Liveblog: Google’s Pixel 4 (and friends) launch event starts 10/15
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Not exciting at all given that we already know everything about the phone, basically an expensive low end phone, at least Apple brings faster hardware (unfortunately let down by the awful software or rather by its stupid limitations).
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"Google’s Pixel 4 (and friends) launch event starts 10/15"
Next headline: "Google decides not to have 10/15 launch"
Next headline: "Google decides not to have 10/15 launch"
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"expensive low end phone" if you only care about specs
Google uses their phones to deliver services. The pixels are products that rely on high hardware-software integration. Their goal is not to sell you specs, but to show off new services that they want to catch on. The phones only have to be strong enough to deliver the experience. The rest of the development costs goes into software and cloud infrastructure.
On paper the Pixel 3 had meh photography specs, but the combination of the camera, the built-in DSP, and especially the software, made it the best shooter of 2018.
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Does anyone really care about new smartphones anymore?
They've plateaued. There aren't any new features that anyone really cares about. Pretty much all phones are fast/powerful enough to do everything that anybody wants to do.
The ONLY issue- STILL!- is battery life. The first company that adds 3mm of thickness to a phone and fills it with battery will win.
They've plateaued. There aren't any new features that anyone really cares about. Pretty much all phones are fast/powerful enough to do everything that anybody wants to do.
The ONLY issue- STILL!- is battery life. The first company that adds 3mm of thickness to a phone and fills it with battery will win.
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"The ONLY issue- STILL!- is battery life."
Wrong! Those damn 1-mm bezels! They're awful! The company that gets these huge bezels down to 0.05 mm will win!
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I'm more excited about this announcement than any other this year.
Finally, an end to "what we know about Pixel 4" articles is in sight; I barely care about the device itself.
Finally, an end to "what we know about Pixel 4" articles is in sight; I barely care about the device itself.
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Article would be slightly more helpful if the comment about it having an "air-gesture system" was linked to an article explaining such a thing - I had to google to find out what it was.
https://meincmagazine.com/gadgets/2019/06 ... ject-soli/
https://meincmagazine.com/gadgets/2019/06 ... ject-soli/
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Exactly.
I'm not into conspiracies, but it's fairly obvious that the phone manufacturers WILL NOT give us better battery life (and replaceable batteries), because then people would keep their phones for more than a couple years. It's crap.
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How is it that Google designs its phone with the square camera setup in the back, just like the iPhone that was released a month ago? It's obvious some industry espionage is going on (either way)...
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At a certain point form follows function and there is only so much you can do with the design.
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What's Google's return policy on phones? Just need to set my calendar to a day past then post-launch to take advantage of their inevitable $200 discount.
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I hope the Pixel 3/XL gets a big markdown after the launch. I'd buy one of those over their doomed on arrival $1000 flagship.
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I want a pixel 4XL, but will wait till a 50% discount arrives like last year for Pixel 3xl 
Buy 2 for 1 I can live with..
Iphone 11max pro prices without the same quality/SW support? No thank you
Buy 2 for 1 I can live with..Iphone 11max pro prices without the same quality/SW support? No thank you
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Google was known to be going with a square camera module for ages.
https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/11/1866 ... amera-bump
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Bestbuy has the 3a and 3a XL on sale. 3a XL is $430.
I'm waiting till Black Friday.
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Sure, but that article is only from June (4 months ago), by which point the design is pretty much solidified, as was the iPhone design. I find it weird that whatever one does (usually Apple), everyone else follows quickly.
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My phone (pixel 3) is fast enough to play game cube games! The future is here and its awesome.
I wonder when we will finally ditch our pc's and laptops.
I heard Google is working on a Dex like product for android.
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Or maybe there's only so many different configurations you can have with three cameras and a flash, and even fewer that are optimal for minimizing the space required for the camera module. So you end up with either a square (Apple and Google) or a circle (Oneplus).
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Unless there's an incredible (and incredibly unlikely) price drop on the 4XL, I'll be sticking with my 2XL.
Still works fine as a phone, still has great battery, camera still takes photos, apps all work properly. This yearly phone update cycle the companies are so desperate for us to do is not for me.
Maybe I'll get a 6...
Still works fine as a phone, still has great battery, camera still takes photos, apps all work properly. This yearly phone update cycle the companies are so desperate for us to do is not for me.
Maybe I'll get a 6...
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I'm not sure battery life is as compelling a feature as we think it is. The Motorola G7 Power has pretty much everything you need from a smartphone, a 2 day battery life and a low price, yet... it's not particularly successful. Maybe it's the weight, maybe it's the brand, I don't know.
I bought one for my mother in law and tested it out over a weekend. Compared to my Galaxy S9, it feels like identical performance in everyday use, only *marginally* worse speaker, camera and screen, but with far, far superior battery life and a much lower price.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/motorola-6-2-I ... -3-catcorr
Anyway, Apple have basically taken your recommendation with the new iPhones - we'll see if that leads to a significant change in market share.
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People, it would seem, want battery life, but not to the exclusion of other things they care about. There are a couple of extra battery options, and as for the G7 power it was a very near buy for a family member. In the end I went for the G7 plus, because there were so many little things that added up to its benefit. Had the choice been between G7 plus and a hypothetical thicker, more expensive G7 plus power, I would have bought the second without any hesitation.
What the Ars crowd wants, I guess, is an everything phone with extra battery. If you have to pick between battery and camera, battery will almost always lose in this context, I believe. Features make the selection, quality of life improvements like battery will only determine the winner of that selection (if even that).
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Well, given that I've got a 3-year old phone and I've been wanting a replacement for a while, I'm curious to see what Google announces.
I may not buy it, at least not straight away, but I want to see how it compares with the iPhone 11 which is currently top of my target list. Second to that is an iPhone 8 Plus (because it's cheaper)
Lots of people like me out there curious to see what's new and will make a suitable replacement for their current device.
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Was hoping for an upgrade to the existing pixelbook, as it's a bit underwhelming with only dual core and underclocked, but this new pixelbook go looks like a consumer device, not a developers laptop. There are so many developers with macbook pros that are sitting on the fence waiting for an excuse to jump ship, but they need hardware that is up to scratch.
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Since 2008 and my first smart phone Iphone 3G. I have kept my phones for a minimum of 3 years.
some where struggling at the 3 year mark, others were still happy.
my current S8 will be battery struggling by then. (at 2.5)
however you do not need to swap out any faster than the 3 year mark in general. decent replacement batteries would make it 5 years.
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"I wonder when we will finally ditch our pc's and laptops."
When there is no more graphic design to be done. When there's no more CAD to be done. When people no longer need complex spreadsheets. When books go out of existence. When folks no longer write sophisticated literature. When sound engineers are no longer needed. When Trump becomes Chief Meteorologist, and the National Weather Service becomes obsolete. When gamers enjoy 5 X 5.5-inch displays over 34-inch curved monitors. When work and play become so simple and dumbed-down that a miniature UI suffices to accomplish that work.
And the list goes on and on and on...
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Long time Project Fi / Google Fi customers were notified about getting a $150 discount starting Oct 21 on new phones ... man if the Pixel 4 had a Google Fi promotional deal that could stack with that discount that would be great.
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Pixel 4 looks interesting but letting Google into my home network via the router is a hard no.
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New flagships, no; but I do care about new phones when the software support on mine is about to run out.
You're right; there really aren't any new features that make a difference; at the point, everyone is just trying to differentiate themselves.
I don't agree that battery life is the only issue at hand; most manufacturers don't ship regular security updates, and too few provide full OTA images to their end users so they can perform maintenance themselves. Lack of a headphone jack is still an issue for many, and glass-back designs are still a plague on the market.
Personally, I'd rank regular security updates as my number 1 issue; battery life probably ranks 4th or 5th.
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