This year’s Google I/O was different in a sense that for the first time Google has stepped in hardware business. While one of the product Nexus 7 is really the best in its world the other one named Nexus Q is really a mystery. Mystery in a sense that you will have a mix feeling if by any mean you decide to purchase it. Because you will never have a clear idea about the purpose of the device and why there is need for this and that at a very high price. So lets take a look at it and I will try to solve the mystery that is Nexus Q.
Basically it is beautiful, sophisticated device that you simply can’t resist liking it. It is spherical in shape which is a bit odd as well. But none the less it is physically very well designed and feels awesome to Eye. But that’s where it actually stops because when you try to figure out how much it is useful you seem to be kind of lost. Google is hyping that it is the first of its kind social media music streaming device. By social means that your friends that have Android devices as well can play their music using your Nexus Q device. As more and more friends start to play their music you can built a playlist that not only includes songs of your choice but also of your friends’s choice. But apart from that how exactly it works and what does it includes?
As you can see its an amazing looking spherical shaped device that is more appealing to eye than it is to your heart (and pocket). It has 16GB of internal memory and 1GB of RAM and runs on Android Ice Cream Sandwich. It can output via HDMI and via standard audio/video cables. You can connect it to your large screen LCD and to your speakers directly if you are more of a music fan. To operate it needs an Android device. You will download Nexus Q application on your Android phone or tablet. Tapping it once on its upper elegant and well finished surface will start it and then you will open Nexus Q application on your Android phone or tablet and control it from there. The connection between Nexus Q and its application on your Android device is established via Bluetooth. Once connection is established you can sit on your bed or couch and control everything from there. Your friends can join in to make this experience more social for You.
But there seems to be a problem with almost every aspect of this cute little gadget. First and foremost it is not clear the purpose of the device and why it is so highly priced. The 299$ price tag is just too much especially when Apple TV is mere 99$ and can be more useful then Nexus Q. The 16GB internal memory seems good but you cannot fill this with your music. You cannot add any of your MP3 or Video collection to this storage and everything must come from Google Play. We all know how limited Google Play is especially when it comes music and movies. Although the sound quality is very good but you need an Android device to operate it while on the other hand Apple TV can be operated using anything that has iTunes or iOS on it. Furthermore although Google claims that any Android device having Android 2.0.2 or higher can operate it but that does not seems to be true. Engadget reports that their tests have shown that device is operable by latest version of Android i.e. Jelly Bean only. Google may be fixing this but so far the problem exists. This problem so far is limiting the social media part of this device as well. Because there are only two devices that are running Jelly Bean so far, they are Nexus 7 tablet and Galaxy Nexus and not all of your friends who happen to be Android fans will have one of them.
With all these problems its hard to understand the usability. If it is targeted towards Apple TV then it lacks greatly in content as compared to Apple TV. And also Apple TV is much easier to use and have plenty of content to make 99$ justifiable. But on the other Nexus Q can only consume content from Google Play which is very limited and there is a hefty price tag over it.
