“Google on Tuesday unveiled two new smartphones, the Pixel and Pixel XL, during an event in San Francisco,” Lisa Eadicicco reports for TIME Magazine. “The Pixel will have a 5-inch screen, while the larger model will include a 5.5-inch display.”
“The Pixel is available for preorder immediately. The lineup starts at $649, or $27 per month. Verizon is the exclusive carrier partner in the United States, though Google is also selling unlocked versions directly to customers,” Eadicicco reports. “These are the first Google-branded phones that were designed solely by the company. This marks a new approach for Google, which typically outsources the design and production of its branded devices to other smartphone makers like HTC and LG. Those Google phones were previously given the ‘Nexus’ moniker.”
Eadicicco reports, “The way Google created its new Pixel devices is similar to the way Apple develops its iPhones.”
MacDailyNews Take: Now, there’s a candidate for Understatement of the Century.
I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this. — Steve Jobs
Eadicicco reports, “The Pixel will be available in three colors: Quite Black, Really Blue, and Very Silver.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Uh, Karma, when you’re done with Samsung…
Holy crap! I guess we’re not going to ship that phone. – Google’s Android chief Andy Rubin, moments after Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone on January 9, 2007
Here’s what Google’s Android looked like before and after Apple’s iPhone:
And, here’s what cellphones looked like before and after Apple’s iPhone:
People who buy Android phones and tablets reward thieves.
SEE ALSO:
Why Google really, truly, deeply hates Apple – May 30, 2014
Prior to Steve Jobs unveiling of Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android didn’t support touchscreen input – April 14, 2014
Before iPhone, Google’s plan was a Java button phone, Android docs reveal – April 14, 2014
How Google reacted when Steve Jobs revealed the revolutionary iPhone – December 19, 2013
Apple to ITC: Android started at Apple while Andy Rubin worked for us – September 2, 2011
Wonder if the Pixels include the thermonuclear batteries?
The first pic looked like a blackberry rip off, then the iPhone rip off lol.
The pixels phone is a dud. I’ll stick with my note 7, or HTC 10. Heck the LG V20 would be much better than that crap.
meh.. no go !
why do they keep insisting on doing things they cant do.
still waiting for Karma to do its thing to Google and Eric Mole Schidth … for ripping off ios.
@yojimbo
Why does Cook keep making overpriced, unbuyable products.
I’ll tell you this, the 6S is my last iPhone. I’m fed up with greedy Cook and I use the headphone jack daily. I hope you put all your money in AAPL. I can’t wait to see your illiterate ass broke and sitting in your own urine when I drive by.
👍
@yojimbo
Why does Cook keep making overpriced, unbuyable products.
I’ll tell you this, the 6S is my last iPhone. I’m fed up with greedy Cook and I use the headphone jack daily. I hope you put all your money in AAPL. I can’t wait to see your illiterate ass sitting in your own urine when I drive by.
👍
“I’ll tell you this, the 6S is my last iPhone.”
Oh please, please don’t make your make believe iPhone 6s your last make believe iPhone. We really want you to have a make believe iPhone 7 so you can say you’re fed up with Tim Cook and you refuse to buy the future iPhone 7s. After all, it’s become a tradition for you trolls to spread your make believe bullshit here at MDN. Please keep it coming.
Just unbelievable. Don’t these frigging knock off firms have a single original brain cell in their head? Copy, copy and more copy. Where’s the innovation. Just wait until the 2017 iPhone- it will be light years ahead of any wannabe.
The “innovation” is – no camera bump!! And a 3.5mm headphone socket. Wow!!
/sarcasmoff/
Yeah, they’re probably going to copy the dual-lens camera, water resistance and OLED display. Oh wait! Samsung had those first.
Now, if they can just figure out how not to use Android.
I simply don’t understand why apple gets shit for having a “boring” design when all these companies copy it constantly. Don’t those pixel phones look just like iPhones? Specifically iPhone 6-7’s?
“These are the first Google-branded phones that were designed solely by the company.”
Designed by who?
Still being manufactured by HTC though and agree the device looks too much like an iPhone.
I think the media is focusing too much on the Pixel phone itself and may not see what it actually represents. It is a phone controlled HW and SW by Google. At the surface that sounds like a ‘duh’ statement but if you look deeper this is something really powerful for Google’s future in fully integrating all its services. First up is Google Fi, Google’s Multicarrier + Wifi best signal finding technology allowing you to take your phone anywhere in the world and having your phone automatically switch to the strongest signal for true always on connectivity.
Partnering with Netflix and Hulu along with using their own YouTube services to provide 4K content in both their Daydream VR tech and their upcoming Chromecast Ultra may pull in consumers that are already invested in 4K televisions.
Giving Pixel phone owners a bonus of unlimited photo storage at full size is hard to resist for photo buffs and if coupled with Google Fi would mean practically no loss of photos taken ever.
I agree! Google F…it!
That might be all fine and dandy, but how is that going to translate to the average consumer? Most non-zombies want something that looks good, works flawlessly, doesn’t spy on your every move and offers great support. It’s up for debate if this device operates without a hitch, but it doesn’t pass the test on the other three criteria. They need to be better than the Apple experience, and they have clearly missed the mark.
It looks like an iPhone, whether that looks good or bad is subjective. Works flawlessly is still up for debate since it is not in enough users’ hands to tell yet. Spying on you is probably the weakest point and hard to deny, but a lot of consumers seem to give it up for the resulting convenience that data feeds services. As for support, the Amazon Fire like 24hr live support built into the Pixel may match what you might get at Apple Store Genius bars. For the average consumer the first pain-point of moving data from an older smartphone appears to be handled by a special adapter you connect older Android (minimum Android 5.0 (Lolipop)) or iOS 8.0 smartphones directly to the Pixel phone. From the information released, Contacts, calendar events, photos, videos, music, iMessages, SMS messages, and more can all be transferred automatically with little fuss.
The overall shape, bezels, camera placement, side button shapes, etc. look like an iPhone, but the rest is confusing. Why have large top and bottom bezels when the bottom is not being used as a fingerprint reader? That’s sloppy design. Why have a fingerprint reader on the back of the device? This is a cumbersome location, especially on a larger phone. Why have one-third of the device a mirror finish and two-thirds a matte finish? This looks cheap and unfinished.
I had two HTC high-end smartphones before going with Apple. The first HTC smartphone was hardly used because it ran Windows. The second HTC smartphone used the Android OS, and was used much more. After a year the device began disintegrating: the battery life decreased significantly, the back cover didn’t close properly, which had to be held down by tape, the power port didn’t always work, the expandable memory failed, etc. There was no HTC store to take it to be repaired.
My next phone was an iPhone 5. After about a year or so the battery life started having issues. I called Apple, and they performed a test. They said it needed new batteries, so I made an appointment at an Apple Store. They fixed it for free.
Is HTC going to open a store in my area to take care of Pixel phones? And let’s say repairs are performed by a third party vendor. Who is this third party? Can they be trusted?
I also forgot to mention that my HTC Android phone got malware. Yeah that was a fun one. Luckily, I didn’t do any banking on the masterpiece. And then after about 14 months I was unable to access the Google Store, so no apps could be downloaded. I’m pretty confident the reason was because I could never get updates on the piece of crap.
There is a reason why 30% of all iPhone sales come from Android, and that reason is because Apple does it the right way.
They are back at this again?!
Ah, who is going to provide support for these phones, Google employee’s? Support, return policy, etc. That’s a no. Google doesn’t have customer or product support. Failure out of the box.
Just keep throwing money at the wall and pray sooner or later it sticks.
Actually, yes, Google has taken a page from Amazon and has added a tab in the settings app to enable real-time chat with a Google Help agent (I’m assuming they are real Google employees) and similar to Amazon’s Fire line, allow remote viewing of your phone display to make it easier for the agent to assist you.
Google just pulled a Bill Murray “Groundhog Day” troll, except this time they engineered a much uglier and harder to use iPhone. Did Google just “jump the shark”?
Why spend the R&D money to create and innovate when you can just sit back, simply copy after all the heavy lifting has been done, and let U.S. Judges speciously exonerate your thievery & letting you off scot-free.
Now I know where the blue iPhone 7+ went.
But it’s uglier than I thought it would be, and they reneged on all the cool stuff.
Pass.
Googles Android partners must be thrilled at the idea of getting screwed by the mother-ship while they are getting crushed on the high end already by Apple. Karma indeed.
This is all about data collection — has absolutely nothing to do with providing customers with a great product or user experience. And all those photos you are letting them store for you? They will be scanned and run through face recognition and place recognition. Oh yes, and people think big government is bad – wait, big corporation will be fat worse.
Quite black? – Really blue? – Very silver? – It’s an iPhone knockoff!