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Google Pixel (Nexus) phones unveiled on 4th October


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Old 04-10-2016, 19:36
Stuart_h
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I have a sinking feeling they'll tie more and more of their features to their own hardware and leave Android as basic as possible for all the others, which will surely worsen the fragmentation issues.

Didn't see any mention of this Andromeda in the keynote
To be honest most of the features are apps and launchers. The Pixel phones are (IMHO) overpriced. I was tempted to upgrade but based on the price I'll keep what I've got and use the money on a drone instead

Great phone but I can't see it selling in big numbers at that price
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Old 04-10-2016, 19:42
daveh75
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RIP Nexus.

Now I don't know what my next phone will be! I guess Oneplus or Moto...
Having owned a One and an X, IMO OnePlus make great H/W, but let themselves down with s/w updates and their PR...
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Old 04-10-2016, 19:48
aurichie
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To be honest most of the features are apps and launchers. The Pixel phones are (IMHO) overpriced. I was tempted to upgrade but based on the price I'll keep what I've got and use the money on a drone instead

Great phone but I can't see it selling in big numbers at that price
There does seem to be an overwhelmingly negative reaction about the price on my Twitter. But I think a lot of that is to do with the expectations Google has previously set in regards to aggressive pricing of their old Nexus range. People are shocked Google has jacked prices so substantially higher, and to mirror Apple who most of their loyal customers already believe to be ripping off brainwashed iOS loving idiots is the real kicker. It's definitely a ballsy move from Google.

I predict they'll sell quite well. I expect they'll easily sell out their initial stock allocations, and that these devices will be supply-constrained beyond Christmas. If the reviews are good, and I'm sure they will review well, people will quickly let go of the price and finance a purchase somehow.
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Old 04-10-2016, 19:52
TelevisionUser
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I have a sinking feeling they'll tie more and more of their features to their own hardware and leave Android as basic as possible for all the others, which will surely worsen the fragmentation issues.

Didn't see any mention of this Andromeda in the keynote
The press accounts vary: some say Andromeda will be mentioned today while others say that there'll be a launch next year.

I'd be surprised if Google went down the route of having a dual Android (for everyone else) and Andromeda (for their own Pixel) strategy because, as you rightly point out, that leads to fragmentation and quite possibly the neglect of Android too.

My guess is that they want Andromeda to take over from the last version of Android and that Andromeda will be made available for other mobile phone manufacturers to use to ensure that Google retains its long term market share and dominant position as a supplier of mobile phone operating systems.
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Old 04-10-2016, 20:25
jonmorris
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I predict they'll sell quite well. I expect they'll easily sell out their initial stock allocations, and that these devices will be supply-constrained beyond Christmas. If the reviews are good, and I'm sure they will review well, people will quickly let go of the price and finance a purchase somehow.
I'm not sure. I don't think Google has the following Apple does.

Far more people buying into Android are getting a Samsung, and I really don't think you can sell software applications (none of which needs to be exclusive to Pixel) over the look and feel of a device.

While I think the S7 edge is impractical, it looks amazing. Neither Pixel phone looks anything special.

The 6P didn't sell well in the USA, prompting Huawei to pass on making one or both of these new devices. A lack of advertising and lack of interest from carriers.

Here, only EE has taken the phone. That's quite telling. Vodafone, O2 and Three all passed it seems, unless one or more will announce in the coming weeks.
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Old 04-10-2016, 20:31
gavo360
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I cant work out googles strategy with this phone, i thought with the rumours before the announcement they were going to make the pixel a mainstream phone, but only having deals with one network for most countries and selling it online at a high price its not much different then way they sold nexus phones.
As for the phone itself I dont think it does much to set itself apart from any other flagship 2016 phone, and with the price of the XL £100 more then a S7 edge normal consumers aren't going to consider the pixel over apple or samsung, so its still a phone that is built for google/android hardcore fans.
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Old 04-10-2016, 21:05
d123
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So they are mirroring iPhone pricing including the very profitable storage upsells. Bold.

I wonder how current Nexus fans will feel about it?
In fact, without the aftersales service offered by Apple I think the Pixels are even more overpriced.

Where's the Google Store locations in most cities that I can walk into and get my phone repaired/replaced while I wait?
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Old 04-10-2016, 21:10
daveh75
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A couple of subtle dig at the competition in the Pixel ad
https://youtu.be/Rykmwn0SMWU
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Old 04-10-2016, 21:28
jonmorris
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The advert makes the phones look amazing. But I'm not convinced.

I'll wait and see what the competition comes up with, for less money, in the next six months.
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Old 04-10-2016, 21:40
lamby
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I'm disappointed with the price.

I've just ordered a P9 to replace my 5x, the P9 battery seems way better with more saving options.

Will Google Assistant come to 3rd party phones?
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Old 04-10-2016, 22:07
TelevisionUser
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A couple of subtle dig at the competition in the Pixel ad
https://youtu.be/Rykmwn0SMWU
...such as the 3.5mm headphone jack matter...
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Old 04-10-2016, 22:08
jonmorris
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I can't see why not. Frankly, I'm not convinced about the argument for keeping Daydream VR to only latest phones. Smacks of desperation to make everything else until now appear obsolete.

I'm not buying it. Literally!
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Old 04-10-2016, 22:22
lamby
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Now 7.1 won't even hit last year's phones till end of year
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Old 04-10-2016, 22:24
Heanor_Man31
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Seeing as EE are the only network currently offering the new Pixel phones are they testing Cat 11 LTE out of interest?

I notice from the tech. specs. they have support for it on Telstra in Australia. Something the new iPhone definitely doesn't have.
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Old 04-10-2016, 22:31
Everything Goes
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This couldn't compete with the Galaxy S7 let alone an iPhone. Google are delusional and so is the pricing. This will bomb and be discounted as soon when reality sets in
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Old 04-10-2016, 22:43
d123
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This couldn't compete with the Galaxy S7 let alone an iPhone. Google are delusional and so is the pricing. This will bomb and be discounted as soon when reality sets in
I think you have a valid point about discounting.

Didn't the Nexus 5 get a really big discount on price through CPW when it was selling slowly?
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Old 04-10-2016, 23:16
CheshireBumpkin
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This couldn't compete with the Galaxy S7 let alone an iPhone. Google are delusional and so is the pricing. This will bomb and be discounted as soon when reality sets in
I'm baffled by this release. Mediocre aesthetically, vastly overpriced, good core specs, and all the wow (I'd add -ish to the end of wow) elements are software based and unlikely to be exclusive to this device for long.

Couldn't be less excited by this, and I'm an Android user (at the moment). I don't think more than a handful of iPhone or Android flagship buyers, or potential buyers, will give this a second glance.

The one thing from the launch that I might have bought (Google Home) isn't available in the UK yet.
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Old 04-10-2016, 23:33
aurichie
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This couldn't compete with the Galaxy S7 let alone an iPhone. Google are delusional and so is the pricing. This will bomb and be discounted as soon when reality sets in
I'm sure they know these won't sell as well as the Nexus 5X and 6P. And apparently those lower-cost phones even failed to meet their own internal sales targets.

So I'm thinking they've decided if we can't sell enough in volume to make up for the lower per unit margins they previously operated on, let's try the Apple business model instead. They'll sell less in quantity, but hopefully enough that despite revenue being down overall profit is actually up on previous years. That at least justifies them staying in the hardware game in future years with newer devices.

If sales really tank and revenue is down, profit falls through the floor, and they build up excessive channel inventory - well we may end up seeing Google getting out of making their own branded devices completely.

Initial impressions from people who have had hands on time with these new phones seems pretty good. Pretty good isn't enough though obviously - these devices need to be the best-in-class Android phones to justify the iPhone tiered pricing levels. We'll have to see what reviewers have to say in the next week or two.
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Old 04-10-2016, 23:51
jonmorris
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Everyone says to buy the Nexus 6P, except with immediate effect it has gone from Carphone Warehouse, Google store, third party sellers on Amazon and disappeared from Clove.

It's as if Google is trying to stop it being sold, when clearly they didn't sell out just before the announcement.

So it seems Google is forcing you to take the Pixel or nothing.
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Old 04-10-2016, 23:57
WelshBluebird
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The pricing is still cheaper than the iPhone 7 on contract with EE though.

I am still glad I am on the contract I am with my Galaxy S7 Edge though. Dreading the time when that ends, probably going to have to go sim only then because all the new contracts seem way more expensive (although 18 months is a long time in this space!).
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Old 05-10-2016, 00:36
Everything Goes
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iPhone pricing with 2 years of OS updates and 3 years of security updates...

International version missing LTE band 4 CA again.

No thanks, I'll stick with my 6P.
Apple seem to do about 5 years of OS updates. Google had been trying to aim for 3 years but gave up on that idea with the Nexus 2013 range.

https://www.neowin.net/news/pixel-an...-of-os-updates
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Old 05-10-2016, 01:29
Cloudane
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Glad I got my 6P when I did. Maybe I'll flog it for a stinking profit if they're rare now and grab a OP3 It's not like we're getting VoLTE on EE any time soon anyway.
jk, unless it does end up becoming valuable which is unlikely!

A couple of subtle dig at the competition in the Pixel ad
https://youtu.be/Rykmwn0SMWU
I'm still calling it, the Pixel 2 will drop the headphone jack too. It's basically a Google iPhone 6, so when the Google iPhone 7 comes out, bai bai.
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Old 05-10-2016, 02:54
aurichie
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I'm still calling it, the Pixel 2 will drop the headphone jack too. It's basically a Google iPhone 6, so when the Google iPhone 7 comes out, bai bai.
As will Samsung from their flagship devices next year.

I think the Pixel looks a very solid device, but trying to advertise that ancient headphone jack as one of the headline features is childish and pathetic.
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Old 05-10-2016, 07:09
bikerlad
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EE say it will support VoLTE and wifi calling.
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Old 05-10-2016, 07:57
jonmorris
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As will Samsung from their flagship devices next year.

I think the Pixel looks a very solid device, but trying to advertise that ancient headphone jack as one of the headline features is childish and pathetic.
It was clearly a joke. Watch the ad again.

While you say there's nothing to discuss, Google clearly knew it was a big talking point.

In fact, given the reaction I wonder if we might see a delay to other manufacturers ditching the port for a bit.
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