

The Google Phone - brlewis
http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2010/01/the-google-phone.html

======
rauljara
Engadget's review: <http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/04/nexus-one-review/>

And the HN Discussion: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1032213>

~~~
logicalmind
Here is the tech crunch review, which is the polar opposite of the engadget
review:

[http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/05/google-nexus-one-the-
te...](http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/05/google-nexus-one-the-techcrunch-
review/)

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robotron
This reads more like "why I like my Android phone" than "why I like my Nexus
One".

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jasongullickson
_"I could have done all of that on the iPhone except the part about running
multiple apps the same time. Which is a big deal by the way."_

...other than being able to play last.fm in the background there isn't
anything about this that _requires_ background _third-party_ apps (seems like
everyone ignores the fact that Apple's apps can run in the background).

So I'm not sure why this is _"a big deal by the way"_ , other than maybe
because the google phone comes with only 4GB of storage so you can't take a
lot of your own music with you.

~~~
edd
I think this would be much less of a 'big deal' if you could 'suspend' more
apps. Getting a txt during a game leaving the game to reply to it and then
coming back and not being able to pick up where you left of does suck. If it
could effectively sleep the app and pick it up again properly this would
essentially remove any need for background apps for me. I do know Tweetie 2
has implemented this and it rocks.

~~~
tewks
The developer of whichever game you are referring to hasn't written the
application properly: it should offer to resume state when the application is
next launched.

The Apple model, one app at a time, makes a lot of sense, particularly in this
use case: on a device with a four inch screen, there's no need to have a game,
or most other applications, running in the background!

~~~
tshtf
I would have to disagree. Consider this case:

1) I am on IRC on my mobile device and my coworker says there's a problem with
something on server-x 2) With IRC in the background I open an SSH client to
login to server-x and check on the issue. Seeing a service is down I switch
back to IRC. 3) I tell my coworker on IRC the service appears to be down down.
4) I bring up a browser window to verify that the web server on server-x is
not responding.

... etc

This type of workflow will not work on single tasking mobile devices, and it's
not an unreasonable use case at all.

~~~
tewks
That type of workflow will not work on today's multitasking devices for very
long; the battery will die pretty quickly. I can testify to this having done
it on the G1.

For the meantime (next year or two), until batteries get better and hardware
more efficient, push notifications are a pretty good way to solve this. Why
does the handset need to keep these connections open when a remote server can
do this more efficiently, not draining the battery, and then push a
notification when an event happens?

There is a fundamental limit to the amount of information that can be conveyed
on a 4" screen. Everything else "running" in the background, in a single
tasking environment, can be taken care of by well written apps and services.
More of a pain for the developer, yes, but a godsend for one's battery and CPU
time.

------
GavinB
_If I decide I really need a keyboard (I think I do), I'm pretty confident
that some handset manufacturer will build the ideal hardware configuration for
me soon._

It's called the Verizon Droid and it's quite a nice phone. The high pixel
density screen is the envy of iphone users everywhere.

~~~
johns
Too bad the keyboard on it is no better than an on-screen version. You can't
feel the differences between the keys.

~~~
JustinM
Well that's not true. It's not as good as a blackberry keyboard, but it's
still much easier to use than an onscreen keyboard

~~~
johns
I played with one for a few hours and didn't find it any better than an OSK. I
was a longtime Sidekick user though, so I have a high bar for keyboard
quality.

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jkincaid
I suspect that these reviews are a little premature and that Google has a few
tricks up their sleeve for today's Nexus One event. Google distributed this
phone to thousands of people weeks before its launch, including some non-
employees, knowing full well that it would leak.

That's a great way to build up buzz, but at the same time it makes for a
pretty lame event. My guess is we'll see a few new apps or features that
weren't baked into the employee phones (yet).

~~~
icey
I've never really paid any attention to Google press releases; have they
traditionally been any good at having surprises at them?

Apple is the standard bearer for message control, I don't know that Google is
any good at stopping internal leaks - it seems like we know a ton more about
the Nexus One than almost any Apple product announcement already.

~~~
jkincaid
The Nexus One leaks are deliberate. No, Google may not have actually sent the
photos to blogs themselves, but giving the device to that many people just
before the holidays? It was basically guaranteed. They knew it would happen.

As far as Google's leak control, I think that they can be secretive when they
want to be. Part of that comes from the fact that they have so much going on —
you hear a rumor and it could well be related to some random research project
or internal test, etc. But I've been to a few Google events where there were
product launches that hadn't been previously rumored.

A good example is probably the Chrome launch. As far as I can remember, there
wasn't any significant buildup in rumors of a "Google Browser" in the weeks
before that announcement. Granted, the cat came out of the bag when a mailing
company accidentally shipped the Chrome comics a day early, but that didn't
come from an employee leak.

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benofsky
I think "The Google Phone" is now obviously the primary reason Eric Schmidt
resigned from The Apple Board, not Android. Just an interesting thought.

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z8000
What is the point of this blurb? It has no real "meat" nor is it a review of
any sort.

~~~
brlewis
That it is not a formal review is exactly the point. People think too much
when they write reviews. Quick thoughts are more interesting to me, because
quick thoughts dominate most people's purchase decisions.

