I have the same problem. Although I fully expect to see this page (even though I click on those music e-mails every time hoping they suddenly unlocked it for us Canucks)
I get those e-mails because I signed up for Google Music via a US proxy and now have access to it but I imagine I'd need to go through a proxy every time if I wanted access to the Play Music store. Needless to say it would make me feel a little better if they'd announce some date as to when we can expect it.
Both you and the parent surely already know it's not strictly Google that is doing this - it's the lovely RIAA (and/or MPAA depending on what content).
Google could do a better job making this restriction clear and isolating it to just the content that is owned by them - leaving the rest of the store available worldwide.
But I agree with pg, we need to find a way to get rid of the RIAA and MPAA. (And their Canadian counterparts. Go Michael Geist!)
You'd also need a US credit card with a US billing address if you'd like to actually buy anything. Which is unfortunate, because there are many things on the Play Music store I would buy if I could.
Add the language you don't want to see to the preferred content languages in your browser settings and then make sure it's the last one in the list. Works with most Google services and many others to stop the automatic language selection based on IP.
It feels so weird because I rely on Google Translate a lot. All from the same company :)
EDIT: Just tried it. It still feels weird. I'm in italy right now, and Google leads me to "Google Italia", but then the UI is in English. Ah well, solves my problem I guess. Thanks man!
" The unlocked Galaxy Nexus requires GSM compatible service provider for voice calling. In the United States this includes AT&T and T-Mobile. Phones purchased from devices on Google Play are not compatible with Verizon or Sprint."
Gotta love how they treat GSM devices like some sort of weird plug that only fits a few operators, and completely leave the consumer hunting for frequencies and what-not that would actually mean something for international travelers.
I was one of the (few?) people who bought the original Nexus direct from Google and haven't regretted it. While I fully support their efforts, I would love more insight into the relationship their direct phone sales will have with their motorola division.
I'm not so sure about that. They didn't give away the Nexus S (or any phone for that matter) last year, and I believe the Nexus S was launched around roughly the same time as the Galaxy Nexus was, relative to the date of the conference.
If they're giving away any phone at all, I'm guessing it might be a Galaxy S III, just because that's the only major phone that I'm aware of that's launching around the same time as the conference...
Wow. I ordered an HTC One S a few days ago but it hasn't shipped yet. It was $549- $399 is a lower enough price that it is sorely tempting. And it's a Nexus device. The only issue I have is the size of the thing.
Hmm. Are there any GNexus owners our there that can tell us about the size of the device? It's the one real sticking point I have with it.
EDIT: For anyone else that's wondering, I looked up the refund policy. They pay return shipping, but you pay a 15% restocking fee- $60, pre-tax.
It could matter if it was supported in software and ecosystem, which it more than likely won't :(. We have a lot of NFC terminals in Canada and I wouldn't mind ditching a few paypass/paywave cards from my pocket but it won't be that simple.
We have tons of NFC-enabled terminals in Italy, at least in the bigger cities. They're already used by Mastercard PayPass and Visa PayWave. If I could use my Italian credit card with Google Wallet (or even recharge the Google prepaid card) I would be doing half of my purchases via NFC.
It is quite large, but I never have trouble fitting it in my pocket (no matter how skinny the jeans). I find it quite comfortable for one-handed texting, and ICS makes texting much easier than earlier releases. Personally I think ICS will make a larger positive impact on your user experience than size could make a negative one.
For one-handed text entry, it works pretty well. There's a reason the keyboard is on the bottom of the screen. But there are non-trivial regions of the screen in the upper corners that cannot be reached by my thumb. And it's occasionally annoying -- the browser tab controls aren't reachable when I hold the phone in my left hand, for example.
That said, the bigger screen is absolutely wonderful for browsing and reading in general; I much prefer Chrome on the GNex to my wife's iPhone 4S.
It's a taste and usage thing. I find for my needs it works very well. Someone who does a lot of one-handed work (while, er, driving maybe) is going to want a smaller phone.
I have one and prefer the size. The screen is unbelievably beautiful, and I love watching Netflix on it while at the gym.
The _only_ size related gripe I have is when I am using it one handed and need to reach the upper left corner with my thumb. That's kinda tough. That and it doesn't fit in my skinny jeans.
Actually it is not, it is persistent and cannot be removed unless you use an alternate home screen replacement (like Nova Launcher). There is also a widget that you can place anywhere.
No. You can remove (with a bit of fiddling) it but to my knowledge you can't reclaim the space it takes (even if you could it would present other issues since it is much smaller than a 1-height widget).
I've played with a 4.3" Galaxy S2 recently (I have a 3.2" phone right now), and I it didn't feel large at all to me. It seemed pretty normal. I could probably go for one that is a bit bigger than that.
Also the "theory" that everything above 3.5" is too big for one-handed actions is completely untrue. I have average hands, and I could easily use the GS2 with one hand, even up to the top.
The Nexus name doesn't mean as much as it used to. Not all Nexus devices offer a pure Android experience - the Verizon version of Nexus will not have Google Wallet. In term of timely updates, the HTC Sensation received ICS update in March 2012 while the Sprint Nexus S 4G was not updated until early April.
So take that for what its worth. Don't be surprised if Google ends up allowing carriers and manufacturers to provide more customization with Nexus phones and be more lax with update timelines.
I bought an unlocked, contract free Nexus One and still ended up with un-removable useless Amazon MP3 and Facebook and Google Play Books and Google Voice apps on my phone :(
The size is extremely subjective to your needs. My dad is amazed with his galaxy note and thinks the galaxy nexus is tiny. They're all thin and weighs nothing, so after you're past the "it looks dorky" phase, they feel great in your pocket and are much easier to use than smaller phones. For visually impaired people like my dad, the bigger screen was sent from heavens. But if that's not a problem, then it's not as useful.
Before the GNexus I had the Nexus S and I think it was the perfect size for me. That said, the GNexus is big but don´t feel a monster because it is very light and thin. I have average sized hands and in the beginning I thought it was too big, but then I get used to it and I actually like it a lot when watching movies and playing games.
It's too large for me. The only way I can reach the top of the screen is to hold it on the side rather than with the corner of the phone in my palm. This makes me worried I will drop it.
I thought the Nexus S size was perfect, but the Galaxy S II is tolerable.
I came from a much smaller set of phones (iPhone 1, iPhone 3GS, Droid Incredible)... so I was also really skeptical.
For me, it's probably damn near perfect in terms of form factor. It took a day or two to get used to holding it, but after that it's been nothing but awesome. The extra real-estate is really appreciated. I'm a bit faster at thumb typing because the spacing is a bit more comfortable.
Cancelled my HTC One X preorder to await Samsung's announcement. I suspect the SIII, while likely remaining a fantastic device, will underwhelm given how astronomical expectations have become.
Is this being sold at a loss? An unlocked 16GB iPhone 4S is costs $650. If not, I'm impressed at the price point Samsung is able to achieve given the Galaxy Nexus's feature parity with the iPhone 4S. Which begs the question, why not spend an extra ~$150 per unit to really blow it out of the water, specs wise?
Even though gouranga is being downvoted for saying the same thing I'm about to, it bears repeating. Specs matter in the Android world. The faster the phone, the better your experience. This is a tradeoff of an open, general purpose mobile OS. In iOS and Windows Phone, the software is catered directly to the hardware. Faster hardware does not mean you're going to ever notice an increase in speed inside the OS.
So when people say "yes, but can it match my dual core, 1.5Ghz, whatever else flagship Android phone?", the answer is simply "it doesn't matter". That's not a cop-out, that's not a defense, that's the truth. Windows Phone and iOS are built for their hardware and always run at a constant speed. It doesn't have bleeding edge hardware, but it doesn't need it in order to run as fast as a flagship Android phone.
I can't think of much more that they would need to implement that their competitors are remotely close to having. They have multitasking, they have video, games, music, GPS, HTML5, maps, HD recording, forward facing cameras, Skype, etc.
It sounds like you're saying Android has something special that needs more hardware, which isn't true. The _base system_ needs faster hardware, because it's general purpose. An Xbox can run faster than Windows on the same hardware because it's designed for just one implementation.
Sorry, I was assuming gouranga was asking a genuine question. The question he was asking why these phones cost so much, while the Lumia 710 costs so little. And the reality is that the Lumias are running on hardware that time forgot, and better components cost more money. It's going to be cheaper to build a thick phone with a small battery, a slow processor, little ram and a small low resolution screen than it is to build something more modern. That's just the way things are, not a value judgement or a claim that everyone should have the latest and greatest phone.
So why does that 710 use low-end components? One reason is that it's positioned as low or mid-range device, competing against other cheap phones built from cheap components. Another is that there's not much wiggle-room in the WP7 hardware specs. You're going to have a screen of a certain resolution, a certain amount of RAM, a certain kind of Qualcomm SOC, etc.
Luckily for Nokia, in this case these reasons are well aligned. Unfortunately for them they're also forced to try to sell pretty much the same hardware in a different case as their flagship devices. (There are minor spec differences like the amount of flash or the exact technology used for the screen).
And yes, there are real benefits to the higher specs. For CPU perhaps not so much, but the quality of a screen is a huge selling point. A thinner phone is both a good selling point, and much more convenient to carry around. Extra RAM is always useful - on many mobile devices browsing is really frustrating compared to a desktop partly due to how little data can be cached. A better GPU can be a big deal when it comes to games (certainly Apple has managed to do well there). A phone with better specs is going to have a smoother upgrade path to newer versions of the OS.
And I don't see why WP7 phones would be exempt from this. For example, I find it hard to believe anyone could argue that at least some WP7 devices would not be much better with a higher resolution screen than the one mandated by MS. And of course the people buying a Lumia 900 now are going to be really pissed off when they can't upgrade to WP8 next fall due to being sold devices using a 2 year old spec.
The 710 is running on year-old components (which still manage to make a surprisingly decent phone); that helps drive the price down a bit. I paid HTC $500 for a phone with nearly identical components to the 710 over a year ago.
Because it's a developer phone. If the developers are all using the highest end devices they can't test how their app works on an average device, performance wise.
Tru, Simple Mobile, T-Mobile USA, Wal-Mart Family Mobile, Cincinnati Bell Wireless, Verizon, Sprint, US Cellular, Shaka Mobile, Locus Mobile, 7-Eleven Speak Out Wireless, Commnet Wireless, TerreStar, Immix, i wireless, Indigo Wireless, Airfire Mobile, Alaska Wireless, Amerilink Wireless, Cellular One of East Central Illinois, Cap Rock Cellular, Broadpoint, call4care, Cellular One, Pure Prepaid, Plateau Wireless, Asset/Vada Wireless, ASTAC, Cross Communications, Cordova Wireless, Corr Wireless, Chariton Valley Wireless, Consumer Cellular, Fuzion Mobile, GCI Wireless, Epic PCS, DTC Wireless, Earthtones, GTC Wireless, West Central Wireless, Westlink, Viaero Wireless, Union Wireless, Túyo Mobile, Simmetry, Telecom North America Mobile Inc, Mobal Freedom, Mid-Tex Cellular, KTC, Jolt Wireless, Long Lines Wireless, Pine Cellular, NEP Wireless, and XIT Communications
You are incorrect. They support GSM, since their 4g rollouts. The HTC thunderbolt was the first phone on verizon whose gsm features were supported. That being said, I copied the list from (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_wireless_...), a line wrapped on TracFone Wireless's MVNO explanation and it included those by mistake. Sorry for the misinformation.
LTE is the official "4G" upgrade path for GSMA[1]; but LTE does not automatically give you a GSM and UMTS network to go with it (neither VZ or Sprint have deployed one). This Galaxy Nexus doesn't support LTE; so this model still isn't supported on them.
[1] The industry assoc.; not to be confused with GSM, the 2G tech they supported. Often when people say "GSM", they actually mean "GSM+UMTS(+LTE as rollouts happen)"
I know several of those listed are T-Mobile MVNOs; likely most of this list is either them or AT&T. Cincy Bell is the only one I recognize that I know for sure isn't using either.
There are a ton of MVNOs that sell via AT&T and T-Mobile at superior pricing (and no contract), here's a good thread that covers most of their pricing and features:
Anyone have a sense of whether this will run better on T-Mobile vs. AT&T for the data network? This used to be a no brainer, but T-Mobile's new HSPA+ rollout seems like it puts them on top.
Can anyone please comment the weight and the size (height, width, length) of the package what you get when you order it, based on this I can calculate how much would it cost to ship it from US using service like borderlinx.
I bought one unlocked from Expansys for 600$ last month. I was really happy with the phone until today. 200$ price drop was unexpected. Event the Nexus S, which is a 2 year old phone is available for 350$ on Amazon.
I think most of the talk about reception issues on the GNex relate to Verizon CDMA version of the phone. I tried out a GNex on AT&T here - 4.0.4 has a bug that results in 3G connectivity issues - the recently released minor OTA update fixed that. Prior to and after the update, indoors I get 2-3 bars in my house whereas at the same place with my Atrix I get consistent 4 bars. But calls and 3G Data experience is similar on both phones. So unsure if lesser bars on the Nexus mean anything. Outdoors I traveled 700+ miles with it and had no issues with reception - mostly full bars, 1-2 bars in few areas but calls worked fine there.
WiFi - it is not worse or better than any other device in my house, which is to say it works well across considerable range without any drops.
I bought it from Amazon for $643 - but fortunately I was well within the return window so have returned it today for the $399 Google market version.
Anyone know if this takes standard SIM cards or micro SIM cards? Seems Verizon's Nexus takes micro, but I thought I heard the non-LTE uses standard SIM. Just want to make sure I know which to get for this...
Extremely tempted to buy this, but wondering if I should possibly just wait for the next nexus as the specs, while still nice are starting to get outdated, on an Atrix currently.
107 comments
[ 4.3 ms ] story [ 155 ms ] threadI encounter this page so often it's not even funny anymore.
Even worse, google keeps sending me emails about music albums in the Play Store and all the links in these emails show me this error.
I get those e-mails because I signed up for Google Music via a US proxy and now have access to it but I imagine I'd need to go through a proxy every time if I wanted access to the Play Music store. Needless to say it would make me feel a little better if they'd announce some date as to when we can expect it.
Google could do a better job making this restriction clear and isolating it to just the content that is owned by them - leaving the rest of the store available worldwide.
But I agree with pg, we need to find a way to get rid of the RIAA and MPAA. (And their Canadian counterparts. Go Michael Geist!)
(For search, hitting up https solves this, but G+ keeps switching languages on me.)
It feels so weird because I rely on Google Translate a lot. All from the same company :)
EDIT: Just tried it. It still feels weird. I'm in italy right now, and Google leads me to "Google Italia", but then the UI is in English. Ah well, solves my problem I guess. Thanks man!
This Galaxy Nexus is an unlocked GSM phone that will operate on more than 200 GSM providers worldwide, including AT&T and T-Mobile in the US.
Even if you don't know what a Pentaband phone is, that's pretty straightforward.
Or maybe you were trying to make a joke about how the Music store isn't available in your country.
I had no idea. I'm in Britain, all I see is Apps, Books and Movies.
If they're giving away any phone at all, I'm guessing it might be a Galaxy S III, just because that's the only major phone that I'm aware of that's launching around the same time as the conference...
Hmm. Are there any GNexus owners our there that can tell us about the size of the device? It's the one real sticking point I have with it.
EDIT: For anyone else that's wondering, I looked up the refund policy. They pay return shipping, but you pay a 15% restocking fee- $60, pre-tax.
I'm also pondering getting an HTC One S.
That said, the bigger screen is absolutely wonderful for browsing and reading in general; I much prefer Chrome on the GNex to my wife's iPhone 4S.
It's a taste and usage thing. I find for my needs it works very well. Someone who does a lot of one-handed work (while, er, driving maybe) is going to want a smaller phone.
The _only_ size related gripe I have is when I am using it one handed and need to reach the upper left corner with my thumb. That's kinda tough. That and it doesn't fit in my skinny jeans.
EDIT: Whoops misunderstood the question and gave a completely wrong answer. See replies.
How to remove it (not without complications): http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/how-to-disable-hide-goog...
It seems to be based on the standard launcher, but allows you to customize a lot of things, including the search widget.
Also the "theory" that everything above 3.5" is too big for one-handed actions is completely untrue. I have average hands, and I could easily use the GS2 with one hand, even up to the top.
So take that for what its worth. Don't be surprised if Google ends up allowing carriers and manufacturers to provide more customization with Nexus phones and be more lax with update timelines.
I thought the Nexus S size was perfect, but the Galaxy S II is tolerable.
I find the phonearena.com size comparison tool really handy. http://www.phonearena.com/phones/Samsung-GALAXY-Nexus_id5595...
For me, it's probably damn near perfect in terms of form factor. It took a day or two to get used to holding it, but after that it's been nothing but awesome. The extra real-estate is really appreciated. I'm a bit faster at thumb typing because the spacing is a bit more comfortable.
I dig it.
Why the the iPhone 4S/Galaxy Nexus cost what they do I don't know...
Does the same stuff quite happily.
Much as my 5 year old laptop does the same stuff quite happily as a modern flagship device.
So when people say "yes, but can it match my dual core, 1.5Ghz, whatever else flagship Android phone?", the answer is simply "it doesn't matter". That's not a cop-out, that's not a defense, that's the truth. Windows Phone and iOS are built for their hardware and always run at a constant speed. It doesn't have bleeding edge hardware, but it doesn't need it in order to run as fast as a flagship Android phone.
I'd go as far as saying that the software and hardware are at one with each other.
It sounds like you're saying Android has something special that needs more hardware, which isn't true. The _base system_ needs faster hardware, because it's general purpose. An Xbox can run faster than Windows on the same hardware because it's designed for just one implementation.
In short, troll more.
So why does that 710 use low-end components? One reason is that it's positioned as low or mid-range device, competing against other cheap phones built from cheap components. Another is that there's not much wiggle-room in the WP7 hardware specs. You're going to have a screen of a certain resolution, a certain amount of RAM, a certain kind of Qualcomm SOC, etc.
Luckily for Nokia, in this case these reasons are well aligned. Unfortunately for them they're also forced to try to sell pretty much the same hardware in a different case as their flagship devices. (There are minor spec differences like the amount of flash or the exact technology used for the screen).
And yes, there are real benefits to the higher specs. For CPU perhaps not so much, but the quality of a screen is a huge selling point. A thinner phone is both a good selling point, and much more convenient to carry around. Extra RAM is always useful - on many mobile devices browsing is really frustrating compared to a desktop partly due to how little data can be cached. A better GPU can be a big deal when it comes to games (certainly Apple has managed to do well there). A phone with better specs is going to have a smoother upgrade path to newer versions of the OS.
And I don't see why WP7 phones would be exempt from this. For example, I find it hard to believe anyone could argue that at least some WP7 devices would not be much better with a higher resolution screen than the one mandated by MS. And of course the people buying a Lumia 900 now are going to be really pissed off when they can't upgrade to WP8 next fall due to being sold devices using a 2 year old spec.
I think that's called Galaxy SIII. There should also be a new ~$500 Nexus this summer running Jelly Bean.
Thanks Google & France -.-
And what are the other GSM providers in the US?
LTE is the official "4G" upgrade path for GSMA[1]; but LTE does not automatically give you a GSM and UMTS network to go with it (neither VZ or Sprint have deployed one). This Galaxy Nexus doesn't support LTE; so this model still isn't supported on them.
[1] The industry assoc.; not to be confused with GSM, the 2G tech they supported. Often when people say "GSM", they actually mean "GSM+UMTS(+LTE as rollouts happen)"
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1455014
I'm pretty sure that it covers all GSM bands used by carriers in the US.
Hardware is not the cloud. They can't release new versions. google never addressed any hardware issues (3 of them) with the Nexus One they sold.
4mo and they closed the support forums.
Never a single email replied. Even via the google wallet mediation (ha!)
It just seems like there should be some logical separation of brands/experiences there. Even if it's all running on the same backend.
That said, the old name (Market) felt much more appropriate overall.
I've heard varying reports on problems in these areas, but it's difficult to tell if they are carrier-related for the 3G.
Also, is the wifi any good? I found the reception on the Nexus S severely lacking.
WiFi - it is not worse or better than any other device in my house, which is to say it works well across considerable range without any drops.
I bought it from Amazon for $643 - but fortunately I was well within the return window so have returned it today for the $399 Google market version.
Lucky...I bought mine last month for $529. Not full price or bank breaking but still a bummer.