Be careful to check that this new Nexus 7 doesn't have any features disabled before you buy one. The tethering is entirely disabled on on my Nexus 7 3G, bought outside of any contract or carrier, as it is for everyone else (search for "Nexus 7 hotspot", although that's all after the fact, this little tidbit never featured on the Nexus 7 product page or specifications).
I can't for the life of me imagine why they did that, it's ruined the Nexus brand for me.
The tethering is entirely disabled on on my Nexus 7 3G, bought outside of any contract or carrier, as it is for everyone else
Tethering works fine for HSPA+ here in Canada using Rogers, but disables if you use LTE. Whether that is a carrier flag on the LTE signal that Rogers transmits and the Nexus honors, or some technical limitation of the device, is unknown, but just notable that it isn't that tethering is wholesale disabled.
If that's the case, I am not sure it is unless you have a link or reference, why is a computer bought specifically outside of a contract obeying these directives?
Imagine the reaction if Apple or Microsoft sold a computer which "obeyed ISP flags" to limit bandwidth or made all networking options for linking to a second computer disappear from their menus depending on the whim of an ISP.
The implications are just as bad, or even worse, for Google and the Nexus brand if what you say is true.
why is a computer bought specifically outside of a contract obeying these directives
Because your data plan exists under a contract with your carrier. Because most users would be angry if their carrier suddenly terminated their connection or layered on additional tethered data costs because of detected second-device traffic (both of which have happened).
The Nexus devices are targeted at everyperson. Not just hackers and rogues.
No-tethering flags exist because wireless resources are actually a finite resource, and because carriers desperately rely upon certain usage models which is basically that you overbuy and underuse, which tethering tends to significantly offset. Should they? Probably not. But if you want tethering, talk to your carrier.
"Not just hackers and rogues", well it was billed as a premium device with the full Android experience.
It's a data SIM specifically for use as a modem SIM not as a phone, so while I understand they want to do that I don't see why Google has to go along with it. Despite all the comments in this thread unless it's mandated by law somewhere it's still on Google's head as I see it.
You are just assuming there is some contractual tethering ban. It's a data SIM designed to go in a usb 3G modem or a tablet. There's no contractual agreement between Google selling an independent computer and a telco in central Europe as far as I am aware.
Edit:
Therefore Google should prioritise me and not the profits of another company.
What's the company going to do, ban non-contract devices from their services? Another company will just scoop up all those users.
Google is disadvantaging me and trashing their own brand for the profits of another company. Nobody in this thread has produced any evidence Google is legally required to do this in any jurisdiction. And if they do have a compay-to-company contract with them it certainly wouldn't be a disadvantageous one, it would likely be a contract to do this so that the telco would have the Nexus 7 on their paid plans too. Again that's Google crippling my device for their own profits. Again it's a deception, and again it's on their head.
I don't know why people are coming into the thread here so strongly to defend huge corporations that are selling computers and Internet connections and arbitrarily cutting people off from legitimate features. All the bandwidth is metered anyway so it doesn't matter whether the first device or a second device via the first uses it anyway. Or they could readily implement shaping (as in Australia, full speed to Xgig, slower speed thereafter) and just state it openly.
There is no reason for any of this besides naked profit taking and deception.
I don't know why people are coming into the thread here so strongly to defend huge corporations...
I know my reaction when I see statements that seem too strongly worded to be rational is to play devil's advocate, to try to bring a little rationality to the conversation (or, alternatively, learn the reason why the strong working is warranted).
There is no reason for any of this besides naked profit taking and deception.
Saying there is no reason in this case assumes more knowledge of the situation than you could possibly have. Besides that, you begged the question in the previous paragraph.
So, you'd rather them offer devices that could cause you to lose your contract or that carriers refuse to activate service on? Google has to play by the rules of the carriers or they'd simply not allow the devices on their networks. What exactly would you prefer in this case? I don't believe simply ignoring the flag is an option(if they actually wanted to release the nexus 7 on certain carriers).
Either way, the original assertion that the device is hamstrung by Google in all scenarios isn't true. It's only disabled when used on networks that specifically disallow tethering.
Apple does sell devices that obey these directives, it doesn't matter if you buy it direct or through a carrier. Buy an unlocked iPhone and try to tether on AT&T without paying for the required tether-allowed more expensive data plan. Same for Facetime over data, it's up the carrier.
iOS, as well as pretty much all other smartphones, also disable tethering on carrier's request, it just disappears from the menu. This doesn't have anything to do with the Nexus 7.
It sucks and I don't know what the purpose is, given that data caps are already in place on top of that. At least carriers could be more transparent about the need to upgrade one's plan, instead of just disabling the feature on the phones.
(oh and also the Nexus devices are probably the easiest to circumvent the blocking of tethering, just root and get an tethering app)
With DPI and other methods it would be possible for the carriers to identify and block most tethered traffic. From what I've seen none of them are doing that yet. If you can enable your device to tether technically you can do it but unless you're paying for a tethering plan it is breaking the terms of service you agreed to. Most carriers are now at least identifying tethered traffic and warning customers. Some do it simply guessing on data usage numbers and some are using DPI or other methods to be more precise.
How would they know, and how would they reach into the device and make the menu options disappear permanently? My answer to Veus has the rest of my thoughts on that.
A release of Android 4.3 for the Nexus 4 fixing the Bluetooth bugs and the WiFi bugs and the battery bugs and the IPSEC VPN bugs would be nice, because frankly my previous Galaxy S2 worked a lot better, even with Gingerbread 2.3.5. Wish I'd never bothered upgrading.
It's a shame because the Nexus 7 has been for the most part trouble-free.
Not an android user, but iOS has done this to me before (3.x to 4.0). The solution back then was (try each one successively), restart device, restore device from backup, reinstall and restore data. I'd never had to go to the last level except for whey using beta iOS builds.
iOS has always been amazingly good for music and (most) video usage for me. It's when I play games that torture the device (SF4 Volt) or use a lot of wireless radio that battery is burned up.
The way Android handles multi-tasking is a battery nightmare. I get random battery drain problems constantly and have had the same issue on all 4 of the Android phones I've owned so far. I don't care about 'real multitasking' so I wish Google would at least offer an option similar to Windows Phone where you can choose to maximize battery life at the expense of background services/apps. I can deal with consistently poor battery life but these random battery drains are not something I can plan ahead for. I can leave the house with 100% and 2 hours later have a dead battery or other days have no problems at all. It's infuriating how random it is.
For what it's worth, all android battery drain problems I've had have been solved by keeping wifi / mobile data off unless I'm actually using the internet. It's just easier (albeit possibly less satisfying) than identifying & fixing the dozen apps that are each waking the phone every few minutes to check something individually. (Additional benefit: I don't get distracted from work by email/im/facebook notifications).
My Galaxy Nexus worked really, really well when I first bought it. A couple of updates later it's running like molasses despite lots of spare HD space and no random services eating RAM. The culprit is the Google services I can't uninstall and can't stop from connecting, that eat up RAM when reception is poor trying (and failing) to connect.
I wish they'd test their new OSs on old Nexus models at the very least, and why the hell can't I uninstall Google Currents..
Honestly, Jelly Bean was rushed. That awful lock screen, lag bugs, and other issues are bewildering. I guess they needed to push it out for some internal goal and have been patching it since. I really hope their QA improves with the next big update.
I had horrible issues with my nexus 7 till the most recent android update. The performance is still subpar, but it doesn't crash as much, at the least. I will wait till some people have test drived any new version of the n7 before getting it.
Don't drop the whole series based on a few bad experiences.
I have been using a Galaxy Nexus since they came out, and a Nexus 7 for almost a year (both currently at 4.2.2 via normal OTA updates). Neither has had any of the problems described.
Lemons happen. Also, these are complex machines that run complex software; malware happens too, as does innocently-perpetrated excessive resource consumption by background processes created by third-party developers that either aren't careful enough or simply missed something complex.
There's a lot of reasons things like this can happen. By many accounts the Nexus 4 does actually have serious issues in a lot of ways... of course, there are also many people that have and love this phone, too.
Don't judge the entire line based on a few complaints.
Don't worry about a few bad reviews. For each bad review there are thousands of people who don't have any complaints and don't bother to talk about it online. For instance, I've never had any trouble with my Nexus devices.
I feel really bad that I recommended the Nexus 4 to a friend, and then he promptly ran into serious wifi bugs (no notifications when the phone goes to sleep). The bug is one that Google has known about for months (when he got the phone) and it was fixed trivially in the mod community, which goes to show that Google could have released a fix for it, but they didn't care.
I used to think the Nexus line was where I would get the best support--I've had two Galaxy Nexus phones (first Verizon, then T Mobile), and the whole experience with 4.2 lag issues have made me rethink this.
The article didn't mention a spiritual successor to GOOG Reader. One interesting way to increase G+ use would obviously be to embed Reader functionality into G+. Stick a RSS feed into a circle. Of course its probably too late, most/many users already abandoned them. I went to Newsblur (and paid for it) and am pretty happy overall.
The theoretical GOOG babble product should also, in addition to whats listed in the article, include GOOG voice, somehow. GOOG must have dozens of "products" that all boil down to "send / recv a message" and I would like them to merge into one.
They should just buy doggcatcher as the best in class podcast fetcher and rename it "dogg-oogle" or something, and mush that into the "babble" or "g+" as per above.
I still have never found a place to try goog wallet on my nexus 7 in person. I have fat stacks of cash so you'd think there would be some interest in getting some of it. Most of the "lifestyle" vendors don't apply to me as I don't drink coffee or hang out in convenience stores and airports.
There is no successor to Reader, it's gone. Forever. Babel (Hangouts) is not theoretical, is very real and has been leaked already. It's just a walled garden (they threw XMPP away and went with their own proprietary protocol) so I personally would steer clear from it.
Google Babble would have been exciting a few years ago. Right now, however, I'm already on iMessage/WeChat/Skype/FB Chat/Whatsapp, which is too much, really.
Since I don't already use any of Google's chat platforms, I'm going to avoid Babble. In fact, I'm kind of hoping it fails to gain traction. I'd hate to be 'forced' to use it in the future.
I doubt it will happen but I wish Google start to refine and simplify the Android UI. It's starting to get bloated and overly complex. There's only so many buttons, long presses, drags, and gestures you can jam onto a small screen. I've been evaluating a Windows Phone device to potentially replace my Android phone and it's so refreshing to have a UI that's not jam packed with features I have no desire to use. I wish the app situation was better but at this point I'm willing to compromise there to have a more usable UI. If Google can un-kitchen sink 4.3 a bit I might reconsider.
What you seek for is a big change. 4.3 is an incremental update. Key lime pie can have big improvements in UI section, which I myself am looking forward to.
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 106 ms ] threadI can't for the life of me imagine why they did that, it's ruined the Nexus brand for me.
Edit: Thanks for the downvotes.
Tethering works fine for HSPA+ here in Canada using Rogers, but disables if you use LTE. Whether that is a carrier flag on the LTE signal that Rogers transmits and the Nexus honors, or some technical limitation of the device, is unknown, but just notable that it isn't that tethering is wholesale disabled.
Imagine the reaction if Apple or Microsoft sold a computer which "obeyed ISP flags" to limit bandwidth or made all networking options for linking to a second computer disappear from their menus depending on the whim of an ISP.
The implications are just as bad, or even worse, for Google and the Nexus brand if what you say is true.
Because your data plan exists under a contract with your carrier. Because most users would be angry if their carrier suddenly terminated their connection or layered on additional tethered data costs because of detected second-device traffic (both of which have happened).
The Nexus devices are targeted at everyperson. Not just hackers and rogues.
No-tethering flags exist because wireless resources are actually a finite resource, and because carriers desperately rely upon certain usage models which is basically that you overbuy and underuse, which tethering tends to significantly offset. Should they? Probably not. But if you want tethering, talk to your carrier.
It's a data SIM specifically for use as a modem SIM not as a phone, so while I understand they want to do that I don't see why Google has to go along with it. Despite all the comments in this thread unless it's mandated by law somewhere it's still on Google's head as I see it.
Since when has the whole Android experience included being able to ignore contractual limitations? That's a different experience than I've ever had.
Edit:
Therefore Google should prioritise me and not the profits of another company.
What's the company going to do, ban non-contract devices from their services? Another company will just scoop up all those users.
Google is disadvantaging me and trashing their own brand for the profits of another company. Nobody in this thread has produced any evidence Google is legally required to do this in any jurisdiction. And if they do have a compay-to-company contract with them it certainly wouldn't be a disadvantageous one, it would likely be a contract to do this so that the telco would have the Nexus 7 on their paid plans too. Again that's Google crippling my device for their own profits. Again it's a deception, and again it's on their head.
I don't know why people are coming into the thread here so strongly to defend huge corporations that are selling computers and Internet connections and arbitrarily cutting people off from legitimate features. All the bandwidth is metered anyway so it doesn't matter whether the first device or a second device via the first uses it anyway. Or they could readily implement shaping (as in Australia, full speed to Xgig, slower speed thereafter) and just state it openly.
There is no reason for any of this besides naked profit taking and deception.
I know my reaction when I see statements that seem too strongly worded to be rational is to play devil's advocate, to try to bring a little rationality to the conversation (or, alternatively, learn the reason why the strong working is warranted).
There is no reason for any of this besides naked profit taking and deception.
Saying there is no reason in this case assumes more knowledge of the situation than you could possibly have. Besides that, you begged the question in the previous paragraph.
Either way, the original assertion that the device is hamstrung by Google in all scenarios isn't true. It's only disabled when used on networks that specifically disallow tethering.
It sucks and I don't know what the purpose is, given that data caps are already in place on top of that. At least carriers could be more transparent about the need to upgrade one's plan, instead of just disabling the feature on the phones.
(oh and also the Nexus devices are probably the easiest to circumvent the blocking of tethering, just root and get an tethering app)
It's a shame because the Nexus 7 has been for the most part trouble-free.
It is incredible how the batteries issues are impacting mobile devices. This is an area where we need a breakthrough.
In another note I am impressed with the iPad Mini battery: streaming an Internet radio all the night doesn't consume the battery.
I wish they'd test their new OSs on old Nexus models at the very least, and why the hell can't I uninstall Google Currents..
https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=40961
I have been using a Galaxy Nexus since they came out, and a Nexus 7 for almost a year (both currently at 4.2.2 via normal OTA updates). Neither has had any of the problems described.
Lemons happen. Also, these are complex machines that run complex software; malware happens too, as does innocently-perpetrated excessive resource consumption by background processes created by third-party developers that either aren't careful enough or simply missed something complex.
There's a lot of reasons things like this can happen. By many accounts the Nexus 4 does actually have serious issues in a lot of ways... of course, there are also many people that have and love this phone, too.
Don't judge the entire line based on a few complaints.
I used to think the Nexus line was where I would get the best support--I've had two Galaxy Nexus phones (first Verizon, then T Mobile), and the whole experience with 4.2 lag issues have made me rethink this.
The theoretical GOOG babble product should also, in addition to whats listed in the article, include GOOG voice, somehow. GOOG must have dozens of "products" that all boil down to "send / recv a message" and I would like them to merge into one.
They should just buy doggcatcher as the best in class podcast fetcher and rename it "dogg-oogle" or something, and mush that into the "babble" or "g+" as per above.
I still have never found a place to try goog wallet on my nexus 7 in person. I have fat stacks of cash so you'd think there would be some interest in getting some of it. Most of the "lifestyle" vendors don't apply to me as I don't drink coffee or hang out in convenience stores and airports.
Since I don't already use any of Google's chat platforms, I'm going to avoid Babble. In fact, I'm kind of hoping it fails to gain traction. I'd hate to be 'forced' to use it in the future.
I suspect I'm no the only one thinking this.