After the announcement of Google’s Nexus Q media streamer, our good friend and former Gizmodo chief Brian Lam had an interesting thought: the Nexus Q is necessary, but too overblown for the audience its trying to capture. Does that seem reasonable or crazy to you? [Twitter] More »
We’ve spent some time with Google’s new media Orb, and put our eye-orbs all over it. It’s a funky little device, but is it funky in the right ways? More »
This week we’ve gotten our first look at the Nexus Q, a device that’s made to be Google’s “first social streaming media player.” This device has been revealed in its final form at Google I/O 2012 where attendees will all be given the device for free in their very own Developer Pack. This device is made to be a hub, running Android, for all of your Android devices to connect to and push media galore to your home audio system and/or HDTV.
You’ll see the following hands-on demo video working with the Nexus 7 tablet, another piece of equipment revealed by Google this year also as part of the Developer Pack. This device is made to be the perfect companion for Google Play and all of its many bits of media in a way that requires not only a speaker system, but another Android device as well.
What you’ve got here is a magical looking undeniably heavy little spherical device that’s got half a sphere dedicated to turning the volume up and down (as well as a few other functions) that’s accented with a bit of color-changing action as well. This device connects to a series of audio and video outputs including 4-channel speaker-system devices and 1080p HDMI devices as well. You’ll be able to have several devices adding songs or videos to a list or you can control the device with one device on its own.
The whole device has a capacitive touch sensor for muting as well as off/on, you’re working with a Texas Instruments OMAP4460 (dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 CPU and SGX540 graphics core) inside, and both 1GB LPDDR RAM and 16GB NAND flash memory under the hood.
Have a peek at the hands-on video and photos above and below and also check out our Google I/O 2012 portal for more Google developer action all week! Also hit up our Android portal for all kinds of developer news throughout the week and the future as well!
Google Nexus Q hands-on is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
What is the Q? Well, it’s a ball… a ball that plays music. And videos. And it also lights up. It’s what Google is calling it a “social streaming device” but what’s most important is that this is finally the realization of the Android@Home standard that was unveiled last year. While the styling is what’ll immediately grab you, it’s the functionality that Google thinks will rock your living room. Join us after the break for our first impressions of this category-defying device.
Gallery: Nexus Q hands-on
Continue reading Nexus Q social streaming device hands-on
Nexus Q social streaming device hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 16:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We generally have to wait for a device to hit the FCC or wind up with the likes of iFixit to see it thoroughly dissected, but Google has changed things up a bit for its new Nexus Q media hub. It’s provided Wired with a complete teardown of its own that breaks the Made in the U.S.A. device down piece-by-piece with attention to every little detail. Hit the source link below for a closer look at what’s inside the orb.
Update: There’s no pictures to be found, but the Q has now coincidentally just hit the FCC. Those curious can peruse the listing here.
See Google’s Nexus Q dissected piece-by-piece courtesy of Wired originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 15:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Google’s IO Keynote wasn’t all about Jelly Bean: the company also had some slick new hardware to demonstrate in the shape of the Nexus 7 tablet and Nexus Q media computer. The ASUS-made Nexus 7 came as little surprise, a 7-inch 1280 x 800 tablet running Jelly Bean on a Tegra 3 processor. As for the Nexus Q, that takes a little more explaining.
The orb-like gadget is part headless-phone – running Android, of course – and part Apple TV alternative, hooking up with HDMI to your TV and throwing in speaker connections too. It can be used as a media streamer, pulling in content from YouTube and other cloud stores such as Google’s new movie purchase system, as well as a communal jukebox of sorts, with a shared playlist accessible from Android devices. It’s priced at a hefty $299 and will ship in 2-3 weeks time in the US.
One such Android device that could control the Nexus Q is the Google Nexus 7. The tablet ticks all the spec-sheet boxes – it has a 1.2-megapixel front camera, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, 8GB/16GB of internal storage and 1GB of RAM, all in a 198.5 x 120 x 10.45mm form factor weighing 340g – but comes in at $199 for the entry-level model.
The 4325 mAh battery is good for up to 8hrs of use, Google claims, and there’s a microphone, NFC, accelerometer, magnetometer, GPS and a gyroscope. Interestingly, it runs Chrome for Android as the default browser, and comes with a specially updated version of Currents.
Standby for hands-on content with both new Nexus devices!
Google IO 2012: Nexus 7 and Nexus Q hardware wrap-up is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Did you keep up with everything Google announced at today’s I/O keynote? Believe us, we had a difficult time too. Covering everything from Jelly Bean to jumping out of perfectly good airplanes, there was plenty to keep the audience oohing and ahhing. It makes sense to have this plethora of news in one handy place, right? After the break you’ll find every piece of action that Sergey and Friends covered in Moscone West this morning — as well as the video of the keynote — so make sure to save a little extra time for yourself to enjoy every last bit of it.
Continue reading Google I/O keynote roundup: Project Glass, Nexus 7, Nexus Q and Jelly Bean
Google I/O keynote roundup: Project Glass, Nexus 7, Nexus Q and Jelly Bean originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 15:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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As expected, Google announced a new piece of hardware known as the Nexus Q. This is the result of Project Tungsten that was introduced more than a year ago, where it will bring together the power of Android and Google Play. The Nexus Q is a definite looker, and is the first piece of hardware from Google alone with Android running within. It is tipped to be the “third wave” of consumer electroncs, and Google has positioned it to be “all about the cloud”, giving you a general direction of where the Nexus Q is heading. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google introduces “My Android Apps”, YouTube for Android gets redesigned with new UI, quick access to channels, and video preloading,
Google IO has become known for its swag potential, and 2012 is no exception. Google has promised all 6,000 attendees an “Android Developer’s Pack”, made up of the three key products from today’s opening keynote. In the pack, a Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 7 tablet, and a Nexus Q media computer.
That’s a total of $847 worth of technology for each developer in attendance, and considering they only paid $800 for an IO ticket it seems a pretty excellent deal. Unfortunately there’s no Project Glass in that gift bundle, though Google will be offering developers in-attendance the opportunity to preorder the Explorer Edition for $1,500.
When developers turn on their Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7 tablet, meanwhile, they’ll get an update to Jelly Bean pushed to them within a few minutes. The Jelly Bean SDK is available today for all developers, meanwhile.
If you’re not at Google IO, and you want a new toy, the HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus is now discounted to $349. Meanwhile, the Nexus 7 is up for preorder for $199, while the Nexus Q is up for preorder from $299.
Unboxing Nexus 7 and Nexus Q
Google IO swag: Free Nexus 7, Nexus Q and Galaxy Nexus is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Google didn’t touch on it during its keynote, but The New York Times‘ John Markoff has the story on one fairly unique feature of its new Nexus Q home media device: the base of the unit proudly boasts that it’s “Designed and Manufactured in the U.S.A.” That includes an unnamed company in the Midwest that manufactures the metal base and another in Southern California that makes the case, while the device itself was reportedly being assembled just last week at a large factory 15 minutes away from Google’s HQ. According to Google, it hopes that people will be willing to pay more for the device as a result ($299, if you missed it), but it has no plans to play up the “Made in the U.S.A.” angle in its marketing. Wired also has an in-depth piece of its own on the making of the device — you can find it linked below as well.
Check out our full coverage of Google I/O 2012’s opening keynote at our event hub!
Google Nexus Q is ‘Designed and Manufactured in the U.S.A.’ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 27 Jun 2012 13:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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