Aboard the GOOD SHIP LOLLIPOP, there's a Mobe and a Slab and a TELLYBOX Google has released its latest iteration of the Android OS, plus a triple deployment for the new software in three new devices – a trendy big phone, a slablet and a telly box. Nexus Family New Nexus family to go with the new OS Android 5.0, codenamed Lollipop, got an extensive preview during June's Google I/O conference, …
Been looking forward to the Nexus 9 so very disappointed no 64Gb storage option, the +$80 for the few dollars worth of SSD to make for the should-be-entry-level 32Gb option, and with no SD slot, its a no go here. Had been expecting to buy one for 64bit Android development but guess that can wait a few months until something more suitable is on the market.
>So the tablet has half the storage of the phone? Why?
Tablets, unlike phones, tend to live within range of a local network and media servers etc
One survey suggested that 3/4s of iPads rarely leave the owner's house. It seems reasonable to apply this finding to other tablets of a similar size, and surmise that the tablet can call upon media over the local network.
So that's why Apple sells 128GB iPads, cause no one needs the storage?
They also sell 16GB, because everyone stores their entire collections on a tablet?
Judging by the NYC subways, not to mention every single airplane I've been on in the last 3 years, a ****load of iPads leave the house.
You're looking at the most common use case of using a tablet outside: Waiting for/on public transport, needing to occupy yourself.
What about those iPads you don't see? Judging by the UK roads, I only see a few drivers using their iPads.
Different people have different needs.
"Different people have different needs."
Well yes, exactly, that's why a 64GB or more options would be nice. No one's saying they should scrap the smaller options. (Though I'm thankful that at least we get a 64GB Nexus 6 - it now becomes a viable option for my next phone, which I'd like to store my music on.)
I don't what ipad users do, but one of the most obvious uses for a tablet is for playing videos - there's a reason why in the 2000s, tablets were instead often called "media players". At home, I have a 42" media player for watching videos - a tablet's strength is its portability.
One survey suggested that 3/4s of iPads rarely leave the owner's house. It seems reasonable to apply this finding to other tablets of a similar size, and surmise that the tablet can call upon media over the local network.
While it's true that most pads never leave to home, wifi in the home is often pretty patchy so local storage is a good idea for many. Can't help thinking Google has missed a trick not going head to head with Apple on storage but with significantly lower pricing. For watching films an 8.9" screen is better than an I-Pad – it's just as wide but doesn't need to letterbox the film.
And...?
What exactly is 64bit going to achieve in a 3Gb RAM environment?Don't get me wrong, if there are actual real world advantages to be had them I'm all over it, but it looks to me - for now at least - like it's just a pissing contest between Apple & Google.
64-bit ARM refashions quite a lot of the architecture so as to achieve advantages quite distinct from just having a larger address space. Including:
• approximately twice as many integer registers (28 general purpose versus 13);
• more, and wider, classical floating point registers;
• double precision SIMD; and
• better synchronisation primitives.
There are also some performance-oriented subtractions. ARM used to be famous for making every instruction conditional and allowing each to include a barrel roll. Both of those things are gone in favour of a shorter pipeline.
Also, AES, SHA1 and SHA256 are now implemented in hardware.
There's also the nature of both Objective-C and Java: they're both objects-on-the-heap languages with object types like Integer or NSNumber that are often used just to wrap primitive types like int.
Apple uses 64-bit support to implement tagged pointers: pointers that aren't correctly aligned, i.e. are identifiably not actual valid pointers, actually directly contain the data. So e.g. a 64-bit pointer to an NSNumber that contains a 32-bit value is actually the value itself in the pointer plus some meta content. Nothing is put on the heap. That tagged pointer then effectively gives life on the stack to objects without affecting the semantics of objects on the heap. Which, besides anything else, is good for avoiding page faults. I assume ART will or does do something similar.
So the 64-bit pointers provide benefits unrelated to simply being able to point to a wider area, potentially for both of the main platforms.
This being a technical site (sort of) you are supposed to infer the consumer advantages.
The points made above mostly relate to improved performance meaning speeding up actions for more responsiveness or increased battery life. Faster SIMD instructions are useful for aspects of image processing and 3D imaging for instance, sometimes considerably so. Applies to simple everyday camera functions such as time it takes to process an image meaning can offer faster burst modes, HDR, anti-shake and other automatic processing to yield better images (of course GPU or custom silicon can factor in here too).
There are a few memes around about 64 bit somehow offering few processing advantages, hopefully most people here understand that's a myth from early days of AMD/Intel x64 and not applicable nowadays to either x64 or ARM.
And once dust settles, likely not much of a cost issue here either.
ThomH wrote:
There are also some performance-oriented subtractions. ARM used to be famous for making every instruction conditional and allowing each to include a barrel roll. Both of those things are gone in favour of a shorter pipeline.
Yes, they've destroyed the beauty of the original 32bit ARM instruction set, the 64bit set has no character and could be anything. But then who actually programs in assembler any more to notice such things.
The estate of Philip K. Dick kicked off when the Nexus One was launched in 2010. The replicants in Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep (filmed as Bladerunner) were called Nexus 6s.
Given they are still calling things Nexus I'm guessing they sorted it out, but a quick Google didn't get me any details.
Just point a perps face at a mobe, and hey look, it unlocked.
I can see a potential use for hacking the code whereby it also recognizes a particular expression. If they try to force you to unlock it the appropriate expression would automatically scramble everything inside to ensure it was unrecoverable. The hard parts are of course training it and picking an expression that you won't accidentally make when goatse'd.
I'm using both a 4 and a 5. 1 charges while I'm out using tother, then I swap back and forth.
The 4 is still solid. I didn't "need" to get the 5, but I "wanted" it. I find myself pining for a 6 now.
Oy, Ubuntu, where's my phone, bitch?!?! Take. My. Money.
I may have missed it but when did Apple release a smaller phone?
In any case, Google isn't competing directly with Apple. It uses the Nexus models to showcase Android and its online services but leaves the choice of form factor to the market. This is what led to the oversized phones in the first place, which the market loves.
Now that Android L is out, the next Nexus is presumably going to be a wearable.
I switched from a Nexus 4 to a Nexus 5 - its a substantial upgrade in my opinion. The screen is dramatically better (crisper, brighter, larger) and the performance is significantly improved - 1 year after getting mine, and everything is still essentially instant to respond. Its a staggering phone for £299.
Goodie.. My N5 has been running the preview fir the last couple of months and its very impressive.
They made some huge changes to the camera software subsystem vastly improving it, better than iphone now. Full changes here.
http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/10/15/its-officialandroid-l-is-android-5-0-lollipop/
...unless you already own a Roko or similar, in which case that revolution came and went.
I was kind of interested in this until I realised Amazon aren't putting Prime on it (for now). That's currently the only shortcoming of the Roku (in the UK), as either Amazon are withholding Prime or BSkyB are using their shares in Roku to block it.
Mind you, there's now an Amazon Prime Android app, so maybe it'll find its way to Google's puck.
@JDX it's about a month old. And it's much more of a pain to install and set up than it needs to be >-(
@Richard they don't have Prime on Chromecast either, so it's probably a control thing. But I wouldn't rule out incompetence as it took them years to get it to Android.
I've enjoyed my nexus 7, so much so that I will be looking at this new tablet very serious
This winter, and while I'm not on the mainstream bandwagon for a smartphone, the nexus 6 will get a close glance. I would love to have a phablet, but its a catch 22 you know, for a tablet I want the size, for a phone, no. I'm seeing people walking around with these large phones attached to their belts and it reminds me of the fanny pack craze back however long ago, good idea but......
On top of that the potential to damage the screen and charging every day or two, I just don't know.....
Anyone else has the same concerns and have taken the plunge?
Part of me doesn't even care about the spec, I've wanted a Nexus 6 Android since it first became apparent how the devices were being named.
I'm totally sold on the Nexus line regardless of the name though, I'm still using my N4 which I bought just after the first stock shortage and for me it's still better than any of the competition, runs everything I want and with no noticable lag or issues. Granted, after 2 years the battery needs a charge at least once a day if not twice, but I've generally carried a USB cable for years anyway. The fact that the vanilla version of Android as it was intended (i.e. not filled with bloatware) is pushed out to my old phone within days of release means that it essentially stays slightly ahead of most alternatives with no additional cost to me, fine there are some gimmicks in the latest Samsung but there's nothing I want to do with it that it won't let me. I don't think switching from an HTC or Samsung equivalent would change anyone's world massively, but I certainly wouldn't want to go back to one. There's a reason that most (n.b. Most, not all) people who have bought a Nexus device stick with them and rave about them. They're good. They work as intended and that's mostly down to the fact they are the built for the software that's on them with no external additions. This is one of the things Apple fans appreciate about the iPhone, while I personally don't get on with iOS it cannot be denied that it all works very smoothly and that's because the hardware and software has all been specced and built by the same people.
I'll undoubtedly give in and get an N6 at some point, I'm a geek and the name alone is irresistable, but I'll do it when my phone needs replacing due to wear and tear which so far looks to be some way off.
We use Ordnance Survey maps a lot (Memory Map application) and the 1:25000 and 1:50000 maps in HD take up 39.2GB. That's the main reason I have the 128GB iPad. My wife has a v1 iPad (my cast-off) and we wanted to replace that with something Android-ish.
I had high hopes for the Hudl2 - but max 32GB MicroSD - and I had high hopes for the Nexus 9 - but max 0GB MicroSD. So that's just blown away two potential Android devices for us.
Back to the drawing board.
I too am a 'would be customer' who is completely put off by the lack of an uSD slot. the OTG option is a clunky workaround at best, and in reality, completely unworkable for me - I'd either forget the cable, or not have it on me when I was given 3 hours notice to get to the airport.
Same argument for lack of swappable battery for the '6, though with a 15min boost charge, I might be able to make it work.
Actually no, on second thoughts, the amount of times having a fully charged spare that can be changed in 30s has saved my bacon is too many to count. Typically when I've landed somewhere that nobody speaks English and google maps is the only thing that can get me to my destination with no hassle.
So no deal. Which is a pity because I've always wanted a Nexus and its lack of bloatware.
Samsung Note 4 it is.
"USB OTG and a memory stick?"
Not an option since using OTG blocks charging, and since using OTG puts additional load on the battery, this is one place where it's NICE to be plugged in, only you can't.
I also insist on removable batteries. Not only is it a safety feature in case the battery becomes faulty or a pull is needed to reset a device, but it allows for aftermarket upgrading if you don't care about bulk like I do.
Had the Nexus 4, currently have and love the Nexus 5 but would have upgraded to the 6 but the screen is just too damn large. I like to be able to use a phone single handed (not for that reason) so I think this one will pass me by...
Luckily the Nexus 5 is still a solid phone, and the previews of lollipop on it appear to have gone well.
The TV box looks interesting though, guessing I'd be able to install the Plex app on it?
The 6" is just too big, the Nexus 5 is as big as I want in a phone.
4:3 aspect ratio makes video playing crap, why have all those lovely pixels and waste a good chunk of them when you're using the damn thing?
Only good point is the forward facing speakers. Despite what this review says, you're less likely to annoy everyone else with the speakers facing you than the back of the head of the person in front.
Looks like my 1st gen Nexus 7 is safe, and my phone will be with me for another year, at least.
why ideal? In order to achieve the 4:3 ratio, the screens aren't made bigger, all that happens is that the longer edge is reduced. This means that, when viewing landscape, the vertical size remains the same, but, the screen is narrower.
On what planet is less screen real estate better?
Unlike iPhones and iPads, which seem to get slower each time they're updated until they have to be replaced, the 2012 Nexus 7 is about to get its second major Android update which will speed it up (as for the Nexus 4). I think this is fantastic support for devices which, after more than 2 years, other manufacturers have abandoned.
I'm a big fan of Google's Nexus line, but unfortunately the 6 is too big for me.
Dead right. My only iThing was a 1st gen iPod. Apple couldn't drop OS support for it fast enough and apps disappeared just as quickly. Nexus all the way from then. My iPod is now a permanent in-car MP3 player.
BUT my N5 is great and I don't need a phablet. And the lack of SD in the N9 is very silly. Expecially as they are not doing a 64GB/128GB model to make 300% extra profit as Apple do.
These are Nexus devices. Expecting an SD slot in any of them is - well, I won't say silly, let's go with "optimistic in the extreme". And no matter how much we complain about it, that is how it's likely to remain.
Google want you to put everything in their cloud. Giving you expandable storage in their devices doesn't help with this. The USB OTG solution works for me on the very rare occasions that I need it, but if you must have a micro SD option then a Nexus device isn't for you, and probably never will be.
From watching the NVidia events in on the K1 it appears to wipe the rest of the chips aside.
This Nexus 9 might be the one to get me out of the iPad cycle (I only have an iPad 2, but you know what I mean). I get the feeling that this new K1 will crush the new iPad.
And yes I know it's not all about the power for most people, it is for me.
Um... android has supported that for quite a while now. The multi-user is for allowing two people to share a phone ("roommate, hand me your phone real quick") without sharing the data on the phone.
It also now has a guest mode, which is great - I have a stack of outdated devices I hand out when we play chromecast games and such, but with this I can just set our 'real' devices to guest mode and let visitors use them. (After an incident, we split out the guest network and chromecast is too dumb to handle the passcode login page, so it only talks to residents.)
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