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It's not meant to be. Google has sold their users down the river, including letting Verizon disable Wallet, in exchange for a piece of the action in mobile. So

It's not meant to be. Google has sold their users down the river, including letting Verizon disable Wallet, in exchange for a piece of the action in mobile. So they can keep having a relevant platform for their ads. It's been a mostly sharp move, but it wasn't done for reasons of user experience. And it shows with stuff like this. I wish they would take a harder line – enforce higher standards, fight the good fight on NFC. But that's not what they're after. Every phone that ships without Android, or a Google-free flavor of Android, is one more point where they can be left out in the cold when something like Siri comes along. So as long as they can get most of what they want from these manufacturing partners, they'll take it.

alexbell 15y ago
This. User experience is not a real driver for Android, and never has been. It only has to be "good enough". It's open, which I applaud. But you are overly optimistic if you thought publicly traded billion+ dollar carriers and manufacturers weren't eventually going to subvert this. If I understand correctly, the premiere Google handset is not going to ship with a premiere Google product. In fact, with Google's acquiescence it is going to be actively blocked. Google will bow down to carriers in an effort to maximize their ad dollars.
- georgemcbay 15y ago
  The problem isn't that Google is letting carriers (and hardware manufacturers) mess with Android -- they were always free to make Android phones with bloatware and restrictions. What Google (supposedly?) did here that was destructive was let them them mess with a Nexus branded Android phone. No matter how you slice it, marketing value will be lost if this story is true because this will cause the Nexus tag to mean nothing to those who it was originally created to court.
  - fpgeek 15y ago
    I think it really depends on what "this story" is. If the story is that there are local variations on the Galaxy Nexus, well, duh, of course there are! At the very least there will localization differences, regulatory differences (e.g. WiFi channels allowed) and the like, even for a Nexus. To me, the real question is whether or not anything has changed about the defining attributes of a Nexus phone: (a) prompt updates (b) "fastboot oem unlock" Note: I'd add "no bloatware" but given the controversy over the Verizon apps and having come across a developer who considered Gmail bloat (on an Android phone!), I've given up on having a meaningful discussion about it.
joebadmo 15y ago
Not sure how to interpret this comment. I don't understand why Wallet is a big deal. For users, it wouldn't be much of a difference from Isis. How is this selling users down t he river? What exactly is the good fight on NFC? Every phone that ships without Android, or a Google-free flavor of Android, is one more point where they can be left out in the cold when something like Siri comes along. What does this even mean? Google-free? Show me an Android phone on the market that's Google-free. And, at least as far as I can tell, Siri seems to have been a dud. I certainly don't know anyone that uses it regularly, and I don't know anyone who uses it at all for anything other than simple voice commands, which are not really Sir's value prop. So as long as they can get most of what they want from these manufacturing partners, they'll take it. Manufacturing partners? This is about Verizon, isn't it? I also wish that Google would take a harder stance on stuff like the Nexus experience, and UI consistency, and update frequency. But I don't really see what Google is bargaining with here. What can they withhold from Verizon at this point? EDIT: I know one person who uses Siri regularly. His name is Nicholas. He seems like a pretty nice guy. A bit snarky.
- nknight 15y ago
  > Siri seems to have been a dud. I certainly don't know anyone that uses it regularly Hi, my name's Nicholas, I use Siri regularly. Nice to meet you, Joe.
- esrauch 15y ago
  > Google-free? Show me an Android phone on the market that's Google-free. Nook & Kindle Fire are examples of Google-Free android devices, though you specified 'Phones' so I guess that excludes them.

alexbell 15y ago

This. User experience is not a real driver for Android, and never has been. It only has to be "good enough". It's open, which I applaud. But you are overly optimistic if you thought publicly traded billion+ dollar carriers and manufacturers weren't eventually going to subvert this. If I understand correctly, the premiere Google handset is not going to ship with a premiere Google product. In fact, with Google's acquiescence it is going to be actively blocked. Google will bow down to carriers in an effort to maximize their ad dollars.

georgemcbay 15y ago
The problem isn't that Google is letting carriers (and hardware manufacturers) mess with Android -- they were always free to make Android phones with bloatware and restrictions. What Google (supposedly?) did here that was destructive was let them them mess with a Nexus branded Android phone. No matter how you slice it, marketing value will be lost if this story is true because this will cause the Nexus tag to mean nothing to those who it was originally created to court.
- fpgeek 15y ago
  I think it really depends on what "this story" is. If the story is that there are local variations on the Galaxy Nexus, well, duh, of course there are! At the very least there will localization differences, regulatory differences (e.g. WiFi channels allowed) and the like, even for a Nexus. To me, the real question is whether or not anything has changed about the defining attributes of a Nexus phone: (a) prompt updates (b) "fastboot oem unlock" Note: I'd add "no bloatware" but given the controversy over the Verizon apps and having come across a developer who considered Gmail bloat (on an Android phone!), I've given up on having a meaningful discussion about it.

joebadmo 15y ago

Not sure how to interpret this comment. I don't understand why Wallet is a big deal. For users, it wouldn't be much of a difference from Isis. How is this selling users down t he river? What exactly is the good fight on NFC? Every phone that ships without Android, or a Google-free flavor of Android, is one more point where they can be left out in the cold when something like Siri comes along. What does this even mean? Google-free? Show me an Android phone on the market that's Google-free. And, at least as far as I can tell, Siri seems to have been a dud. I certainly don't know anyone that uses it regularly, and I don't know anyone who uses it at all for anything other than simple voice commands, which are not really Sir's value prop. So as long as they can get most of what they want from these manufacturing partners, they'll take it. Manufacturing partners? This is about Verizon, isn't it? I also wish that Google would take a harder stance on stuff like the Nexus experience, and UI consistency, and update frequency. But I don't really see what Google is bargaining with here. What can they withhold from Verizon at this point? EDIT: I know one person who uses Siri regularly. His name is Nicholas. He seems like a pretty nice guy. A bit snarky.

nknight 15y ago
> Siri seems to have been a dud. I certainly don't know anyone that uses it regularly Hi, my name's Nicholas, I use Siri regularly. Nice to meet you, Joe.
esrauch 15y ago
> Google-free? Show me an Android phone on the market that's Google-free. Nook & Kindle Fire are examples of Google-Free android devices, though you specified 'Phones' so I guess that excludes them.