Google Stops Selling Its Own Phone 196
Dave Knott notes that Google has announced it will close its online cell phone store and no longer sell the Nexus One smartphone directly to consumers. "While the global adoption of the Android platform has exceeded our expectations, the web store has not," wrote Andy Rubin, a Google vice president of engineering, on the official company blog. "It's remained a niche channel for early adopters, but it's clear that many customers like a hands-on experience before buying a phone, and they also want a wide range of service plans to chose from." From the Globe and Mail article: "At least one aspect of Google's attempt to disrupt the world of mobile communications — selling phones directly to customers — has failed. ... [T]he decision to design and sell the Nexus One was perhaps more potentially disruptive for carriers. ... Google plans to continue marketing the Nexus One through 'existing retail channels, essentially partnering with carriers around the world. The Nexus One web store, meanwhile, will essentially become a marketing portal 'to showcase a variety of Android phones available globally.'"
It never should have sold one in the first place (Score:5, Insightful)
Qualcomm, Motorola, and others learned this for them already. If you've got something amazing to provide to the cell phone value stream, keep away from competing with those you are helping.
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Re:It never should have sold one in the first plac (Score:4, Informative)
Bosh. I paid for my Nexus One outright, and I probably wouldn't have even looked at it if I had to stop in at one of the phone stores. Those places are sleazy.
T-Mobile has month-by-month rates. A little more pricy, sure, but you are able to switch carriers at any time. Works for me.
It's unfortunate that Google is throwing in the towel so quickly. They're spending fortunes on ads, right now, they must have the money to spare. I don't think they've considered what they're doing.
But I do love my Android phone. It could stand minor hardware tweaking. The software resources are phenomenal.
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right - they haven't considered it...
And how are they throwing in the towel? Instead of distributing the pone on the web, they will have it in countless physical stores around the world. And for those who don't like stores and want to buy online? I'm guessing that every provider that sells the phone will make it available on their website.
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They're spending fortunes on ads, right now,
You mean: The carriers and/or the Manufacturers are spending a fortune on ads. So far, I've mostly seen Droid commercials, not really Nexus commercials.
Nice try (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Nice try (Score:5, Informative)
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They are kind of new, they came along with all of the "Project Dark" talk that was going around back in October. Even More Plus plans, no contract, and $20 cheaper than the corresponding standard Even More contract plans.
Have you actually called tmobile lately to get the rates, plans you mention? I couldn't find a way to downgrade then either online, or via customer service operator.
I just switched from a contract plan to a contract-free plan a few days ago. Unfortunately there was an error on the my.t-mobile site so I had to call them, but it still only took about 10 minutes to get everything switched over.
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Bend over and pay full price
Why is paying the cost of a product associated with bending over? Are you saying that the price of the Google One was unreasonably above the cost of production?
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Maybe it's just me but I see paying over 500 dollars for a cell phone no matter how cool, bending over.
Hence why most cell phones are leased, not sold (although that word isn't used, of course).
I still don't see the bending over bit. The cell phone costs a certain amount to produce, and the manufacturer asks that plus a reasonable profit. Sure there are cases where the manufacturing costs are less than half of the consumer price, but AFAIK Google One isn't one of those.
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They are sold on contract. That is not a lease. With a lease, the phone company could expect to get something of value back from the customer, not a well used, obsolete phone.
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Also wrong.
A closer analogy is like buying on credit. You own the phone completely on day one (not leased or rented-to-own), but you are contracted to repay the costs over the year or 2 agreed. The moment you have the phone you're allowed to resell it, destroy it, give it away, whatever. But just as if you'd bought it on a credit card, you'll still be paying for it until the costs are met.
Re:Nice try (Score:4, Insightful)
Thats because you are looking for a phone.
Nexus One is in the category I like calling "Also a phone".
If you want a phone go look for a Nokia 6120 or something. Mind you 6120 is more than phone too.
With data usage on these mobile devices becoming more and more common, these things are more of an internet tablet with voice capability (vs the other way round).
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If it was just a cell phone you'd be right, but smart phones are pocket sized mobile computers. Lots of people think they are worth $500. If you don't then no one is forcing you to get one, the bending over is all in your head.
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my iphone is $70 a month with all my taxes(I have an older plan that i talked the guy into letting me keep, so i just added data)
So you save $10 a month over me, or $240 over two years. I paid $300 for my phone so $540 plus the contract rate.
You saved how much over my iphone? none, zip, zilch. not to mention you didn't taxes onto your rate only the stated price. So we are equal and i got a phone that can actually use AT&T's 3G service and not stuck on dial up speeds of t-mobile.
(note AT&T 3G's s
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(I have an older plan that i talked the guy into letting me keep, so i just added data)
Well, yeah, it's cheaper if you happen to have an old contract and a guy you can talk into letting you keep it. My father-in-law still has an original iPhone with $20/mo data plan, but that doesn't do anyone walking in off the street any good. T-mobile's 3G, incidentally, has fine speeds as long as you're in a T-mobile 3G area and using a phone with the right frequencies - which an iPhone lacks.
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So we are equal and i got a phone that can actually use AT&T's 3G service and not stuck on dial up speeds of t-mobile.
You mean that you got one of the few phones that doesn't work properly on T-Mobile's Standard 3G Network (so it reverts to Edge). What is that? A defect by design? Did you have to pay extra to get that defect implemented?
(note AT&T 3G's service is highly variable then again so is verizon's, and yes I have compared the two we did some wandering tests at my company over 600 sq miles of area In the end AT&T won roughly equal service area and speeds and AT&T came in at 40% less a year in savings.
What? No discounts? You should talk to HR. My company chose AT&T too, but had them give all of us discounted personal and family cell phone plans.
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Google never stopped selling it's own phone... (Score:2, Insightful)
If memory serves, Google stopped directly selling HTC's phone that was designed to work on T-Mobile, and is letting the carriers themselves sell it directly. Google is not a hardware manufacturer.
Of course, I am getting old... so maybe it's my senility setting in and my recollection is incorrect. :-)
Re:Google never stopped selling it's own phone... (Score:4, Insightful)
Google had significant design and engineering input into Nexxus One -- probably not as much as Apple has over iPhone, but still. Many if not most American tech companies outsource their manufacturing. If Google determines the specs and puts its brand on Nexxus One, in many senses that makes it "it's own" phone.
The carriers have won. (Score:5, Insightful)
People here know the advantages (and a few here probably bought the N1 from Google) but I think that mindset is going to be hard to change without a drastic drop in the initial cost of the hardware.
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For ATT you are always subsidizing a phone, there is no cheaper price for no contract. So by not having a phone you are throwing the subsidy dollars to waste. The only thing I can think of is finding the most subsidized phone, selling it on e-bay and then using the proceeds to buy the nexus one (in effect subsidizing one). T-Mobile does offer a discount for no con
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Even More Plus (Score:5, Informative)
Wait, what savings do you get over time from going off contract?
Unlike AT&T, T-Mobile has a discount [t-mobile.com] if you buy your phone up front.
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What if I use the substantially lower monthly payments from leasing to invest in something that's going up in value instead of going down?
Re:The carriers have won. (Score:5, Insightful)
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I agree. If they are going to give you the phone as a rent to own device then the phone payment should show up as a separate line item on the bill. Obviously the carriers don't want this because people will quickly realize how much they are paying for the phone over the 2 years and the carriers can't keep the same service rate even when the cost of the phone+interest has been recovered.
Carriers should be fighting for my business monthly or giving me really good deals to make me sign up for 1-2 years.
Re:The carriers have won. (Score:4, Insightful)
If I ran the country (and I really think I should), carriers would not be allowed to bundle the phones.
Norway has a mobile market that works a lot better than the US, and here are a couple of key reasons why:
Competition is good, but sometimes you need to regulate to ensure a free market.
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After the carrier subsidy period is over, they are mandated by law to unlock your phone if you ask. The phone is yours, you paid for it.
The same is true in the US and most carriers will unlock your phone before your contract expires if you ask nicely.
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Just some will. T-Mobile is arguably the best about this, because people either have bought their phone outright, or have to pay an ETF.
Other providers might not let you unlock your phones. I do not know if Sprint or Verizon will allow someone to do this, nor do I know if either provider would let someone have a unit on their CDMA network without their branding. They might with their "world" phones (the ones that have both CDMA and a GSM radio.)
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Another advantage of one standard for phones: No need to have so many radio bands allocated. GSM has one band. AT&T'3 3G has another, T-Mobile's has another, CDMA has theirs. WiMax has one, same with LTE, and iDen. Having one standard means that a lot of the bands can be freed up for other uses.
You also have the ability for companies to share towers. This is what T-Mobile and AT&T did, pre-3G. This way, each phone company didn't have to have their own tower in each space for coverage, but cou
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I'd vote for you. Fortunately it seems to be only America where the masses are quite so ignorant to the lie of the 'subsidy'. I have a feeling it is because you have so many different mobile technologies; if you change networks you'll generally have to buy a new phone anyway, so it is easier for the networks to force you to buy one.
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Yep. US buyers have to pay $200 + $60-$100/month for a decent phone, for "unlimited" voice & data, whether you want it or not. I'm amazed you haven't invoked your right to use those arms you bear yet.
Here (AU) I imported my Nexus One at full price, but I pay only $10/month for voice, texts & data, plus I added $5 for extra data, which (with wifi and voip) more than covers my needs. On contract I'd pay $0 + $60/m, so I'm saving nearly $500 and I can change plans or carriers or sell my phone for a new
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"I'm amazed you haven't invoked your right to use those arms you bear yet."
On who? Running around in an angry mob is pretty much useless.
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Depends on the carrier and depends on the phone. I've compared my monthly rate with sprint to t-mobiles monthly rate where there is no subsidy, and my cost is still lower, in spite of having a subsidized phone.
In general I hate the razer business model, especially when it comes to printers and ink, but for cell phones it isn't quite as cut and dry of a loss.
BTW my phone is an HTC Hero, sells for $400 without contracts in europe (I'm not even sure if you can get it that low even,) while I got it for $80 than
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I live in Australia and for $69 a month for a 2 year plan, I got a free iPhone 3GS for no extra cost.
Did sell it on eBay for $750AUD, and buy myself an N900 for $800 (not released in Australia).
The issue here in not going on the 2 year contract isn't the free phone as the lack of actual value on the actual contract. $69 a month for 24 months gives you $400 worth of calls and 1GB of data. For 6 month plan, the maximum they have is like $100 a month for $300 worth of calls and 300MB data.
Obligatory Blade Runner Reference (Score:5, Funny)
Google has announced that it will close its online cell phone store and no longer sell the Nexus One smart phone directly to consumers.
This was not called execution. It was called retirement.
Anti-Streisand Effect (Score:2)
Anti-Streisand: They announce something I never even knew was there is going away, and now that I've heard about it I want it: Inverse-publicity is still publicity.
But Business-wise this is still smart, and Intel have done the same thing before: Get into a market proving to others it's there, then step back to your core competency. It's an arguably longer term strategy than Apple's, which is to own everything. Even if that's working well for the iPhone, I seem to remember a certain Macintosh computer whose
Someone needs a history lesson (Score:5, Informative)
I'm not sure which revisionist idiot informed the general OSS/Google fanboy world that selling unlocked phones directly to consumers was somehow innovating. Nokia has been doing this for years. I bought my last Nokia phone, the E70, well before even the iPhone was out directly via Nokia's website. You can still buy many Nokia products this way, including the venerable N900.
The prices may not always be the very best you can find but at least they are a trusted source.
Try before buy (Score:3, Insightful)
You can still buy many Nokia products this way, including the venerable N900.
But where can I try an N900? I walked into three different stores today and none of them had one. Given the price of return shipping and restocking fees, I prefer to try the display, keypad/touch screen, and hand feel of a phone before I spend over $500 for one.
iPhone floor models work (Score:2)
That is wrong these days. You cant really touch a WORKING model in the stores, just plastic shit ones.
Every iPod and iPhone display model that I've seen in a store has been a working unit, not a gutted unit with no motherboard and a sticker for a screen.
Have you thinked a lifetime of a phone ? it's 2 year max.
Carriers who want to get you onto another contract after two years want you to think that. I've had my current dumb-phone for at least five years.
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Two years max? I was content with my Windows Mobile phone (a HTC Wizard) for its lifetime of over four years. It wasn't handled with kid gloves either (although it wasn't spilled on, dropped, or roughly handled.)
There is a good reason to spend that much on a phone these days. For me, a phone can do a good amount of functions a laptop can. It also serves as a functional equivalent [1] of: a MP3 player, a PDA, a GPS receiver, a SecurID keyfob, and even random stuff, such as a compass, an XM radio player,
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Have you thinked a lifetime of a phone ? it's 2 year max. It's crasy to spend 600$ just for the HW of a phone (+ stupid far&beer toy for iphonists) in every 2 years!
Not so. My Samsung i500 lasted for about 5 years. I only got rid of it because the iPhone came out, and the scratches on the i500's screen after that much use made it annoying. If the iPhone hadn't come out, I'd probably have tried to buy a used i500.
From an N900 user... (Score:2)
Seconded. Nokia simply keeps things reasonably open, moreso than the repackaged HTC phones.
The apps are out there, and you don't have to worry about stepping on someone's revenue stream(whether it be Google's or Apple's).
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Actually, here, in Europe, you can buy pretty much any model unlocked in phone shops since ... since forever. So really, selling unlocked phones directly is how it always was here.
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So there was some significance to this. I'd actually counter that you're looking a
I'm glad i got mine when i did (Score:2)
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Doesn't surprise me (Score:3, Insightful)
I imagine that they're working on a Nexus Two, so they'll eventually replace it with something else. Hopefully they get the customer service bugs worked out next time around, as that may be one of the potential reasons the device didn't sell as well as I expected it to sell.
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You may want to read the announcement [blogspot.com] again.
Actually they are going to keep selling it - just not directly, but through resellers. In fact it's scheduled to be released across Europe, through Vodafone, sometime soon.
Rumour has it that the Nexus Two is going to be a slider, made by Motorola, in the style of the Milestone/Droid.
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There is one thing the Nexus One has that very few phones don't -- rootability. Want to root a Nexus One:
Fire up adb, fastboot the phone, enter in "fastboot oem unlock", then flash whatever image you want.
Other phones have a lot of roadblocks to custom ROMs, or even rooting it. For example, read-only partitions under Linux that stay read-only even when rooted. Or having fastboot disabled and everything else signed so trying to get root access is a job in itself.
My first choice with a phone is rootability
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I don't own either a Droid or an iPhone, so I can't speak t
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I will give a concrete example of this: Motorola's CLIQ. It has fastboot disabled, and its initial root was done by a RAMDLD exploit. About a month later, it had an OTA radio ROM update. What happened is, if you had a custom ROM on your Cliq and that update went through, you would end up with an inoperable device until you flashed a factory stock .SHX file onto your phone. Of course, guess what? The RAMDLD exploit was fixed, and the phone was made unrootable. Source: modmymoto.com's CLIQ forums.
Unro
This is why (Score:5, Insightful)
All of my friends and relatives make their purchases at B&M stores because they don't have to wait or pay for shipping, they can physically "preview" their purchase, they can pay in cash instead of a paying with a credit/debit card, and it's far easier to make a return on an item. The only reason I've known them to make an online purchase is for a SIGNIFICANT discount (books, hardware, etc.), though, many B&M stores have become very competitive with online retailers.
NOTE: I am referring to the purchase of physical items in my comment. Most of my friends make software purchases online (i.e. Steam).
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Methof of sale a failure, Android is not (Score:3, Interesting)
While I it may be that their method of sale/distribution did not succeeded, the phone itself, and Android as an OS, is great. I've never owned a better phone.
There has been a lot of whining and griefing about the phone itself. I have no idea WTF all the complaints are about. I get great data and voice coverage (I hear TMobile isn't the best, but it satisfies me), and the only bug I've ever had is that the ringer sound will stop working about once a month -- I have to reboot.
The consumer had lost (Score:2, Interesting)
This is really too bad. Up here in Canada, we're stuck with disgusting 3 year contracts (the 2 year ones have hardly any discount) with egregious profiteering (world's highest text msg prices for instance) and a culture of neglect after you've bought a phone from our oligopoly of carriers. The N1, expensive as it was, really was the best option for a good, unlocked, and free (as in freedom) smartphone. Any Android you get up here will assuredly be abandoned by the carriers - after all, new firmware means le
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I got mine on ebay (australia) couldn't be happier.
Sure you pay extra 5-10% but sounds like you really wanted an N1 free of contract.
Just make sure your seller is reputable, mine had over 1k feedback on 100% so I was more than happy to buy from them.
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Sadly, I would have bought an N1 in the near future, but now it looks like I'll be sticking with my dumbphone.
Why? What's stopping you from driving down there and grabbing one for yourself? They aren't stopping sales completely, just online ones.
(That said, I'm glad I bought it for myself and my wife while they were still selling and shipping it to Canada. Saved me the hassle.)
Not a failure in one aspect: Unlocked (Score:4, Insightful)
As a high-profile unlocked phone, the Nexus One has seemed to have had an effect on carriers here in Canada.
Bell, Telus and Rogers have all been friendly about just putting a SIM card into the Nexus One and using it. I don't know if it's been an official policy at these carriers or not, but previously getting an unlocked phone onto anything but prepaid has been a pain, I was often met with resistance at the stores ("Oh no, you can't do that").
Now, even with other unlocked phones, the stores have been a lot more receptive about getting you on their network.
It may not have sold in spectacular numbers and many consumers have no clue it exists, but the reps in the stores know this phone very well.
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If it's GSM you don't need your network's approval to use an unlocked phone. At least, not in any sane country.
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Bell, Telus and Rogers have all been friendly about just putting a SIM card into the Nexus One and using it.
Er, what other option do they have? What can they do to prevent you from doing just that?
My contract is with Fido, and I definitely didn't even tell them that I'm switching phones. Just put the SIM into my new N1 - which worked right away, of course - and then requested a switch to a 3G plan through online support. They didn't ask anything at that point, either.
Opening to other markets would have helped? (Score:3, Informative)
Well, maybe if most people would not have gotten the "not available in your country or region", most people would have ordered online. I wanted one, and I am happy I did not: I tried a colleague's Nexus one, and found to phone to be ... well .. not satisfactory...
While Android is a cool thing, after an iPhone all HTC phones feel like cheap plasticky toys. And do not even get me started on the touch screen.
I am in the search for a 850Mhz HSDPA Android phone for some time and haven't found a unit that even remotely challenges the iPhone's quality. Maybe when idroidproject advances a little I can have my 2G running Android....
The 'unlocked' price was too high... (Score:2)
I have to imagine that if the unlocked price was below $400 (or even the price of a locked phone) it would of sold like hot cakes but unfortunately I think Google had too many external pressures to that prevented them from pricing it accordingly.
Instead, Google *flooded* the net with ads for the N1 hoping their marketing muscle would overcome all other obstacles.
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Yeah like, the fact that the phone costs more than $400.
You *always* pay full price for the phone. To phone companies, 'subsidy' is another word for 'monthly payment plan'.
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Materials cost alone for smartphones runs $150-200. Factor in R&D, manufacturing, freight/shipping, support, general cost of doing business (insurance, attorneys, ...), 15-20% profit margin, and a $400 price tag starts looking impractical.
Make no mistake, the price of a subsidized phone really _is_ heavily subsidized. For smartphones, carriers usually pay the manufacturer $200-300 over what they charge the customer up-front, and that's _after_ they've negotiated volume discounts.
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Just in time (Score:2)
Real Issue (Score:2)
Look, here's the real issue. If you bring your own phone in the US, you pay the same price as everyone else. In the EU almost everyone brings their own phone by buying one outright because monthly plans are MUCH cheaper that way. Only idiots or uneducated fools agree to 2 year contracts for smartphones because you end up paying much, much more per month and over the lifetime of the contract.
The US carriers have brainwashed people into thinking they're getting a "subsidy" with the 2 year contract. They're
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Needed for AT&T (Score:2)
T-Mobile has a good selection, Verizon a great selection and Sprint has several great phones. AT&T however, is crap.
Expansys (Score:2)
Phone service in the USA sucks, I get 250mb data and 50 minutes for 15 eur
I'd Buy The Phone (Score:2)
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Tethering on N1 - including working as a WiFi hotspot - is coming in Android 2.2, which, IIRC, is scheduled for release by the end of this month.
In the meantime, there are a bunch of apps on the Market which let you tether over USB if you have a client installed on the box - e.g. here's one [mobile-stream.com]. The problem is that most don't bother with Linux, and many don't bother with OS X, either. If you just want it for Windows, though, then it's all there already.
And Linux users? They normally root the phone anyway, at wh
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The price was what I had a problem with.
It was estimated the phone cost 180$ to make. If they were selling them for 360$ I would have bought one by now.
530$ is far too much for something that might last two years.
Re:While android is leading iphone (Score:5, Insightful)
The cellphone vendors will also be far happier to use Android if Google is not competing with them.
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Yes, this is the real reason that Google is stopping sales. The carriers want to feel important. People will still end up using the phone on T-Mobile most of the time, so this will affect few people to any significant degree.
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To be honest, it seemed like a bad idea from the start. But it's too bad -- the Nexus One is the sleekest and one of the most powerful of the Android phones. I really think it's sexier looking than an iphone from a industrial design perspective.
Really though, the mistake was not getting Veri
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If you buy the phone outright, you pay $50/month, if you buy it subsidized with a 2 year contract it's $80/month.
$80*24 = $1920 Buy phone outright: $529 Buy subsidized phone: $179 So if you spend $350 more now, you save $1920 later for a net gain of $1570.
It's the dirty little secret of the wireless industry. They are subsidizing the phone by loaning you
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Checking the prices on t-mobile.com, it appears the difference is $80 vs $60 so you are paying $350 up front for $480 in savings. Not sure about t-mobile, but with Verizon, and AT&T you are eligible for upgrade pricing on phones after 20 months of your contract, so assuming you want to upgrade in 20 months, it's $350 vs $400 which is $50 on $350 over 20 months, which is quite a nice interest rate compared to credit cards.
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Hmm. Here in the UK on Orange I got my phone (a Cliq/Dext - I know, I know, but it's been good to me at least) effectively for free - a SIM only package with unlimited texts, calls and ~500MB data would have been £25/month. My package, with a free phone? £25/month.
Then again, there is some serious competition in our marketplace. Not a lot, but some. Go regulated markets!
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nah. it's $10 diff between contract and non-contract plans on t-mo.
no plan: $530 phone + $60 / month * 2 years = $1970
plan : $180 phone + $70 / month * 2 years = $1860
so yeah, it works out about the same actually ... except with no plan, you have the freedom to tell them to get lost if they aren't providing the service you want.
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I've got one and it's a really nice phone, it's nice to see that rather than giving up completely, Google's just moving the sales to stores rather than killing the phone completely. It's a good phone and I'm sure people will see that when they play
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Apple will have to leapfrog what the N1 and
Not limited to Nexus One (Score:3, Insightful)
I've never seen a nexus in the wild.
It's not limited to Nexus One. I haven't seen a Maemo/MeeGo phone in the wild either. Today, to prove a point, I walked into three different local stores and asked to try a Nokia N900 phone. None of them had one. Is this commonplace for geek-friendly phones?
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They made an AT&T version of the Nexus One. I've got one here.
No discount for bringing your own phone (Score:2)
unfortunately AT&T is the only reliable service provider around here
Uh, it was sold unlocked and working with every service provider.
Unlike T-Mobile, AT&T gives no discount on the service for bringing your own phone.
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the original t-mobile version would work on AT&T with the exception of 3G data - you'd be stuck using edge for data connection. They have since released an AT&T version of the N1 which would work on AT&T 3G (and thus not on t-mobile 3G). AT&T did not subsidize this, nor do they offer a discount if you bring your own phone, like t-mobile does.
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It has whatever responsibility it's told its shareholders that it has, which isn't necessarily profit at all costs - or even profit, strictly.
Regardless, "I had to kill him - someone paid me to do it and I can't go back on my contract!" doesn't cut it.
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No one has dominated search forever.
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The problem is that when you start doing retail you have to staff like a retail company. This means you now need a call center and CSRs and all of the management staff and capabilities around doing that. I can imagine that selling in retail is NOT something Google wants to be doing.
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That's because Google is trying the spaghetti on the wall approach to product development. They come up with something half-cooked, throw it against the wall to see what sticks.
Also don't forget that until Google got into the advertising business, they nearly went bankrupt in the early days. Since then they haven't come up with a single product that could stand on its own without being funded by the massive revenue stream from advertising.