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Android 7.1 Nougat's Changelog Reveals Pixel-Exclusive Features Not Available To Nexus Devices (bgr.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the stock-Android dept.

With the launch of the Google Pixel and Pixel XL yesterday, Google failed to mention the fact that vanilla Android is dead. The Pixel and Pixel XL run Android 7.1 Nougat, custom software made solely for the new Pixel devices and not for past Nexus smartphones. A changelog for Android 7.1 reveals that Nexus smartphones and tablets will not get Pixel-specific features. They won't get the Pixel Launcher or Google Assistant. BGR reports: Google is trying to set the Pixels apart by giving them special features, and it's not like that's an irrational business decision. But the Pixels might change the way Android fans buy devices. Before, you could go for Nexus to get the hottest Android features as soon as Google released Android updates, or you could buy anything else and hope for speedy software upgrade. Now, it seems that you'll have to buy Pixel to get a full Android experience as Google envisions it, or get anything else and never experience Android in its full glory. Some of the Pixel product-specific features, as mentioned in the changelog found by Android Police, include: Pixel Launcher, Google Assistant, unlimited original quality photo/video backup to Google Photos, phone/chat support, and various cosmetic changes.

116 comments

  1. It's called "vendor lock-in," people! by sehlat · · Score: 1

    And the list of companies that practice it, or attempt to, reads like a Who's Who of tech.

    Why am I not surprised?

    1. Re: It's called "vendor lock-in," people! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People mistakenly describe capitalism as a system where companies compete by creating the best products. It seems that's almost never the case at larger scales. Competition happens by outgrowing and removing the competition, limiting choice for the consumer. Regulation is not working at all. Google is not a net positive for society and should have been split up five years ago. It is clearly abusing its dominance in search to stifle competition in mobile.

    2. Re:It's called "vendor lock-in," people! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No it's not.

      Vendor lock-in is not providing features another product doesn't have, it's creating a deliberate incompatibility. Lock-in would be something like BBM messaging only being available on a Blackberry*. Lock-in is creating a proprietary file format so they have to keep using your app. Lock-in is having a proprietary connector - remember all those phone-specific earphones?

      *Initially, I know later they produced an app.

    3. Re: It's called "vendor lock-in," people! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So says the communist.

    4. Re:It's called "vendor lock-in," people! by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      How opensource software can be called "vendor-lock-in"?

  2. Pixel == Nexus by TheJish · · Score: 1, Interesting

    The Pixel line is replacing Nexus, so isn't the Nexus/Pixel buyer in the same position? So, if you want the latest and greatest Android has to offer, you should by the phone from Google. However, I agree that it is a bit annoying that the current Nexus phones will not move forward with these new features.

    1. Re:Pixel == Nexus by PublicSchill · · Score: 1

      Except in the past those exclusive features usually had a reason behind them. Like the hardware didn't support the feature. This time these are mainly things Google can do because it's a monopoly, and no other reason.

    2. Re: Pixel == Nexus by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      You're right, Google is a monopoly.

      On what THEY do.

      They decide to rebrand Nexus to Pixel? Suck it up or not. Your money.

      They decide to skin Pixel phones with special sauce? Suck it up or not. Your money.

      Their business. They owe you nothing if you turn away. Their loss.

      To buy a Galaxy.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    3. Re: Pixel == Nexus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're right, Google is a monopoly.

      On what THEY do.

      They decide to rebrand Nexus to Pixel? Suck it up or not. Your money.

      They decide to skin Pixel phones with special sauce? Suck it up or not. Your money.

      Their business. They owe you nothing if you turn away. Their loss.

      To buy a Galaxy.

      Yes everyone already knew that "not doing business with them" was an option.

      So ... did you actually have anything useful to say?

    4. Re:Pixel == Nexus by stephanruby · · Score: 4, Informative

      Except in the past those exclusive features usually had a reason behind them. Like the hardware didn't support the feature.

      No, it was the same thing with the Nexus line as well.

      Take the action bar library for instance. When it first came on the scene, it wasn't backwards compatible. The community created its own library for backwards-compatibility. Eventually, Google supported an official version of the backwards compatibility library and the community version was discontinued. There are dozens of other examples like this.

      First Google comes up with a new feature, which it implements on the latest hardware and on its latest flagship device. Then later, the real work begins, both the open source community and Google try to bake an adaptation of that new feature into a compatibility library (that hopefully won't run like a dog on the older hardware).

    5. Re: Pixel == Nexus by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      Every business is invariably going to have a monopoly on something, especially when it comes to copyrighted works and patents, which are that way by design. Android is a mix of both.

      As for whether Google has an overall market monopoly, yeah they likely do for web search (and smartphone platforms in most overseas markets, but not in the US.) However unlike what most people know as monopolies, there really isn't anything compelling end users to switch to it other than they just want to. And in the case of Windows at least, that requires the end user to actually go out of their way to do so, and there's no tie ins or anything like that compelling them other than they just prefer it over the competition. Sure, if you install chrome it defaults to Google search, but consider that on a default windows install if you open edge/IE and type in "download chrome", Microsoft's bing throws up a javascript overlay practically begging the end user to not do it, and yet it seems that most of them do it anyways.

    6. Re: Pixel == Nexus by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 5, Funny

      ...To buy a Galaxy.

      I hear you can get a smokin' deal on them now!

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
    7. Re: Pixel == Nexus by just+another+AC · · Score: 1

      I'm going to wait for the fire sales

    8. Re: Pixel == Nexus by Snufu · · Score: 1

      I'm holding out for the next version. Rumor is it rotates about its diameter and runs longer without recharge.

    9. Re: Pixel == Nexus by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 1

      That's great until you touch the center of the screen and see your files and your finger go into a black hole...
      No, not in a fun way...

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
    10. Re: Pixel == Nexus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No. Google is a monopoly on whhat every user of the internet does. Try blocking all Google's IP addresses and browsing the web for an hour. Note that few websites work even worse than they normally do.

      And for this Google gets paid a ton of money. Some of that money is poured into crushing smaller companies trying to build phones. Advertising has done massive harm to the Internet and Google leads the way.

    11. Re: Pixel == Nexus by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Every business is invariably going to have a monopoly on something,

      Your corner dry cleaners?

      Producers of toilet paper?

      There are many businesses that operate just find on commodities. They will generally have certain products and/or customers that are their backbone, but that doesn't mean that they required a monopoly just to stay in business. Sometimes just knowing the right people on the other side is enough. Sometimes even providing better service.

    12. Re: Pixel == Nexus by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      In both cases, trademarks and locations would be something they hold a monopoly on.

  3. Ya know... by wbr1 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I have been a fan of google. Not as rabid as many of the apple fanboys, but still a fan. Some of these make sense, bundled cloud storage for photos, support for the device (with that price tag you better).

    However, base features like Assistant piss me off. I like vanilla android with a common stock set of features. Making elite features is more of an Apple like move.

    Doing it for what will amount to such a small fraction of Alphabets bottom line borders on ridiculous. I am very seriously torn between lust for the new device and disgust. Considering moving elsewhere, but where? Samsung I despise, as well as apple. HTC and LG are just okay, but falling off the update treadmill leaves me highly concerned.

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
    1. Re:Ya know... by MouseR · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Dont want to sound like a fanboi but, lots of hate & vendor lock-in comments in regard to Apple truly isn't warranted.

      The iPhone 4s (ancient by any smart phone measure) is capable of running iOS 9 while base line for iOS 10 is the iPhone 5.

      Adoption of iOS 10 is now > 50% on all compatible devices.

      So, while Linux and Android fans hate on, Apple supports and updates it's users.

    2. Re:Ya know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Golly, I can't believe Google is trying to capitalize on the Android OS that they so graciously "gave" to the world. If I knew anything about business, I'd say Google was treating Android like a loss leader to get the market established so they could swoop in with a stunt like this. Color me shocked.

    3. Re:Ya know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      But iOS 10 on an iPhone 5 might 'run', the user experience (from what I've heard) isn't as good as iOS 9, so thereby 'pushing' users to upgrade their phone before they might have if iOS 10 wasn't a 'free' upgrade for them...

      So don't pretend that just because Apple gives out 'free' software updates that its a benevolent action

    4. Re:Ya know... by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      Apple still makes features exclusive for its newer hardware. For example, when Siri came out, it would only turn on for newer devices, but people with jailbroken phones were still able to make it work anyways without any apparent issues.

    5. Re:Ya know... by fred6666 · · Score: 1

      Dont want to sound like a fanboi but, lots of hate & vendor lock-in comments in regard to Apple truly isn't warranted.

      [...]

        Apple supports and updates it's users.

      What does support and update has to do with vendor lock-in? Apple is the worse company on earth for vendor lock-in. They still have excellent support.

    6. Re:Ya know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You must not deal with many tech companies if you really think Apple is worse than anyone else.

    7. Re:Ya know... by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 4, Interesting

      there are no updates, for all practical purposes. android update model is worse than window10, and THAT is saying A LOT.

      linux: I can update and patch the kernel, the ip stack, apps, etc etc.

      android: sigh. it sucks. that's all.

      we need a real linux based phone and not google's lock-in bullshit that is abandonware.

      the vendors don't care and neither does google. all this just made ME not care about phones, pretty much. I love linux and have been a linux admin since the 1.1 kernel days, but I refuse to spend time on 'phones' since they are junk and more frustration than its worth.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    8. Re: Ya know... by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      Worst? Have you never heard of:

      Microsoft
      Oracle
      Cisco
      IBM

      ?? Apple wishes they could achieve the level of lock-in that Oracle has achieved over their customers...

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
    9. Re:Ya know... by AchilleTalon · · Score: 1

      Blackberry DTEK or PRIV or next one.

      --
      Achille Talon
      Hop!
    10. Re:Ya know... by piojo · · Score: 1

      I don't think you understand how profitable Android is. It's all about the ads and in-app purchases. The issue I see here is that they're now trying to make a profit at both ends, hurting consumers in the process.

      --
      A cat can't teach a dog to bark.
    11. Re:Ya know... by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      You don't have to update iOS. My wife's iPhone 6 is still on 9.3.5. Apple makes it available, but they don't force you to update. It's called having options. Why is it meh when Apple does it, but considered the best thing since sliced bread when an Android vendor does it?

    12. Re:Ya know... by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      You must have an immeasurable tolerance for frustration if you find Android and/or iOS devices to be frustrating to deal with. It's a phone with apps. It's not a do-it-yourself Mars explorer.

    13. Re:Ya know... by subreality · · Score: 1

      Most Android phones are like that because most people just don't care. They're not the only option though. If you buy a bootloader-unlocked phone you can run straight-up open source software on it. You can optionally install the Google apps on top, but AOSP is a fully functional baseline setup - phone, web, mail, SMS, etc - with no lock-in. You can download the whole thing as source, build every bit yourself, and load it on your phone.

      You'll want to stick to models with strong community support. Anything "Nexus" will have solid community support for a long time. Other popular models tend to have okay support for at least a few years. If you off the beaten path you can still hack and patch it yourself.

    14. Re:Ya know... by Miamicanes · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, the only company that even conceivably has the resources to contemplate a "pure Linux" alternative to Android is Canonical/Ubuntu... and they dropped the ball so many times & made SO MANY design decisions that were just plain *awful* (like making literally EVERYTHING a gesture, to the complete exclusion of support for real hardware buttons AT ALL), their credibility in the mobile realm has been almost permanently ruined. And truth be told, even IF they pulled it off, they'd STILL basically be "Android, with a different wealthy corporate master". It's not like KDE or Gnome for Phones is coming anytime soon... if you have an Ubuntu phone, it's going to be running Unity. Guaranteed. And Unity sucks donkey balls (for the exact same reason that Windows 8 did: it sacrifices everything that makes PCs worthwhile at the holy altar of "write once, pretend to (sort of) limp everywhere, even if it means subjecting users to tedious and sub-optimal procedures for the sake of consistency across platforms).

      It's sad, but sometimes, I really get nostalgic for Windows Mobile. WM6 finally got most of the core features right (and could be made sort of attractive with third-party apps and extensions), and WM7 was almost attractive out of the box. The fact is, Android was a cruel joke compared to Windows Mobile untill well into the Froyo era, and got most of its popularity JUST because Microsoft decided Windows Mobile should go away more than a year before its replacement was anywhere close to being ready, let alone its worthy successor. IMHO, if Microsoft had refrained from totally fucking up their mobile platform & just kept evolving Windows Mobile forward, it would probably have at LEAST half the market currently owned (pwn3e?) by Android.

      OK, sure... you couldn't build Windows Mobile from source. But then again, even a NEXUS device whose ROM is 100% built from source has deficiencies compared to one running Google's very non-open ROMs. Don't believe me? Try using Google Wallet with an AOSP-based ROM on a Nexus 6p. The last time I checked, AOSP ROMs couldn't use the secure element of the NFC chip, so no NFC payments for you if you dared to build your own ROM. Fuck, even CYANOGEN went proprietary with the One+ One (it technically had a ROM developed BY Cyanogen, but end users couldn't independently build it from source or modify it... it was all or nothing: use the closed Cyanogen binary as delivered, or settle for a less-capable AOSP-derived ROM that might have been based on generic Cyanogen, but lacked features specific to the One+ One's Cyanogen-derived ROM. At the end of the day, Windows Mobile (5 and 6, at least) was at least as upgradable by end users as a Samsung Android phone... possibly MORE. Ten years ago, we were ripping .exe and .dll files from newer phones and copying them to the filesystems of older ones. Today, we often end up doing the EXACT SAME FUCKING THING with Android phones whose manufacturer has all but abandoned them. The main difference? Every new Linux kernel catastrophically breaks every loadable kernel module that came before it, while Windows Mobile (like Windows desktop) had a fairly robust Hardware Abstraction Layer (with a bit of tweaking limited to editing .inf files and possibly signing the driver with a private cert, even Windows 10 can often be coaxed and teased into loading drivers built for Windows NT 4).

      Yeah, I've gotten cynical. Five years ago, I eagerly looked forward to the day when I could download everything needed to build the exact same ROM provided by the manufacturer, then use it as a starting point to make it work the way **I** wanted it to work. The harsh reality is that AOSP has stumbled badly with non-Nexus hardware over the past 2-3 years or so (compared to its golden age circa the Galaxy S3, to the point where Cyanogen officially quit supporting Samsung devices, and other manufacturers might as well have, because supporting chipsets with no real public documentation [like Exynos and Qualcom

    15. Re:Ya know... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Making elite features is more of an Apple like move.

      Actually it's more of an every single Android vendor move.

    16. Re:Ya know... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      there are no updates, for all practical purposes.

      Tell it to my 2 and a half year old Samsung phone which had a security update pushed to it last weekend. Okay it may have only received 2 major Android version upgrades and is unlikely to receive a Nougat upgrade, but .... good. Android updates haven't gotten faster or leaner since version 5 and its quite clearly still getting security updates so what's the issue? I doubt this phone will last to the end of the year anyway.

    17. Re:Ya know... by mwvdlee · · Score: 1

      I prefer Android myself, but I have to admit; most Android devices don't even have the option of updating to a new Android version supported by the hardware vendor.
      Apple makes up for it's (obvious) lack in hardware choices by not abandoning older hardware nearly as quickly as most Android vendors.
      Samsung's then-flagship Galaxy S4 officially support upto Android 5, and it's slightly newer than an iPhone 5.
      Google itself doesn't even offer updating support on it's Nexus devices. My 2012 Nexus 7" tables can run upto Android 3 officially.

      --
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    18. Re: Ya know... by mwvdlee · · Score: 1

      I once had the joy of working with that clusterfuck called Oracle Apex; a simplistic and severely limited intranet site builder locked to an incredibly expensive database.

      --
      Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
    19. Re:Ya know... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      The Android way of issuing security updates only for phones on older versions of the OS is arguably better than the Apple way of requiring a recent OS to stay secure.

      The problem with updating the OS is that, at least with iOS, it tends to make the phone rather slow and annoying to use. Extra features require more disk space (so less room for your data), more RAM and more CPU time. So ideally you would be able to stick with an earlier version of iOS that runs well on the phone, but still get security fixes.

      The Android way isn't perfect either, because occasionally there are things that can't be patched via Google Play Services on older versions of the OS. It's mostly fixed with more recent versions though. My old Galaxy S3, similar era to the iPhone 4S, still gets updates this way and is on Android 4.4 (shipped with 4.0), and it's still as fast as when it was new.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    20. Re:Ya know... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      There are still updates for my old Galaxy S3 running 4.4, coming from Google via Google Play Services. So far there is not a remotely exploitable vulnerability they have been unable to fix or at least mitigate that way.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    21. Re:Ya know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Recent Sony phones have been pretty good

    22. Re: Ya know... by fred6666 · · Score: 1

      Yes I have heard of them and Apple is far worse with its proprietary connectors, features only working if you have both an iPhone and a Mac, the iPhone even have its own damned Messaging and Video chats protocol! It's just like if Cisco's routers had a proprietary protocol instead of TCP/IP.
      You can install Microsoft's software on PCs from any vendor (including Apple). Cisco switches works well with PCs from any vendor. The level of lock-in is just not the same level.

    23. Re:Ya know... by mjwx · · Score: 1

      I have been a fan of google. Not as rabid as many of the apple fanboys, but still a fan. Some of these make sense, bundled cloud storage for photos, support for the device (with that price tag you better).

      Having read the article, they haven't removed anything from the Nexus upgrade, rather they're pointing out the product specific features of the Pixel. Things like the Pixel Launcher, Google Assistant, Cloud features, so on.

      As a happy Nexus 5X owner, I don't really want any of those features. I suspect a lot of Nexus owners will be the same, Pixel and Nexus are different products with different goals, Pixel is more consumer focused where as Nexus was for people who wanted to be on the bleeding edge.

      Also given that it's Android, I'm sure there will be applications to get the non-hardware/cloud specific features easily if you want them. Even the Cloud stuff will be pretty easy to get if wanted.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    24. Re:Ya know... by wbr1 · · Score: 1
      I have to disagree with most of what you said. I have been in IT for 20 years (first linux was kernel 1.2.8 I think). I can compile kernels, troubleshoot buggy packages, and many more things besides. When I pull my phone out though, I don't want to have to add a repository using an on screen keyboard, just to get a package to make another app play a specific video codec. I don't want to have to jigger with a grub configuration when a new kernel install broke my boot.

      Regular users don't want this either. There is little to no market for what you propose.

      However, Android is not abandonware. It is regularly updated and patched. It is the phone vendors/carriers that would rather push you to a new phone than go to the expense of testing and implementing the patches on their hardware.

      And the vendors do care. They care about what makes money, not spends it. People buying new phones makes it. Testing google patches and managing the upgrades does not. This is the free market.

      --
      Silence is a state of mime.
    25. Re:Ya know... by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      I like vanilla android with a common stock set of features.

      you know http://www.cyanogenmod.org/, don't you?

    26. Re:Ya know... by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      fanboism alert!

    27. Re: Ya know... by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      Oracle Forms and Oracle Reports comes to my mind...

    28. Re: Ya know... by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      +1 Informative

    29. Re:Ya know... by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      "Ubuntu" and "pure linux" in the same sentence is a bit awkward :P

    30. Re:Ya know... by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      +1 informative

    31. Re:Ya know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > It's not a do-it-yourself Mars explorer.

      Unfortunately it is if you want the phone to be up to date with security patches after a year or so...

    32. Re:Ya know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      False. Those are Google Play Framework updates.
      You are not receiving any system updates, like kernel. Those should come from vendor (in your case Samsung).

      Also Google Play Framework updates is same model as Windows 10. There is no way to opt out (or selectively pick what and when you want to update) like with app updates. Google has become a pile of shit.

    33. Re:Ya know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > And the vendors do care. They care about what makes money, not spends it. People buying new phones makes it. Testing google patches and managing the upgrades does not. This is the free market.

      Indeed it is a free market. I voted with my wallet and switched to Apple iPhone when I saw this shit. And mind you I had official Google Nexus line of devices (Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4). All of them stopped receiving updates sooner or later. Initially they were excuses, like in Galaxy Nexus case, that SoC vendor is not playing nicely, later they didn't even need excuses. Google has become a pile of shit.

      My old iPad 2 is still receiving OS updates and security fixes. My iPhone 5S devices are up to date with security fixes. Am I a fanboy? You decide. I don't need the latest and greatest, but I wan't my phone to work and receive security updates for more than 1-2 years.

      This is simply not possible with Android.

    34. Re:Ya know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My 2012 Nexus 7" tables can run upto Android 3 officially.

      Bollocks. It came with 4.1 out of the box and was subsequntly updated to 4.3, 4.4, 5.0 and 5.1.

  4. Good! by mtmra70 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I don't want the Pixel launcher or assistant. All I thought about during the presentation was how to disable all the crap. I'll gladly keep using my N6 if it means I don't receive all the stupid speech/assistant crap.

    1. Re:Good! by Lord+Apathy · · Score: 1

      I agree. I don't see much on that list that I wouldn't disable almost as soon as I have the phone. The few things I would like to keep I already have thanks to 3rd party apps.

      --

      Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification

    2. Re:Good! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The answer is to compile AOSP. It takes around 60GB of storage, but with a Debian based distro you can pretty much copy+paste the steps out of guides on XDA. Then you can install as many or as few of Google's proprietary apps as you want, or try MicroG.

      At least as long as they provide drivers for Pixel devices the same way they did for Nexus devices.

      I'll be buying a OP3 and using FreedomOS to install the OnePlus' OxygenOS ROM without any gapps though, my 6-month adventure compiling AOSP for my N5 is just about over, *whelp*. Sadly, availability was immediate the day before the Pixel "event" and now it's "ships within 3 weeks". I guess I'm not the only N5 holdout who won't be continuing with Google's hardware.

    3. Re:Good! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You couldn't be more right, Google Assistant doesn't do anything Google Now can't do, for the most part, so who cares?

      Couldn't be happier with my N6 running rooted Marshmallow with AdAway + FlashFire + systemless Xposed (GravityBox + Youtube AdAway + Youtube Background Playback). Got the UI tweaked out to my liking with GravityBox, no ads anywhere and with systemless root/xposed and FlashFire installing the monthly security OTAs is a breeze. No plan to upgrade to Nougat until xposed works.

      Besides launchers like Nova (which I use) or Action Launcher already pack most if not all the new functionalities of Pixel Launcher so, again, who cares?

      And since google wimped out and first downgraded to 5.7 with the 6P and now 5.5 with the HTC A9, oops Pixel XL, I don't think I will be getting a new phone anytime soon. I'll just get a couple of new batteries and keep them handy, takes 10 minutes to replace them anyway.

      Oh, if only someone made a decent phone, like an N6 with a fingerprint sensor, newer SoC, a bit more ram, UFS2.0 storage, newer generation screen (albeit still 6in) and an updated camera I'd buy it even if it retailed for $1500.

  5. Google finally got fed up with the vendors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If vendors could freely add ridiculous amount of bloatwares and replace Google play with their own crappy store apps, why can't Google add exclusive features to its own phone? In China every phone maker uses Android OS, but not a single phone sold has any Google app. So the manufactures are actually making huge load of money off opensource software without contributing anything. Making an OS isn't cheap you know. Google need to make money from somewhere...

  6. Doesn't fit into Google's business model by JoeyRox · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Their business is all about collecting as much data as possible to 1) make more money with targeted ads and 2) provide more useful data-driven features to customers to keep them coming back to see more ads. Having new search features hat only work on their phones doesn't fit this model.

    1. Re:Doesn't fit into Google's business model by BradleyUffner · · Score: 1

      I use almost all google's stuff, and the only place I even notice any ads from them is on the web search page. I don't recall ever seeing a google ad on my android phone.

      If that little bit of annoyance on the search page is all I have to give up to get all the awesome tech they bring, then sign me up for more.

    2. Re:Doesn't fit into Google's business model by dmt0 · · Score: 1

      They were always rolling out new tech slowly. Remember when gmail was invite-only? Once the Pixel early adopter test it out, it'll become available to all...

    3. Re:Doesn't fit into Google's business model by dmt0 · · Score: 2

      I use almost all google's stuff, and the only place I even notice any ads from them is on the web search page. I don't recall ever seeing a google ad on my android phone.

      The other stuff is for collecting your data.

    4. Re:Doesn't fit into Google's business model by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I use almost all google's stuff, and the only place I even notice any ads from them is on the web search page. I don't recall ever seeing a google ad on my android phone.

      If that little bit of annoyance on the search page is all I have to give up to get all the awesome tech they bring, then sign me up for more.

      TANSTAAFL. They appear to be giving you quite a lot and asking for very little in return. Did it not occur to you to look for the catch?

  7. Troubling but not surprising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If the intent of Google is to create an 'echo system' that 'just works' with their Pixel & Pixel XL handsets than this isn't too surprising. Granted it leads to the dreaded 'vendor lock-in' that Apple is so famous for. But I've never faulted Apple for its ability to provide an 'echo system that just works' only for the 'vendor lock-in' part.

    But here's an opportunity for Google to get the 'best of both worlds' in so much as it seems rather overreaching to make features and functions in Android that only their handsets can use rather than making them available to every handset maker and simply differentiate their product on the basis of 'ours works better because we own & implement the entire stack the way we expect it to work'. Heck, I probably wouldn't fault Google too much for say prioritizing 'fixes' that need to be implemented to make '3rd party handsets' work properly with the new services in Android at a lower level than their own handsets on the premise that its up to the handset maker to make sure Android 7.1 works 'properly on their device.

    But, push comes to shove, Google can do whatever Google wants & I'll buy/use the products I want. If Samsung can ever get this battery issue on Note 7's worked out I might just finally upgrade from my current Samsung as its 'about time', though truthfully I'm in no rush either way.

    1. Re: Troubling but not surprising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      GP also wrote "than" when actually meaning "then".

    2. Re: Troubling but not surprising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Probably a language barrier. I'm sure you would butcher his language way worse if you tried. At least he's trying... you probably only speak enough English to make snide comments about others' grammar.

      Try contributing to the conversation next time.

    3. Re:Troubling but not surprising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought it was about an "Amazon Echo" system

    4. Re:Troubling but not surprising by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      its not "echo" from coreutils?

  8. OK. Sure. Cede some market to Amazon by slaker · · Score: 1

    Alexa is available for all Android devices.
    Prime Subscribers already get unlimited Photo Storage and ridiculously cheap ($50/year) truly unlimited Cloud storage accounts.

    Sure, you're trading your privacy off to a different internet giant, but if I'm looking for the particular feature set available with a Pixel phone, it seems like I can get them just fine from Amazon's apps and services without having to buy Google's phone in particular.

    Likewise, I already know the Pixel doesn't have hardware features I legitimately want to see, like a card reader and a removable battery. I'd rather get the hardware I want and mess around with adb commands to kill the handset/carrier vendor's bloat than deal with hardware that's inadequate to begin with.

    This doesn't seem like a compelling option at all and is even less so for trying to create exclusivity in the OS.

    --
    -- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
  9. Perfect! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The first thing I do on my Nexus phones is install Nova launcher, remove all that Google Now stuff. I don't want Google helping me. I have a brain and don't need AI to know if I have to catch a flight or if there is a storm coming or something.

    I think part of the problem is nobody wants to just make money on hardware anymore. I miss those days (especially as a hardware engineer). I buy the hardware and it doesn't need to talk to the mothership to work.

    Too bad the Firefox Phone OS died.

    1. Re:Perfect! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The first thing I do on my Nexus phones is install Nova launcher,

      Oh, try Smart Launcher 3. It's my favorite because it's so *unlike* any other launcher.

  10. Isn't this just a name change? by l2718 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's true today that old Nexus phones also don't get upgrades to the most recent Android versions -- only recent ones do. So the real question is: will future generations of Android only target newer versions of Pixel, or will buying a Pixel guarantee some number of Android updates?

    Also, apps like Google's Assistant are not core operating system features. The worrisome sign would be not getting improvements to the underlying OS (such as to battery life or graphics performance), or even worse API incompatibilities for app developers.

  11. Big Deal! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So some camera features... specific to pixel camera of course and the rest is bloat. We're supposed to care why? You can't get metro in windows 7 either but I'm not complaining.

  12. This might not be a good move for Google by ArhcAngel · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Samsung has been at odds with Google for years over their Android mandates. Other manufacturers just didn't have the clout to fight like Samsung. This could be just the justification other OEM's need to take up the Tizen, Oxygen, or another OS banner and ween themselves off of Android.

    --
    "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
    1. Re:This might not be a good move for Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep, and create yet-another-app market place... :-/

    2. Re:This might not be a good move for Google by Holi · · Score: 1

      Or fork Android.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    3. Re: This might not be a good move for Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Samsung has lost massive Cred with the exploding phones and now even more so with the safe phones also exploding!

      It's the perfect time for Google to do this!

    4. Re:This might not be a good move for Google by iampiti · · Score: 1

      I don't think Samsung can get an alternative mobile OS to be successful. Not at this point anyway. Microsoft with all their money and resources hasn't been able to make it work with Windows Phone.
      There's one thing Samsung does have: They can make their alternative OS phones look like their Android Touchwiz layer and so many people wouldn't know they're not running Android...except when they go to install apps and many of their favorites are not available. In fact, they actually did the UI thing with some of their Tizen phones.
      If a new mobile OS is to win me over it must be a real PC OS: Give me root access, let me use desktop apps when connected to a keyb and monitor, have real multitasking (several processes running concurrently without restrictions), etc.

    5. Re:This might not be a good move for Google by iampiti · · Score: 1

      Samsung can't fork Android and keep making phones with Google's Android. It's forbidden by a contract every manufacturer that wants to access Android's propietary parts (Play Store, Maps, Gmail, Youtube ...) must sign

  13. No Thanks, Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The build quality on your Nexus 7 was shitty. I'm not making the mistake of buying hardware from you again. I'll stick to my iPhone.

    1. Re:No Thanks, Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All Nexus devices were produced by other companies. The 7 was made by Asus, others were Samsung, LG, Motorola, and so on. Even the Pixel is actually made by HTC, although it seems Google had greater control over the design.

    2. Re:No Thanks, Google by piojo · · Score: 2

      Yep, my Nexus 4 was not fit for use. It barely worked, and actually did stop working after six months. I'm very hesitant to buy another Nexus phone. Though the Nexus 4 was made by LG, I found other LG phones aren't that bad. The G4 was a pleasure to use until the CPU died--I'm told the CPU dies on nearly all LG G4 handsets.

      My conclusion from this admittedly small sample size: there is little Q/A on Nexus phones, and their design and build quality compares poorly to a phone whose production is entirely controlled by an established manufacturer.

      --
      A cat can't teach a dog to bark.
  14. No SD card slot? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Google's "flagship" devices have been missing an SD card slot since day one. Google wants all user date migrated to the cloud where they can sift through it.

    So Nexus or Pixel. It doesn't really matter. They're both irrelevant to Android users serious about the data on their devices.

    1. Re:No SD card slot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No really, they're not. I'm serious about keeping my data only on the phone, and my Nexus 6P has more than enough internal storage.

      The only thing that might cause me to want more storage would be if i kept music on my phone. But I don't, and thus the 32GB is way more than I will ever need.

    2. Re:No SD card slot? by Ambassador+Kosh · · Score: 1

      That is why I don't get any of their phones.

      I work somewhere with VERY poor cell reception and the wifi has a lot of non-research stuff throttled. I have a 64gb SD card in my current phone and I can store all my music, podcasts and some videos on it just fine.

      I have a limited amount of data every month and even on the commute the network coverage is not very good. Probably because the train is just a large metal box.

      In the end Google's everything in the cloud approach just does not work for me in my phone.

      --
      Computer modeling for biotech drug manufacturing is HARD! :)
    3. Re:No SD card slot? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Google wants all user date migrated to the cloud where they can sift through it.

      To be fair this is consumer driven. I used to be a favour of local ownership right until my phone died and I spent 2 hours manually re-entering contact details and a month lamenting lost information in messages and pictures on the device. I still have an SD card but that's because my phone makes for an easy way to move data around if needed. The idea that data isn't locally coupled to a tiny fragile device that is easily lost or stolen is a plus in the eyes of many.

    4. Re:No SD card slot? by Geeky · · Score: 1

      I get that, I use sync for contacts and let my phone back pictures up to the cloud. I just like being able to download music to the device so that I'm not burning through my data plan and battery life when I'm listening.

      That said, I've currently got a 32GB phone with a 64GB SD card in it for media, so the 128GB model would be fine for me. But just not at the price point they're selling it for.

      --
      Sigs are so 1990s. No way would I be seen dead with one.
    5. Re:No SD card slot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you really think Samsung and Huawei don't do the same or worse on their cloud? Now not only US government can access your device, which for now if you didn't do anything wrong should have nothing to worry about, some foreign government and company will have all your data too.

    6. Re:No SD card slot? by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      The only thing that might cause me to want more storage would be if i kept music on my phone.

      It's a very rare use-case, you know... /SARCASM

    7. Re:No SD card slot? by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      Google's everything in the cloud approach just does not work for me

      it works for any common consumer? (here in Brazil the answer is NO)

  15. I have my Nexus 5 about 2 years by MeNeXT · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While I understand that the initial release makes the Nexus 5 closer to 3 years, the fact is that my first Nexus 5 was damaged and the second I purchased just before the 5x was out. What I find frustrating about this is that most people think it's just OK that we just scrap 2 year old phones if we want the latest features. It's not as if the hardware can't support most if not all the features.

    Nexus was the Google line and today it's Pixel. In two years there will be another. It just boggles my mind how we accept that that it's OK just to scrap this technology. Don't tell me that they are recycled. That has been shown to be a lie. Most of the parts just go to a scrap heap in some third world country and we feel just great about doing our part.

    Apple is doing the same and now it's doing it with the Macs. It's not that older hardware can't support it since they are selling slower systems today than some that they will no longer support. The fact is there is no reason for this, other than to push new product.

    Not that most people care anyways it's not going into their back yards.

    --
    DRM? No thanks, I'll just get it somewhere else...
    1. Re:I have my Nexus 5 about 2 years by pD-brane · · Score: 1

      I agree that we should be able to use our Android devices much longer than three years.
      However, if I am able to upgrade my Nexus 7 with CyanogenMod 13 (Android 6) with security patches for the next ten years or so, I am happy. I care about longivity, not the latest features (which makes me learn new things all the time). I am fine with the current feature set.

    2. Re:I have my Nexus 5 about 2 years by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      It's not as if the hardware can't support most if not all the features.

      That's interesting. Android crowd complains about lack of updates. iOS crowd complains about how slow their phones get after a few years of forced updates.

    3. Re:I have my Nexus 5 about 2 years by mjwx · · Score: 1

      While I understand that the initial release makes the Nexus 5 closer to 3 years, the fact is that my first Nexus 5 was damaged and the second I purchased just before the 5x was out. What I find frustrating about this is that most people think it's just OK that we just scrap 2 year old phones if we want the latest features. It's not as if the hardware can't support most if not all the features.

      That is the cost of wanting to live on the bleeding edge. I know people who dont care about the latest features, my previous housemate was happy with a Galaxy Note 3. In fact when it broke, he went out looking for another Note 3 because he was so happy with it and didn't like the Note 5 he bought as a replacement. He managed to find an unopened box on Ebay somewhere out of Hong Kong.

      Given that phone contracts have been sold in 24 month periods for donkeys years, 2 years was the defacto standard for many, many years before smartphones became popular. Most people used to turn over their Nokias every 2 years back in the 90's and 00's because their new phone plan came with a new Nokia.

      Of course many of us chose to buy our own phones and go on a cheap plan or prepaid/PAYG.

      Apple is doing the same and now it's doing it with the Macs. It's not that older hardware can't support it since they are selling slower systems today than some that they will no longer support. The fact is there is no reason for this, other than to push new product.

      Not that most people care anyways it's not going into their back yards.

      That is Apple. Apple depends on the same people buying their crap year in, year out. Apple reached it's peak number of users a few years back and are steadily dropping. The thing is, Apple fanboys are sad enough to do this.

      I've seen plenty of people "go back" from Apple because they just aren't any better than their competitors and they don't really care about what kind of computer they have because it's just a computer. Much the same as it's only the motoring enthusiasts that care a BMW is RWD and a Citroen isn't, only geeks care about things like discreet vs integrated graphics and much like ///M fanboys, only Apple fanboys care about brand.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    4. Re:I have my Nexus 5 about 2 years by jareth-0205 · · Score: 1

      It's not as if the hardware can't support most if not all the features.

      That's interesting. Android crowd complains about lack of updates. iOS crowd complains about how slow their phones get after a few years of forced updates.

      Absolutely - it's a problem either way. For me the problem isn't that I don't get the shiny newest features on my phone (I didn't buy it in the first place with those features so if I do get it later then that's a bonus, not a right), it's the lack of security and bugfixes. Android seems to have very little mechanism for security fixes other than "run the latest version". Microsoft managed to keep releasing patches for old OS versions, so if Android is going to be a serious OS then it needs to do the same.

    5. Re:I have my Nexus 5 about 2 years by myNameIsNotImportant · · Score: 1

      > Apple is doing the same and now it's doing it with the Macs.

      Interesting you say that. After the disappointing release price of Pixel XL, the next phone I'm buying will likely be an iPhone --- their support for old phones lasts 5 years. From what I can tell, iPhones have the longest, most robust support of any of the phones on the market.

      Pixel & Pixel XL is promised 2 years of support and a 3rd year of security fixes. ...for $650 & $750? no thank you!

    6. Re:I have my Nexus 5 about 2 years by vallette · · Score: 1

      Just a quick correction. Apple doesn't "force" you to upgrade to the latest version of iOS. Upgrades are completely optional.

    7. Re:I have my Nexus 5 about 2 years by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Upgrades are completely optional.

      Except for those cases where they're not, such as your phone having a problem and being brought into the braindead bar.

    8. Re:I have my Nexus 5 about 2 years by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      It's a deadlock (i think)... DAMIT!

    9. Re:I have my Nexus 5 about 2 years by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      fanboyism alert!

    10. Re:I have my Nexus 5 about 2 years by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > iOS crowd complains about how slow their phones get after a few years of forced updates.

      Nothing is forced. You seem to confuse iOS update model with Windows 10 or Google's Android Services Framework updates. The altter are forced with no way to opt out. With iOS it's your choice whether to update or no.

    11. Re:I have my Nexus 5 about 2 years by MeNeXT · · Score: 1

      When I owned a iPhone, which was a long time ago. I went on a trip and the phone crashed. The only way to restore it was to connect it to my Mac which was over 3000 miles away. Not an option. No Apple store nearby. While I had a computer nearby it wasn't the one my phone was synced to. It didn't even have iTunes. Short story I had no options.

      Don't know if it's any better now but I have no intention to spend $800 to find out. My next option will most likely be a real phone. Like a flip phone if they still exist.

      --
      DRM? No thanks, I'll just get it somewhere else...
  16. yum by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    they say nougats taste like nuts..
    now i pay for nougats?
    like saying i wanna pay to taste nuts..
    i just want to make phone calls man wtf is going on

  17. This is me not giving a shit by Chas · · Score: 1

    Here's all the stuff that's Pixel-specific.

    Pixel Launcher – swipe up for all apps, new Search Box, date/weather header on home
    Google Assistant
    Unlimited original quality photo/video backup to Google Photos
    Smart Storage – when storage is full, automatically removes old backed up photos/videos
    Phone/Chat support (new support tab in settings), screen-share functionality
    Quick switch adapter for wired setup from Android or iPhone
    Pixel Camera:

            Electronic Image Stabilization (“video stabilization”) 2.0
            Pro Features
                    White Balance Presets
                    Exposure Compensation
                    AE/AF Locking
                    Viewfinder grid modes
            HW-accelerated (on Qualcomm Hexagon coprocessor) HDR+ image processing
            Smartburst

    Sensor Hub processor with tightly integrated sensors (accel, gyro, mag) + connectivity (Wi-Fi, Cell, GPS)
    Cosmetic

            Solid navbar icons with home affordance for Assistant
            SysUI accent color theming
            Wallpaper picker with new wallpapers and sounds
            New setup look and feel
            Dynamic calendar date icon

    Honestly? Other than the "Unlimited Google Photos" thing, there isn't anything there which I really give a crap about or would likely use.

    So, if they want to pollute Android with this extra shit, that's their problem. I won't miss it at all.

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
    1. Re:This is me not giving a shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Dynamic calendar date icon

      Aww c'mon, that's hilarious - iOS has had dynamic calendar icons since it was known as iPhone OS 1.0. Welcome to 9 years ago, Android.

  18. Re:Vendor lock in, crippleware, obsolete! by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

    Anyone who quotes that slogan/motto/whatever is an absolute moron who deserves a long, but extremely pain-filled life.

  19. Hmm is this like Samsung apps or anti trust by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 1

    I guess there's two ways we could interpret this:

    1. It's like Samsung, LG etc all deploy their phones with their own bloatware

    2. They are engineering the OS environment to give their products/services an advantage (Like MS did with IE and Windows)

    Either way it feels like Google are becoming more like Evil Corp everyday

    --

    Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

    1. Re:Hmm is this like Samsung apps or anti trust by fbobraga · · Score: 1

      Either way it feels like Google are becoming more like Evil Corp everyday

      Yeap - but it's yet so so far from others like MS/Oracle/Apple...

  20. Samsung Exploding Note 7 will beat Pixel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Realistically, look at the Pixel and Pixel XL phone, these are really HTC phones with Google branding and a bit of Google software on them. I'd like to make a prediction and its an easy bet:

    Samsungs exploding Galaxy Note 7 will still outsell all Pixels phones 10:1 once they've fixed the battery. Even the fact it exploded won't dent sales enough to let Google gain market share.

    It's as simple as that, Samsung's Android is far and above anything Google delivers. Google don't support stylus, they've only just supported multi-panes (Samsung has for ages), they have none of the clever OCR software Samsung has. No fancy capture and hand writing or all the little tweaks.

    So what if Google has 'Assistant' aka Siri?? So they've caught up with 2011? or was it 10?

    Google haven't been the driver for Android for quite a while, Samsung has. Other makers don't need to ween themselves of Android, they need to drive their own features over Android, because Google is a joke these days and they cannot take a stock Google Android and expect to compete in the marketplace. Even if Google gave them these custom tweaks, Google haven't done enough to compete in their own marketplace.

    1. Re:Samsung Exploding Note 7 will beat Pixel by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      Isn't it about an 'Assistant' that works with the data that's in Google's silos?
      Let's say, Amazon has data about physical purchases you make with them, e-books if you use them, movie streaming if you use them instead of 15 other vendors. Apple has your "itunes", but if you don't buy/rent your music and movies there they mostly just know about your installed apps and your messages/SMS/phone calls, perhaps browser history if they steal it from you.
      Google has your searches and google maps searches and youtube views if you're logged into them, and for quite many of these people their entire email, then maybe shit like calendars, documents and what not.
      Who uses Apple email servers, or Amazon calendars? Do these even exist? Or do people use gmail on their Apple phone and Windows desktop, instead.

  21. A bit of bullshit by allo · · Score: 1

    Of course you get android in the full glory, you just do not get the pixel stuff in the full glory. But the pixel exclusive software is then just as some samsung exclusive software or weird htc launchers. Why does the author think, that the most powerful google phone has the software everyone wants? We want a nice clean android, that's not neccessarily the latest firmware of the official google phone.