front camera, a fingerprint scanner on the back, and a USB-C port on the bottom. The major differences between the two are in size, display (5-inch vs 5.5-inch), and battery (2770mAh vs 3450mAh). The company says the rear camera on both phones is top-notch as well, scoring 89 on DxO, the highest ever for a smartphone. Both phones also come with "endless cloud storage," the company said. It will let users backup unlimited storage in full-resolution images and videos shot with the Pixel. Pricing starts at $649 for the smaller 5-inch Pixel, available for preorder today. Mark Gurman of Bloomberg shares the inside story of how these phones were conceived.
It's not made by Google, it's made by HTC. And they just rejiggered the HTC 10. http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_10...
When you read "unlimited" or any variation thereof, you should replace it in your mind with "a mystery amount of".
"a mystery amount of cloud storage"
AOSP has been dead since Google Play Services became the good part of android
This sucks, the whole point of buying the google is they didn't have anything on top of the stock android. Looks like I'm keeping my 5x for a good while.
because i never see it and don't know anyone who does. other than doing it for safety reasons while driving this sounds like the most stupid thing ever. and i've tried Siri and Google Now and hate both
Now with Unlimited Datamining!
Very much yes.
Let's see what happens when sales remain flat. Nexus had good prices (except for the nexus 6) with decent hardware. Selling the pixels starting at 649$ seems arrogant at best. For that price most people will choose the iPhone and get a faster phone to boot (1 year old iPhone 6S even beats the Note 7)
I just hope the Nexus program lives on. If android is about choice, we should be able to have a phone with google-provided updates for 350$. I don't want to switch to Samsung, LG, or even custom roms
Open Source Java Web Forum with LDAP authentication
Where's the Google page for this? I don't see it in the store or at /pixel.
I'm assuming it has no SD card slot, CDMA reception, or a battery that can be quickly removed for security, but I'd like to at least look. I'm really surprised it has no more RAM than my four year old phone, though.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
When a mommy phone and a daddy phone love each other very much...
Holy crap, $650? Did I miss a memo, or is that outrageously high?
The live stream started with a Google rep talking about how important it is for Google to be involved in both the hardware and software of the phone. I suppose the parallel being how Apple benefits from having control over both hardware and software. Yet everything in the stream after that was all about software that can run on any Android device, not just Pixel.
Did they mention any possibility of Project Fi support with these new phones, or is it time to look at the older 5x / 6p models once they go on sale?
"89? 89 what?"
"I don't know, but you have to admit, it sounds like a lot of them."
Now at the same price bracket as Note 7/SGS7 here's the list of features you will not get:
Updates to new major Android versions will be ceased just 24 months after the release. Google is out of their minds.
I couldn't find anything on that. That's why you take out the headphone jack.. and also, cause you don't need it.
-- these are only opinions and they might not be mine.
Since this is Google we're talking about, can we assume there is no microSD? Overpriced internal storage and small capacities on the cheapest models, with no external storage, was the biggest failure of the Nexus line, and the main thing that turned me off. Google continued to push slow, cumbersome cloud storage while people bought scads of Samsung and other phones with expandable storage. Is this Google as usual, or have they seen the light? These new phones sound amazing, but I can't get by with 32GB and I bet the premium for the 128GB models will be high. And are these expected to be SIM-unlocked and have unlocked boot loaders, or is that changing as they kill the Nexus name?
This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
I'd like to think if they're going to go with the "smallest addressable display element" as the name of the thing that one of the versions would actually be small, but i guess not.
It seems that i'll have to go with one of Sony's Xperia Compact phones if i actually want small size with decent hardware, but despite owning a PS4 the notion of getting computer hardware from Sony makes me a little uneasy.
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
I've been using iPhones since 2008 since my work pays for them. At this point I have tons of apps that I've purchased (and that I use) that I would not want to repurchase if I moved to Android. If google was to say "if you purchase a Pixel, and if the iOS apps you own also exist in the play store, we will pay for the apps, this is a one time deal between this date and this date" then I'd jump on over.
The only phone that would've provided everything anyone could want in a phone was killed off to make room for this? I know there were technical/organizational troubles with the ARA. But come on.
I wonder if the phones will be rootable. And if they can be rooted, I wonder, (given that they're made by HTC), if users will be able to truly root them.
I rooted the last HTC phone I had, then proceeded to delete Facebook, Twitter, and the rest of the shovelware I had no use for. On the next hard reset, all the crap was back. Repeatedly. I never could find the file(s) from which they restored it - I suspect it was in an unaccessible boot location. Also, custom ROM's weren't available, because on this particular HTC phone, (among others), it wasn't possible to gain a state called "S-Off". So yes, I could do things like run a firewall that I could control, and look at system files; but I couldn't do the rest of the things normally associated with root.
That state of affairs strikes me as something Google would love. Then they could say, "Yes, you can root our phones" while extending their middle fingers behind their backs.
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
Why is the screen .2 inch smaller than the 6P?
+1 informative
Yes and No. A good part of the benefit of AOSP was that Google Play Services wasn't included. Everyone was shouting they wanted a Google free Android phone.
the whole point of buying the google is they didn't have anything on top of the stock android.
What is "stock android" if not the version that Google put out? Don't kid yourself, the "vanilla" version of Android has always been exactly what Google wanted it to be. The only difference is that now instead of other vendors saying "Ha I know better, I won't use feature x" they now longer have the choice.
I thought the whole point of the nexus devices was that they were reasonably priced (at first at least). Clearly, it's not the case any more (some could say it hasn't been for at least a year).
It has a headphone jack and Quick Charge obviates the need for a user replaceable battery (mostly) - Get 7hrs of battery from a 15 min charge.
The whole point of buying google was that their boot loader was unlocked, and the hardware was documented and relatively open, and you could install whatever the shit you wanted.
(Even full blown GNU/Linux, Open WebOS, SailfishOS... even some hacked embed Windows for shit and giggles).
If Google isn't locking the new phones, a sizeable portion of their consumer base will still buy them.
If the non-AOSP parts aren't excessively intrusive and destroying the experience, a lot of the remaining portion will keep buying them.
If they manage to paint a white fruit on it, call it "iPixel" instead and add an extra "0" at the end of the price, they'll see a giant inrush of new customer and earn more fucktons of money they've ever dreamed of, even if counting the settlement for trademark infringement.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
You can still drill one into it, if it misses a jack.
(Just don't forget to put the phone in the Microwave to recharge it's battery if it stops working while the drilling is in progress).
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
I am altering the deal.
Pray I do not alter it any further.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Don't want no 'fucking stereo jack', thankyouverymuch. I put my phone in my pants pocket. I want it to stay there.
Quietly.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
The issue is not how fast the battery can be charged, the issue is that I can't remove it and be sure the phone is powered down.
First Motorola, then Nexus, now Pixel.... is Google another Microsoft when it comes to launching a successful phone line? (Not counting any Android vs Windows Phone comparisons)
That would be weird. But I use it all the time for general searches if I'm not going to disturb other people because it's significantly faster than typing.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Siri, remind me when I get home/to the office to...
Siri, text my wife that....
Siri, take me to home/whatever
Siri, set an alarm for 8:00am
Those are the things I do multiple times per week, there are other less common uses but those I find are the most useful and they work pretty much 100% of the time.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The iPhone 7 review has been out for a week now. It scored an 86, placing it in a 4 way tie for 8th place along with flagships from LG, Samsung and HTC which were released 12-18 months ago.
I'm pretty sure DxO is happy to test any phone that a manufacturer sends them, but I'm somewhat concerned that it wasn't a "off the assembly line" version, and that Google could have easily sent them a handset that was picked for best performance from a larger batch.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
If your primary concern is to make sure your phone can't track things you do then the last company you want to buy it from is Google. Your issue has nothing to do with batteries.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
"Though manufactured by HTC, both smartphones feature the âGâ(TM) logo and are touted as âMade by Googleâ(TM)."
As if this were any different from "though manufactured by Samsung, the phones feature the Apple logo and are touted as 'made by Apple'."
Asshats.
G designed it inside and out, except it's just another Snapdragon platform. G didn't make their own ARM SoC, which is the heart of any Android device.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
Yes, I totally see that, it's actually kind of fugly.
So much closer to anything they have offered since the Nexus 5, but still not a suitable replacement for my Nexus 5 because of the first two negatives.
- I want wireless charging option.
- I want a reasonable price- this is too high.
I could even overlook the price if it has wireless charging. I just do not want to give up that incredibly convenient feature. Here are the positives and don't cares:
+ I want lots of battery life. This has it.
+ I want a freaking 3.5mm headphone jack. This has it.
+ I want a decent camera. This has it.
+ I want a full-powered smaller version. FINALLY, they offer it.
+ I want power/volume buttons on sides. This has it.
+ I want as pure/minimal Android as possible. This has it.
+ I want longest updates life. This will have it.
* I don't care about resolution, anything modern is good enough.
* I don't care about fashion, it will be in a case.
* I don't care about a fingerprint sensor.
* I don't care about waterproof.
Tin-foil aside, the benefit of AOSP is you can replace the firmware with a community ROM, long after Google has discontinued support for your Nexus device.
I do use f-droid but all the 'popular' apps are on Play. So for me it's Google-lite rather than free. The stock firmware includes dozens of Google apps, most of which I'll never use that keep wanting to update and because they're baked into the image, difficult to remove.
Quick Charge obviates the need for a user replaceable battery
No, it really doesn't.
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
With such a long list of deal-breaking requirements, I don't think you will ever buy a new smartphone. Meanwhile the prices for 32GB Nexus 5X have dropped to well below 300USD since this summer, and I suspect the 6P will also drop down by the holidays.
"- I want wireless charging option."
yeah, me too. I have a great wireless charger in my car. I drop in my phone and drive. It is just so convenient. I don't know why they dropped the wireless charging feature. Looks like I'll be keeping my Nexus 5 a for another year or two.
So... the Nexus 5x and Nexus 6P are deleted? EoL? Just like that?? They're only *just* one year old, and even their cases and accessories have vanished from the Play Store along with the old Nexus devices...
Get a standalone wireless charger, and plug it on the USB port. Problem solved!
Also, Google Tax is much worse, since they've got no USP over all the other Android cell phones manufacturers.
Does Ubuntu run Android apps? That's what I'm wondering about.
Google is changing. Well, in truth Alphabet is changing; they want to compete more directly with Apple with their own "Halo" device. The previous Nexus devices (I had a few that I loved) were cheap... but they were also cheap in the sense they were plastic and never top-tier hardware. These new devices are true flagship devices... though the memory is a bit smaller than I might expect in a modern flagship (4GB when many manufacturers are looking at 6)... though with a pretty fat CPU to keep up with it.
For my part, I pre-ordered Pixels for myself and my girlfriend yesterday. My phone is getting pretty long in the tooth (first-gen Moto X) so it's time... and honestly the price while higher than I might've liked isn't too much of a hardship for someone who's been into unlocked phones for years. I haven't been on a contract with a carrier since my iPhone 3GS (long time ago now)... I'm much happier buying unlocked.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I thought the whole point of the nexus devices was that they were reasonably priced (at first at least). Clearly, it's not the case any more (some could say it hasn't been for at least a year).
Nexus is dead. It existed to show manufacturers how to sell good-enough phones for cheap. That's now a solved problem. There are dozens of manufacturers building good, cheap Android phones.
Now the other side of problem. Manufacturers can't figure out how to compete on the high-end with the likes of Apple. Enter Pixel, a premium smart phone with a metal, glass body up to 128GB flash, high end processor and screen, eye popping design, and an industry leading camera. It also has 2 years free customer support (think: AppleCare). And the price tag to go along with all of that.
No, it really doesn't.
Yes it does. This is fun isn't it?
eye popping design,
You must be talking about some other phone :)
Agreed. I really meant that they put some effort into the design this time as opposed to the typical black slab of plastic. It's a good looking phone but doesn't differentiate between the tens of other good looking phones in its market segment.