14 replies to this topic

[Zarch1972]

'Android and Me' are reporting a rumour that the next official Nexus phone to be released in November will be based on the LG Optimus G and will drop with just a bump release to Android 4.2 (no 5.0 until next year).

They also add that as part of a hardware strategy change, Google will allow any phone to use the 'Nexus' moniker as long as the device adheres to a strict set of standards; 64gb, stock Android and the ability to disable 'custom UI skins' named so far.

What do you think of this?  Happy that any phone could be a Nexus?  More hardware choice for consumers whilst ensuring more devices run the latest Android release?  Could it dilute or tarnish the Nexus brand name?

How would you feel if LG, HTC, Samsung and Sony all brought Nexus devices to the market in the next few months that would all run stock Android and would get OS updates on the day of release?  No more carrier delays and TouchWiz/Sense getting in the way?

Could this potential strategy change even lead to a budget Huawei or ZTE 'Nexus' in the future?

[Source: Android and Me]

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[Chewy11]

This sound AWESOME :-)
Is the Sony Xperia S not the first?
I would be in for a 5 inch HTC Nexus.

[jamoiholland]

Absolutely brilliant news if true. I grudgingly use a Nexus S, it's not my favourite hardware, but faced with that or GNex as my stock choice, the GNex is just too big. Hopefully one of the manufacturers will make a smaller Nexus, maybe even a different form factor (qwerty candybar or qwerty slider?)

[everett_psycho]

Hmmmm, a zte nexus era or huawei nexus d1 quad sounds nice

More nexus phones isn't a terrible thing, the only worry I have is that the updates to new versions won't be as timely if being done by manufacturers. Starting with an lg optimus  should soon show up if they aren't coming out fast enough fairly quickly if the o2x is anything to go by

[3shirts]

Not a bad idea.  It's a good incentive for manufacturers to produce nice clean vanilla phones and, given the quality of hardware some of them produce, that's great news.  I hope the specifications ensure that only high end devices can carry the name though, otherwise it will be devalued.

[namikral]

This only means one thing. The nexus brand will loose its desirability.

[The Soup Thief]

I disagree namikral
If Google police this properly, with a strict requirement that "nexus" devices are upgraded OTA soon after release of new Android builds, this will add the bit of quality control and homogeneity of OS that Android is always criticised for (cf the recent news about how 50% of Android devices - or whatever portion it was - are still on Gingerbread).
Personally I couldn't care less if the Nexus brand loses it's exclusivity / desirability.  I care not one bit what anyone else thinks of my phone, provided it does all the stuff I need it to.  Desirability in terms of the caché of the brand is neither here nor there.  Give me quality assured hardware and prompt updates to the best user experience available and I'll overlook anylook halo effect associated with the company that paid Foxconn to make it (since they are pretty much all put together by the same manufacturers).
I don't see any significant downside to this.  You'll end up with brands competing to design and commission production of the best hardware possible (a way forward for Nokia?) at the Nexus end of the market for those interest in Android tech stuff, then another tier of non Nexus androids full of the features manufacturers keep telling us we want, which we call bloat and strip from our phones asap.  Smells like choice to me :-)

[andybarker]

Will the Nexus devices still be the lowest common denominator devices?
e.g. will the Samsung Galaxy S4 be a higher spec device than the next Samsung Nexus device?  Would the people that want a bare bones device not also be the ones wanting the higher spec devices, and so buy the S4 and create a clean firmware for it like they already do?

[T39andcounting]

I'm very wary of whatever manufacturers promise in terms of updates. With one Nexus device a year it can be strictly controlled by Google, and the old Nexus devices get updates for at least two years. The farce with the LTE Galaxy Nexus not getting updates is an example of how hard it is to control this with just one device. If Motorola, LG, Samsung, etc, all release Nexus devices, will a lot of them (especially those that don't end up being popular) end up not being updated within 6 months or a year?
The reason I have a Nexus is to make sure I'm on the latest version of Android, with a pure Google experience. It would be nice to see Google pushing the pure Android option onto manufacturers, but I'd prefer to see Nexus kept to a limited number of selected phones.

[Zarch1972]

andybarker, on 04 October 2012 - 12:47 PM, said:

Will the Nexus devices still be the lowest common denominator devices?
e.g. will the Samsung Galaxy S4 be a higher spec device than the next Samsung Nexus device?  Would the people that want a bare bones device not also be the ones wanting the higher spec devices, and so buy the S4 and create a clean firmware for it like they already do?

Moving forward, how will manufacturers trump each other to create higher specs?   They'll surely all have the latest CPU/GPU, 2gb ram, 2000 mAh battery, 720p high dpi screen and 64gb?  I think we are just about a limit hardware wise.

Your differences might come in say screen sizes, Sony release a 4.3" Nexus, HTC go 5", Samsung 4.8", but the other specs will probably not change much?

Obviously the 'design' of the phone may also differ between manufacturer.  Could you see a Windows Lumia/8S type colourfest?

[mamoulian]

64GB? Oh no! I'd much rather they required an SD card slot. Onboard storage always pushes up the device price more than it should.

I also disagree with "ability to disable 'custom UI skins'" - there should be NO custom UI skins allowed at all.

Updates for current Nexuses come from Google, they use the devices internally for dev and therefore they're well tested and G just have to publish the build they're happiest with.
If there are several different Nexus models which one will G work with?
If firmware updates are supposed to come from each manufacturer then some of us will be left waiting.

'Nexus' as a brand doesn't mean anything to Joe on the street. It's not marketed.
To us geeks it'll still be a 'brand', but sounds like it'll mean something different.
We'll be left looking for another 'brand' to define 'the device Google are working with and will release updates for'.

[eLJay]

As long as Google are strict enough but without killing the companies competition and innovation of features then it will be a good thing. And just because they quote 64gb memory doesn't mean some company isn't going to put in a SD Card slot that takes 128GB.

I'm looking forward to some innovation and development (sadly lacking with the other phone companies). Just hope they don't forget to patent it all in order to drive Apple out of the race (and I hope they only drop it on Apple just to rub it in).

[Anil K Solanki]

Stock Android is always a good idea.

[unrandomsam]

"the ability to disable 'custom UI skins'"
^^

This seems like a bad idea. (The process of adding them to firmware seems to involve breaking things). Implies the end result would be simply the same as just installing the stock launcher onto any given device.

They don't seem to concentrate on the important bits i.e
All features supported (That can be).

I am thinking of sip / google talk video and that updates will arrive in a timely manner.

Don't see why anyone would want 64GB of internal flash at the price the OEM's mark it up at.

(32GB sd cards are so cheap).

Then you don't have to use MTP for the sdcard which is a bonus.

If it no longer means Google are doing the firmware directly then it is not worth it either.

Look at what happened to the "Android Upgrade Alliiance" they should have killed market/play store support for devices that were not updated when the OEM's agreed to it.

The way Apple / Microsoft deal with this is better. (Apple is not the same but Microsoft you cannot mess about or make stuff non removable).

Might be OK :
HTC (ADP/Nexus one were ok)
Samsung (Nexus S / Galaxy Nexus)

Definately not someone you want to get a Nexus from :
Sony (ICS half assed job).
Motorola (Xoom international versions / Perhaps if you can use a CDMA device you could be ok).

Simply saying you cannot ship a device without it being supported by AOSP (And it doesn't break any other devices or make them perform worse). If the code isn't accepted you cannot ship it. (The custom UI should not even be present in the code). Need to keep up with newer Android releases within 2 weeks worldwide.

I am worried it will end up not meaning anything but I will probably wait and see. (Otherwise probably go Windows Phone and keep just an Android Tablet).

[todoleo]

I'm worried by one possibility: an Alcatel Nexus device. ;-)