7 ms·

Are Google and Samsung Announcing a "Nexus Two?"

50 points by Garbage 16y ago

orangecat 16y ago
I certainly hope so. And it makes sense that they'd focus more on Europe this time, which hasn't been as infected with phone subsidies and lockins as the US has.
- sahaj 16y ago
  what makes you think it would be focused on europe? the event is in NYC.
  - barredo 16y ago
    "more" focused in Europe. Samsung as a company. Not the event.
  - orangecat 16y ago
    Not Europe exclusively, but more available there, as indicated by the potential Carphone Warehouse deal. IIRC Google didn't sell the Nexus One directly to Europeans, even though they're much more willing to pay up front for unsubsidized phones than Americans are.
yock 16y ago
What? They can't even put a reliable date on Froyo for the Galaxy S line in the US but they're already shifting resources to a new hotness? Could this be interpreted as a call to abandon the Galaxy S ship?
- edderly 16y ago
  The Google experience devices are developed hand in hand with Google, whereas most other devices are developed after the respective OS sources have been released.
- martey 16y ago
  For what it's worth, Engadget's original article about the Samsung press event suspected that it would announce the Samsung "Continuum" - a Galaxy S branded phone with two OLED displays. Considering the stock tickers in the background of the press image, and the fact that the secondary OLED display on the Continuum is called the "Ticker", I think this makes the most sense: http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/25/samsung-to-unveil-new-android-device-november-8th/ http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/25/samsung-to-unveil-new-and...
ars 16y ago
I hope it has a keyboard and a front facing camera. Those are the two differentiators I'm looking for to pick an android phone.
- brettnak 16y ago
  I like the front facing camera idea, but I actually hate having a physical keyboard on my phones nowadays. Seems to just make the phone bigger and heavier. I also had the original Verizon/Motorola droid which had a completely worthless excuse for a keyboard. Perhaps that soured me on physical keyboards. Now that I have Swype, not to mention the normal android keyboard, I'm pretty satisfied.
  - ars 16y ago
    Well, I want the phone also as a mini laptop. I read that it's hard to do things like ctrl-s on the virtual keyboard.
    - parbo 16y ago
      Is a bluetooth mini-keyboard good enough?
      - ars 16y ago
        It might be actually. Are they small enough that I can fit both the phone and the keyboard together in my pocket? Wouldn't it be smaller if the keyboard was integrated into the phone?
  - jokermatt999 16y ago
    As much love as Swype gets, I still prefer the feeling of typing on a physical keyboard. They seem to be going out of fashion, but I really hope there's still an option for them. The main reason I picked my Droid was because of the keyboard.
- drivebyacct2 16y ago
  Why front facing camera? Does anyone actually use FaceTime? I will never ever video chat. I find it unnecessary. It will make using my phone for talking to someone even more annoying (yes, I understand how ironic that sounds).
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
- Garbage 16y ago
  Though nexus one's selling theory was (proved) wrong, the phone was/is quite good.
  - GiraffeNecktie 16y ago
    And as a reference device it was very useful for establishing what a pure Android device would be like. I'm hoping that eventually the Android UX will evolve to the point where customers won't tolerate the service providers and manufacturers gumming it up with novel interfaces.
    - bockris 16y ago
      That is why I'm interested in it. I find that I like the pure Android experience much better than Sense/Motoblur/etc.
  - generalk 16y ago
    It's a shame, too. They sold the phone with two novel methods bunched together: selling it sans-carrier-lockin, and selling it exclusively online. The former is interesting and somewhat unique in the US. A lot of geeks want this, and it's the reason I bought my Nexus One. The second is something that apparently nobody wants, and I think is what tanked sales.
  - fragmede 16y ago
    But the problem with the phone (in the US) is also that there were still two types to buy - 3g on att or 3g on t-mobile. Those that wanted a carrier-less phone were undoubtedly stymied by having to choose a carrier anyway, the exact opposite of what they were trying to do.
pkulak 16y ago
I'm betting it's just that new Verizon phone with the useless second LCD. I spoke with someone months ago at Google who said they were working on a "Nexus Two" device, but he could have been referring to the G2 for all I know. Here's what I've been waiting for in an Android phone since they started pumping them out: thin, no keyboard, responsive touchscreen, iPhone4-quality camera, accurate GPS and stock Android or easily rootable. Pretty much, I don't want any compromises, and no one seems to want to do it. Every single model skimps somewhere. If it's got a nice camera, the GPS doesn't work. Otherwise, the camera is crap or it's 3/4 of an inch thick with a keyboard I won't use. The Nexus One is so close, but the touchscreen sucks and the camera is beyond terrible.
- billybob 16y ago
  +1 for stock Android. I sure as heck don't want carrier modifications. Note to carriers: your job is radio frequencies and call routing. That's all I want you for. You are not a software company. It sucks to be a commodity, but it sucks more to be an anchor on an airplane, which is what you are for the quality of your phones. Give them a connection and free reign.
  - IgorPartola 16y ago
    The question is how do you make them listen?
  - jordanroher 16y ago
    I was under the impression that the carriers and manufacturers modified their phones so they could differentiate themselves. There's the revenue opportunities, sure, but they have to do something to stand out. Now here's the crazy part: no one is selling a device with stock Android. If your phone was straight Android 2.2, it wouldn't look like any other phone on the market. The minute Motorola or LG realize this, they get 100% of the nerd phone market.
    - wmf 16y ago
      The G2 is pretty stock.
dannyr 16y ago
I'd like to see a front-facing camera but what I need the most is larger internal memory. I want to install more apps but with Nexus One's meager 512MB flash memory, I hit the limit already. Now, I don't even install apps that are more than 2MB. A lot of developers also have not enabled SD card storage for their apps.
martingordon 16y ago
Two things killed the Nexus One for me: 1. Two versions of the device. I travel to the UK a lot and I wanted to pick up a Nexus One so I wouldn't have to unlock my iPhone. Being forced to choose between 3G in the US (on AT&T) or 3G in the UK made me choose neither. 2. Skype is a Verizon exclusive. Yay artificial fragmentation! #1 can hopefully be fixed by the Nexus Two. Not so sure about #2.
- fragmede 16y ago
  What aspect of skype is Verizon only? It's in the marketplace for me, and I'm on Sprint.

50 points by Garbage 16y ago

I certainly hope so. And it makes sense that they'd focus more on Europe this time, which hasn't been as infected with phone subsidies and lockins as the US has.

sahaj 16y ago
what makes you think it would be focused on europe? the event is in NYC.
- barredo 16y ago
  "more" focused in Europe. Samsung as a company. Not the event.
- orangecat 16y ago
  Not Europe exclusively, but more available there, as indicated by the potential Carphone Warehouse deal. IIRC Google didn't sell the Nexus One directly to Europeans, even though they're much more willing to pay up front for unsubsidized phones than Americans are.

yock 16y ago

What? They can't even put a reliable date on Froyo for the Galaxy S line in the US but they're already shifting resources to a new hotness? Could this be interpreted as a call to abandon the Galaxy S ship?

edderly 16y ago
The Google experience devices are developed hand in hand with Google, whereas most other devices are developed after the respective OS sources have been released.
martey 16y ago
For what it's worth, Engadget's original article about the Samsung press event suspected that it would announce the Samsung "Continuum" - a Galaxy S branded phone with two OLED displays. Considering the stock tickers in the background of the press image, and the fact that the secondary OLED display on the Continuum is called the "Ticker", I think this makes the most sense: http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/25/samsung-to-unveil-new-android-device-november-8th/ http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/25/samsung-to-unveil-new-and...

ars 16y ago

I hope it has a keyboard and a front facing camera. Those are the two differentiators I'm looking for to pick an android phone.

brettnak 16y ago
I like the front facing camera idea, but I actually hate having a physical keyboard on my phones nowadays. Seems to just make the phone bigger and heavier. I also had the original Verizon/Motorola droid which had a completely worthless excuse for a keyboard. Perhaps that soured me on physical keyboards. Now that I have Swype, not to mention the normal android keyboard, I'm pretty satisfied.
- ars 16y ago
  Well, I want the phone also as a mini laptop. I read that it's hard to do things like ctrl-s on the virtual keyboard.
  - parbo 16y ago
    Is a bluetooth mini-keyboard good enough?
    - ars 16y ago
      It might be actually. Are they small enough that I can fit both the phone and the keyboard together in my pocket? Wouldn't it be smaller if the keyboard was integrated into the phone?
- jokermatt999 16y ago
  As much love as Swype gets, I still prefer the feeling of typing on a physical keyboard. They seem to be going out of fashion, but I really hope there's still an option for them. The main reason I picked my Droid was because of the keyboard.
drivebyacct2 16y ago
Why front facing camera? Does anyone actually use FaceTime? I will never ever video chat. I find it unnecessary. It will make using my phone for talking to someone even more annoying (yes, I understand how ironic that sounds).

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

Garbage 16y ago
Though nexus one's selling theory was (proved) wrong, the phone was/is quite good.
- GiraffeNecktie 16y ago
  And as a reference device it was very useful for establishing what a pure Android device would be like. I'm hoping that eventually the Android UX will evolve to the point where customers won't tolerate the service providers and manufacturers gumming it up with novel interfaces.
  - bockris 16y ago
    That is why I'm interested in it. I find that I like the pure Android experience much better than Sense/Motoblur/etc.
- generalk 16y ago
  It's a shame, too. They sold the phone with two novel methods bunched together: selling it sans-carrier-lockin, and selling it exclusively online. The former is interesting and somewhat unique in the US. A lot of geeks want this, and it's the reason I bought my Nexus One. The second is something that apparently nobody wants, and I think is what tanked sales.
- fragmede 16y ago
  But the problem with the phone (in the US) is also that there were still two types to buy - 3g on att or 3g on t-mobile. Those that wanted a carrier-less phone were undoubtedly stymied by having to choose a carrier anyway, the exact opposite of what they were trying to do.

pkulak 16y ago

I'm betting it's just that new Verizon phone with the useless second LCD. I spoke with someone months ago at Google who said they were working on a "Nexus Two" device, but he could have been referring to the G2 for all I know. Here's what I've been waiting for in an Android phone since they started pumping them out: thin, no keyboard, responsive touchscreen, iPhone4-quality camera, accurate GPS and stock Android or easily rootable. Pretty much, I don't want any compromises, and no one seems to want to do it. Every single model skimps somewhere. If it's got a nice camera, the GPS doesn't work. Otherwise, the camera is crap or it's 3/4 of an inch thick with a keyboard I won't use. The Nexus One is so close, but the touchscreen sucks and the camera is beyond terrible.

billybob 16y ago
+1 for stock Android. I sure as heck don't want carrier modifications. Note to carriers: your job is radio frequencies and call routing. That's all I want you for. You are not a software company. It sucks to be a commodity, but it sucks more to be an anchor on an airplane, which is what you are for the quality of your phones. Give them a connection and free reign.
- IgorPartola 16y ago
  The question is how do you make them listen?
- jordanroher 16y ago
  I was under the impression that the carriers and manufacturers modified their phones so they could differentiate themselves. There's the revenue opportunities, sure, but they have to do something to stand out. Now here's the crazy part: no one is selling a device with stock Android. If your phone was straight Android 2.2, it wouldn't look like any other phone on the market. The minute Motorola or LG realize this, they get 100% of the nerd phone market.
  - wmf 16y ago
    The G2 is pretty stock.

dannyr 16y ago

I'd like to see a front-facing camera but what I need the most is larger internal memory. I want to install more apps but with Nexus One's meager 512MB flash memory, I hit the limit already. Now, I don't even install apps that are more than 2MB. A lot of developers also have not enabled SD card storage for their apps.

martingordon 16y ago

Two things killed the Nexus One for me: 1. Two versions of the device. I travel to the UK a lot and I wanted to pick up a Nexus One so I wouldn't have to unlock my iPhone. Being forced to choose between 3G in the US (on AT&T) or 3G in the UK made me choose neither. 2. Skype is a Verizon exclusive. Yay artificial fragmentation! #1 can hopefully be fixed by the Nexus Two. Not so sure about #2.

fragmede 16y ago
What aspect of skype is Verizon only? It's in the marketplace for me, and I'm on Sprint.