
Google Indefinitely Delays the Nexus Q After Poor Reviews - chaosmachine
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/31/google-delays-the-nexus-q-after-poor-reviews/
======
w1ntermute
Google squandered the Q - it was a great marketing opportunity, what with its
unique form factor. They should've used it to create a first-party Google TV
(with support for using Android phones and tablets to control it, particularly
the Nexus 7) and released game controllers along with it, encouraging
developers to create Android console games.

Then they should've made the Q the cable box for Google Fiber. That would've
really made the headlines.

However, while it's easy for us to sit here and take potshots at Google, we
have to remember that it's a logistical _nightmare_ bringing together
disparate divisions of a massive organization like Google and getting them to
coordinate their efforts so that the company as a whole can present a united
front to consumers.

~~~
mtgx
Completely agree. Either buy OUYA, and improve the product if you can, and get
even more partnerships for launch day, or build something similar (also for
$99 - very important!), and release it a few months later at the next Google
I/O with Tegra 4. Boom - crazy buzz around it.

The price is essential though. Screw everything else. Just make sure it's $99.
And using a _beefed up_ Tegra 4 (no regard for energy efficiency in a
console), or some other next-gen GPU architecture with OpenGL ES 3.0 support
(like Exynos 6/Mali T658), coupled with Cortex A15 CPU's, would be a huge
bonus over OUYA, even if it arrives a few months later compared to OUYA.

But please - please - stop buying into that theory that says early adopter
products need to be more expensive or whatever makes Google release such
products at prices that everyone thinks are insane.

Just a few examples:

Xoom - $800

Google TV - $300

Chromebook $450

Nexus Q - $300

Google still hasn't learned that they need to introduce these new products at
a "sweet spot" pricing point - much like the Nexus 7 actually! But it took
Amazon to teach them that, so I don't have much faith in them repeating this,
especially after seeing the Nexus Q pricing.

Google's problem regarding pricing is also that they keep putting components
that are too expensive in those products, without receiving an equivalent
value from it.

The Xoom was this expensive because of the 3g/4G chips and high MP cameras.
The Chromebooks and Google TV were this expensive because of Intel's Atom
chips. Nexus Q was too expensive because it had an amplifier (did anyone
actually care about that?), and because it was "built in US". They need to
stop making these kind of mistakes once and for all, if they want to be
successful selling hardware.

Apple puts only the essential components in their products that 80% of the
people would use, and make sure they are high quality. For example, the
original iPad had a high-quality display, but had no cameras, and not even a
GPS. This kind of thinking made the iPad cost "only" $500 at the time, when
people thought it would be significantly more - maybe not $1000, but perhaps
more expensive than an unlocked iPhone, thanks to the expected bigger screen,
bigger battery, etc. Google needs to learn to do that as well.

~~~
tvon
> _Either buy OUYA (...)_

Buy, what, kickstarter mindshare?

------
drgath
Good decision. There's nothing wrong with not releasing something you don't
feel is up to par. I actually admire that. Ship it when it's ready, and not a
moment sooner.

On the other hand, there is something wrong with releasing a product that
turns out to be over-priced and under-featured. That worked for Google in the
past where it was all Web products, the price was "free", you could just slap
a "beta" label on it and iterate daily. But that doesn't work when something
costs $300 dollars in a competitive marketplace with established leaders.

~~~
Mythbusters
It makes Google look amateurish to announce a product with big fanfare and to
cancel it later admitting that it does not do much... executive powerplays at
work I guess...

~~~
Zenst
Amerteurish would be to blindly carry on launching a product and then
releaseing version 2.0 that fixed all the issues and making the 1.0
unsuported.

No, what google did was to listern to feedback and respond in the best
possible way. Those who ordered get the product and there money back and those
who havnt get a chance to wait for the improved version based upon feedback.
Realy can't fault that and to call it amateurish is perhaps overly strong. No
power plays at work at all, mearly good PR/marketing and activly listerning to
feedback.

~~~
azylman
_Amerteurish would be to blindly carry on launching a product and then
releaseing version 2.0 that fixed all the issues and making the 1.0
unsuported._

Sounds like Google TV...

~~~
sandieman
Google TV's lack of success has certainly taught them a lesson or two here.
Hence, the freebies as an attempt to win back good will.

~~~
Tyrannosaurs
The lesson they need to learn is don't do things that lose goodwill in the
first place.

------
arihant
Google now has five boxes hooked up in living rooms of Google fans. They
amplified the problem they should be solving. Seriously, a Logitech Google TV,
a Nexus Q and 3 boxes for Google fiber.

Edit: They also managed a pointless keyboard with the boxes.

~~~
drgath
The moment I saw a keyboard with GoogleTV I facepalmed. That's not how people
should interact with their TV.

------
Zenst
I think google are handerling this extremly well. They had a product that was
about to launch and pretty much good to go. Go some feedback that they
thought, hmmm maybe we should look at this again and are doing it.

Then ontop of that they are not only honouring all preorders with the product
they were advertised, but also doing it for free with full refunds as well.

That is how you do marketing and deal with feedback.

------
timkeller
Unfortunately, Google is developing a history of announcing – and later
killing – products at their Google IO event.

I can appreciate the pressure: Every year, all eyes are on the company to
match/outshine Apple's WWDC announcements.

It seems that Google needs to move IO to a different (less pressurised) time
of year, and focus on only announcing release-ready products.

------
ZeroGravitas
I still think if they'd _removed_ the HDMI out, it would have got better
reviews. The inbuilt amp and connecting to a TV are pretty much mutually
exclusive, and everyone focused on the latter then wondered why it cost 3x as
much as something that connected to a tv but didn't have an amp in it.

------
cookiecaper
Nexus Q should have been considered a house-wide Android extender appliance; a
compute node accessible by any and all authorized Android devices. It could be
used to supplement the resource demands of phone apps, to serve as an
autoconfigured caching HTTP proxy, etc. There are a lot of possibilities for
an appliance like that (w1ntermute's suggestion that it double as Google
Fiber's cable box is awesome) and I think it's sad that they felt it needed to
be marketed as a $300 collaborative jukebox.

~~~
tnorthcutt
The average consumer would have _absolutely no idea_ what that (compute node,
resource demands, autoconfigured caching) means. None.

~~~
cookiecaper
Right, but they'll understand it when their tower defense game says "Get a
Nexus Q for cooler auto-generated maps", "Get a Nexus Q for faster load
times", or "Get a Nexus Q for LAN multiplayer with all other Android users in
range".

------
axxl
I think Pogue had a really good article on it a little while ago (it's linked
from this article as well) [http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/the-
google-nexus-q...](http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/the-google-nexus-
q-is-baffling/)

~~~
Zenst
Your right, that does sum up alot of issues and oversights and google
listened. If only Google did the Olympics instead of #NBCfail.

------
kamechan
If it were a google TV also, and played android games via some innovative
controller like ouya's, i'd buy it in a second.

~~~
Zenst
I believe you have nailed the shortcommings just right. It has half-way step
to what you suggest and in that it realy should have those features. Also
given the price of this and the ouya (also not released yet) I'd say some
people were asking some questions about price also.

This and the opertunity to add google tv to the device from the start would of
been to good a opertunity to miss that I feel that could be the main reason
there stepping abck a bit and doing a rethink now instead of carrying on a
unstable path.

------
damiankennedy
I'm confused. Why would you get one of these instead of an Android TV?

My Android TV running ICS was only 135 $NZ and I got a wireless keyboard for
70 $NZ. Now my kids play Angry Birds Space and Justin Bieber videos on TV!

~~~
someperson
Could you link to the TV? I'm curious.

~~~
damiankennedy
The device itself plugs into the TV's HDMI slot and looks like an oversize
memory stick. I then put in my home wifi details just like you would on a
phone. Then with apps like kies you can link to any other android phone or
vice versa. The family windows box isn't turned on most days and when it is it
just continuously downloads updates and spins the hard disk.

~~~
vetler
Any links? Where did you get it?

~~~
nl
DealExtreme always has a few different ones for sale:
<http://e.dx.com/albums/201207/android-4.0-mini-pc/index.html>

------
generalk
I've said it before, but to make the Nexus Q _awesome_ : give it Google Now,
and have multiple users able to set up their own Google accounts on it.

I don't want an Android console, I don't need something _else_ to stream
content to my TV, but what I do want is a couple of glowing orbs in my house
that will remind me over speakers that I have an appointment at 10am but heavy
traffic means I should leave at 9:15am. Or, using built-in mics or connected
Android devices, ask it Now-style questions and receive Star Trek style
responses.

------
pacomerh
Now that they're holding it, I sorta want one. Mad world.

~~~
kylec
[http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=google+nexus+q+-cover+-b...](http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=google+nexus+q+-cover+-bluetooth+-pouch+-battery)

------
jxi
Sensationalist title, as usual. I don't see any evidence showing poor reviews.
The only people who got it are people at IO anyway, so that's kind of a small
sample. I'd say they delayed it so they could add more features before a real
launch, just so it lives up to Google's standards.

~~~
drgath
> just so it lives up to Google's standards.

To be honest, Google doesn't have a great track record when it comes to
initial product releases. They get by with it because they release early,
iterate often, and eventually develop a winner (a good strategy). But rarely
are they winners out of the gate.

If your comment were about Apple, then absolutely you'd have a point about
high standards.

