No Verizon Partnership For Google's Nexus One 206
starglider29a writes with news that Google and Verizon Wireless have abandoned plans for a partnership that would bring the Nexus One to the carrier's network. "Without a Verizon partnership, Google loses access to the carrier's more than 90 million customers, potentially blocking the phone from gaining more widespread popularity. The breakdown of the deal signals Verizon may view Google as a competitor rather than a partner when it comes to Nexus One sales, which are probably at less than half a million since the phone's January debut, said BGC Partners's Colin Gillis." A Google spokesman said, "We won't be selling a Nexus One with Verizon and this is a reflection of the amazing innovation happening across the open Android ecosystem." In a brief blog post, Google recommends a similar, Android-based phone from HTC for customers who want Verizon service.
A big flop (Score:4, Insightful)
No shock there... (Score:5, Insightful)
The HTC Droid Incredible has a better reputation anyway: its faster, and has HTC's UI enhancements not present on the HTC Nexus One...
So why should Google put its name directly on an inferior phone through Verizon when there is a better HTC phone available soon on Verizon's network?
Re:No shock there... (Score:3, Insightful)
Google (Score:3, Insightful)
What does Google think the Nexus One is it's version of the iPhone? I own a Nexus One and I love the device, but Google is being morons the way they are holding onto it. I should be able to call my carrier for support, especially since Google is absolutely clueless on how to give customer support.
Re:half a million? (Score:3, Insightful)
It's one out of dozens of Android phones, each model with it's own features and price ranges.
Steve Jobs has been quaking like a motherfucker (and not in the fun way) if the reports of his Google tantrums are true...
Re:Open? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:No shock there... (Score:3, Insightful)
That is the single problem with Android phones.
There is no consistent user Interface. HTC has one Interface, motoraola another, Google yet a third. how can droid hope to compete with the iphone if users can't expect the same interface on all models?
let alone some models have horrible interfaces which will put end users off on the entire line. you use a motorola droid and hate it. you will think twice about picking up an HTC android model even though the HTC is superior.
Great! (Score:5, Insightful)
Basically they are reaffirming that Android is not to become a "hegemony". Google is there to provide only visionary products to push the manufacturers.
Google's Purpose with the Nexus One (Score:2, Insightful)
The Nexus One is not intended to be a phone for the masses. It was made as a proof of concept for the Android OS. It's purpose is to act as a standard reference point. Remember how over the last 2 years, every phone has been compared with the iPhone? Google's goal is to get everyone to compare new phones to the Nexus one. It is Google's goal for all Android phones to be AT LEAST AS GOOD as the Nexus One--the idea being that, "since the Nexus One is good, so this new Android phone must be great!" After a year, when all the Android phones get to be a little too good, Google will develop the Nexus Two, or whatever they plan to call it, which will act as the new reference point.
So NO. Verizon will not get the Nexus One. The Droid Incredible is better anyway, and Google is getting their OS out in the wild.
Re:half a million? (Score:4, Insightful)
Apple has (for all intents and purposes) one phone on one carrier.
Some of us [tesco.com] live [o2.co.uk] in [vodafone.co.uk] Europe [orange.co.uk], you insensitive clod!
Re:A big flop (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem is that you don't get the advantage of having an unlocked phone, which ought to be portability.
The ideal situation for me would be a world in which I buy my phone, and sign up for monthly service with my carrier. If the carrier sucks, I can cancel my service and go to another one without paying any penalties.
That doesn't work for lots of reasons. Some of those reasons seem to be policies that deliberately create lock-in (termination fees, even if you buy a phone for $579!), and other reasons seem to be reasonable technical realities (T-Mobile and Sprint use different kinds of networks).
The government has imposed number portability on the carriers, and that works well when your contract is up. But we still live in this 2 year contract/carrier subsidized phones/early termination fees universe.
I get dropped calls on my iPhone every day, too. And it would cost me a fortune to leave.
Re:half a million? (Score:3, Insightful)
I suggest you look at Apples sales numbers. I dboubt that Jobs is shaking at all.
Planning yes. Shaking I doubt it. It is hard to be terrified when your sales are up and you have Billions in the bank.
Re:Shhh.....don't look now...... (Score:4, Insightful)
As a former Sprint customer, I can say with certainty that they're network is utter shit.
You say SAY that all you want, but it just means you don't know what you're talking about. Network quality depends MIGHTILY upon where you are. In some places, Sprint is the best, in some, the worst. The exact same can be said of the other big three in the U.S. I went from Verizon to Sprint and my call quality went up, and I've never had a dropped call since, although that also depends partly on the handset you're using.
Re:No shock there... (Score:1, Insightful)
Oh you poor brainwashed person, do you really think that the carriers actually sell it to you at $99? Noooo.... They sell it to you at something over $2000. Once you calculate the TCO of the damn device.
Please explain to me how the TCO of the Nexus winds up lower when you have a higher initial purchase price for the handheld and pay the same monthly fees as a Droid/Incredible/~insert favorite non-Nexus Android device here~.
Re:half a million? (Score:2, Insightful)
bingo. Android marketshare is going way up, and all apple has is hype. Now that they've locked down the codebase, they're slowly bringing the DRM to the masses. Patent infringement lawsuits [pcworld.com] are a sure sign that apple knows they're fucked [techdirt.com] real soon.
Apple is a master of spin, not unlike MS, but when you try to bring policies like the RIAA (restrictions of what you can do with something you purchase) people are eventually going to adapt and just move on altogether.
Re:half a million? (Score:3, Insightful)
It's one out of dozens of Android phones, each model with it's own features and price ranges.
Steve Jobs has been quaking like a motherfucker (and not in the fun way) if the reports of his Google tantrums are true...
Contrary to common misconception here on Slashdot, iPhone far, far outsells *all* Android handsets combined.
One thing that people often bring up is Android's rate of market share growth, as though this growth is sustainable. The first problem is that such growth is, by its very nature, unsustainable. If it were, there would be trillions of Android phones in no time. The other problem is that few people look into the reason for the growth. With Droid, Nexus One, and Incredible, Android handsets are finally at a point where they are at least somewhat respectable competition for the iPhone in the mass market, so it's natural the number of units being sold would increase at a rate faster than before.
The notion that Apple, or Steve Jobs, are "quaking like a motherfucker" is absurd. iPhone is the leader. And even if Android makes it onto more total phones, the market is fractured, which will still leave Apple in the top spot between Android handsets and iPhone for a long time to come. This is the same dynamic that has Apple as the number four (sometimes number five) PC maker in the US, even with only around an 8% market share. Further, Apple is number one in terms of profits. In other words, HP and Dell would rather trade places with Apple, than the other way round.
In the smart phone market, companies like HTC and Motorola may see increased profits due to increased sales of Android phones, but each and every one of them would similarly trade places with Apple in a heartbeat if they could. If Android is bound to knock Apple off its perch, it's going to take many, many years.
So, do explain why you'd think that anyone in Apple's position would be "quaking"?
Re:No shock there... (Score:4, Insightful)
What choice do you have with the iPhone? None.
What choice do you get with Android phones? Several different interfaces.
Re:No shock there... (Score:3, Insightful)
The problem with having a vendor-added enhancement like SenseUI is that it's vendor added. Any enhancements to Android have to be filtered through the vendor before you'll see the upgrade. Unfortunately, they're always developing new phones, moving on to bigger and better things, and may abandon or at least only pay partial attention to the phone you love. The Incredible is "The Shit" now, but what about when Android 2.2 comes out? What about 2.3? If HTC decides to call it a day, you're stuck with no recourse but to maybe do a firmware hack and hope for the best.
The major benefit in the Nexus One, is that it's just Android, straight from the lion's mouth. Provided Google doesn't get all crazy dropping backwards compatibility, you could keep upgrading the firmware almost indefinitely because you don't have to wait for the manufacturer or vendor to port all of their tweaks to the new version.
Re:half a million? (Score:2, Insightful)
You've got to be kidding me. Because he sat on the board in the past he's never allowed to build a competing device?
I wouldn't go that far. However, he was still on the Apple board at the time Google introduced Android.
Re:This is why.... (Score:2, Insightful)
...the iPhone is still not on Verizon, nor is it likely to be in the near future. Verizon, like Apple, is all about control.
Of course, it has nothing to do with the fact that Verizon does not have a GSM network, meaning that Apple would have had to build two different models of iPhone--one for the US market and one for the rest of the world--and that iPhone users couldn't use their phones internationally if they chose. No, it must all be about control...
Re:half a million? (Score:4, Insightful)
Beyond that, you claim the growth is unsustainable. This is a relatively new and evolving market segment. A lot of share has been ceded to Google by MS and Palm, but so far only 'potential' share has come off of RIM and Apple. You think it's impossible for them to lose any ground? They can grow forever but Google can't even keep growing through the end of the year? I sense bias.
Oh and the Apple profits that you vaunt are a direct result of gouging the consumer. Margins like that can't proceed from high quality hardware. Apple sells mediocre crap and an image brand for heinous markup. Only so many people will be duped by that, which is why Apple has a completely flat line of market share in the computing world. They've been at 'around an 8% market share' for years .
Immigration (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:No shock there... (Score:5, Insightful)
If you are more interested in Android as a platform rather then fixated on handset spec sheets (or engadget 'articles') the Droid is just not better enough to be interesting.
Nexus advantages:
* ROOT ACCESS INCLUDED. Sure, you can hack the Droid - but the manufacturer doesn't want you to own your device.
* The N1 is the current "reference" handset, meaning everything targets the N1 first and is well tested against it.
* You get your updates from Google, not whenever Verizon/Motorola get around to it.
* If you decide to get your updates elsewhere this is cool too, as your reference device will be compatible with any custom ROM you can find.
* It runs vanilla Android. Carrier/manufacturer embellishments are at best pretty; on average are broken; and at worst cause fragmentation.
For these reasons The N1 remains a compelling choice even against the new class of just-announced Android "super phone" devices, and will likely remain the smart choice for quite a while. The Droid is just another android phone.
Re:A big flop (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't think the success or failure of the effort depends really depends on how many Nexus One phones get sold. Google isn't trying to compete with Apple as a phone manufacturer, they are trying to prevent any one company -- whether its Apple, RIM, or anyone else -- completely dominating the smartphone market, because that's what keeps open, web-based services (like Google's) important for the smartphone platform, whereas if any single proprietary system dominated smartphones, that system's owner would be able to serve as a gatekeeper to services available on the platform, and that is a threat to Google's fundamental business model.
A number of Google offerings (notably, Android, Chrome browser, Chrome OS) aren't intended to dominate markets, they are intended to disrupt and prevent market dominance of closed platforms in their respective market. The Nexus One exists as part of that strategy for Android, and as long as it is drawing attention and serving as a tool to promote Android (even if most of the actual sales end up going to other Android phones), its working.