I wanted the Nexus Q as soon as it was announced at Google IO and about 2 months ago I finally caved and purchased one from eBay, it cost $300 plus $65 in shipping to get it here and since then it has sat on my entertainment unit waiting for me to plug it in and set it up. Well as of this morning, the Nexus Q is alive!!
The first drawback on the Nexus Q is the Android app, it is limited by region to the United States so I couldn’t even get the app through the Play Store I had to head over to XDA to download the APK just to get the device running, but after doing that it’s up and running.
I’ve been playing with it this morning and after a few false starts working out how to actually use the thing I can say it’s pretty freaking awesome, But, it’s limited, I can see exactly what all the reviewers so far have been saying. I have a Google Music account due to some back end work with a VPN and streaming music to it is pretty awesome, as is streaming movies(Transformers : Dark of the Moon) and YouTube videos but really that’s the limit of what it can do.
If I could add functionality to it I would add :
1. Web Browser – Just sit on your couch browsing the web using your phone as a soft keyboard.
2. DLNA – Just being able to play videos or slideshows of photos from your phone or even from your home PC would be appreciated.
3. Apps – Games, GMail, all that sort of thing using your phone/tablet as a controller would be sweet.
4. I’m sure I can come up with something else as this is just an initial thoughts on it, but there will be more.
If you do actually get one you can actually just plug it into a HDMI port on your TV and all sound and video come through that or you can output through Optical out for sound to an amplifier/receiver or you can plug in 4 speakers via the Banana plugs at the back, on the banana plugs this idea is insane, I have a surround sound system and most people this thing is aimed at have one as well, why would I want to have 4 Extra speakers just for this device? My opinion : Google remove the amp inside and the banana plugs and bring the cost right down to the $100-$150 mark and this thing is a winner.
I love the lights, they are way cool, probably worth $300 just for themselves alone although at this stage Google has put the Nexus Q on permanent hold pending an upgrade to it’s functionality. Anyway, that’s my initial thoughts on the Nexus Q, I’ll post a full review as soon as I’ve had time to run it through its paces.
Yeah I dont get how its priced. It just seems like a gimped appletv for 3 times the price. I get that it being made in the US is a nice thing for them to put on the box.. but its not really competitive.
Im yet to see it do anything that cant be done with apple tv and ios. or im yet to see it do anything special yet. I just dont get the product.
Sounds like you want Google TV. It has most things on your wish list. The nexus q I think will become the nexus version Google TV before its relaunch.
I really want one of these but will wait for the next version.
In the mean time i have big plans for the Ouya (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console). Games, media streaming and music will have me pretty happy. Most excited about being able to emulate old game systems.
Yeah, I put in for the Kickstarter for the Ouya as well.
I have an xbox 360 with smartglass app now added to my s3, so I think it does the same stuff as the q in addition to a few more things (web access, game interaction etc) on top. is there anything that the q can do that the xbox can’t? serious question. I guess the amp is a nice hardware feature but I’m not much of an audiophile.
I think Google just made it to show the developers a cool gadget to write amazing apps for. All the things you mentioned can be easily developed for this system. Having the price lower and some astonishing functionality (and worldwide availability) WILL make it cooler than anything out there…. + marketing to get the idea of it out there…