Nexus Q launch delayed indefinitely, no longer available for pre-order

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/07/nexus-q-launch-delayed-indefinitely-no-longer-available-for-pre-order/

by llambda • 14 years ago

39 54 14 years ago

jewel• 14 years ago

I wonder if this means they didn't get enough interest to bother making a larger run of the device. (I assume they're not giving away millions of dev units to the existing preorders.)

KirinDave7• 14 years ago

They sold out, so presumably they got more interest than they were expecting.

huggyface• 14 years ago

I bet they simply gained some self-doubt based upon all of the feedback and were worried about having a real failure if they stuck with the plan. Good on them, really, and the refunding of pre-orders while still promising the unit is amazing.

te_chris2• 14 years ago

Just remove the stupid amplifier. Or release one without and one with. God knows why someone thought including an amplifier was a good idea.

justinsb4• 14 years ago

I personally think integrating an amplifier is a good idea, although I don't think the Q is a great implementation.

I would think that - at a given price point - a combined box would offer better quality and better feature integration (e.g. volume control, balance etc). Physically, I also don't want a separate amplifier box - can you explain what benefits a separate amplifier box offers vs the integrated approach?

te_chris2• 14 years ago

It's as much an individual preference thing as anything else, but I much prefer high-quality discrete components that I've selected myself. Digital amps have come along a lot recently (see nu-force), but if it were me, I've already got a really good system that I could be tempted to augment with the Nexus Q - so that rules out me and others like me. Then there's the college student argument, but they've probably got a pair of logitech or similar powered computer speakers or an HT-in-a-box system which are more than enough for a party in a flat/hall of residence.

At the end of that, I can't really imagine too many people willing to pay all that money for a box which they still have to go and buy a pair of passive speakers for - particularly because the people in the market for passive stereo speakers wouldn't event glance sideways at the nexus q as a serious amp choice.

vincentmac• 14 years ago

I think a lot of people who are interested in these streaming devices have separate component for their AV stack and would rather use their setup rather than the 25W amp in the Q. The other set of consumers would most likely hook the Q up directly to their TVs. The only use case where I would find the integrated amp useful would be in an office, kitchen, or some place similar.

Danieru• 14 years ago

The best argument I heard was that it is equivalent to having a DVD player in your TV. Or a computer in your car. You end up pairing a long lifespan device with a short lifespan one. One half of the resulting device will get broken or obsolete long before the other half.

Moore's law applies to all the devices cell phones have been replacing for the past 5 years. Thus the cell phone is pairing with devices of similar lifespan. An amplifier is a different class of good. Their prices have not plummeted and their lifespans have only gotten better.

KirinDave7• 14 years ago

The amplifier is one of the reasons I want it, though!

wmf• 14 years ago

Maybe they're copying Sonos.

joshu• 14 years ago

For a brief second I thought a "stupid amplifier" was a amplifier of stupidity, perhaps referring to the phrasing of the title.

Works either way.

VonGuard• 14 years ago

Yeah, useful or not, this is the aspect that i suspect makes this thing quite hot, at all times. Like, even if you have it off, but plugged in, it's hot to the touch. Worrisomely hot. Underside of an old macbook, hot.

hollerith2• 14 years ago

That might have a lot to do with why it was sent back to the drawing board.

barista2• 14 years ago

This is a bit embarrassing for Google. They have always released a product that have stayed in Beta long after it has launched. That probably works for a software product but not for hardware.

mladenkovacevic• 14 years ago

Why not? Kickstarter trends certainly seem to be showing otherwise

barista2• 14 years ago

What credibility a promoter of a failed kickstarter would have if they launched a useless hardware product that over-promised and under-delived? Would Google want to be in their shoes? The free dev devices is just a PR stunt they stole to make them look a little less bad.

KirinDave7• 14 years ago

Why? Everyone else iterates on hardware, they just don't refund it and admit that maybe it's not ready. Think how many people have shitty android tablets or iPhone 4's they have to use the kung fu grip on.

This is just Google taking the opportunity to back off on shipping a product while still doing right by their customers. After the kerfuffle with Nexus 7 order volume messing with their fulfillment, it's nice to see them get a bit proactive.

Edited out a very telling typo.

hkmurakami2• 14 years ago

Well, this does seem to fit in well with the "Customer Development" phase of startups, doesn't it? After all, they demoed a prototype, received (negative) feedback, and are now iterating the product to make it better tailored to the customer's needs.

It's easy to snap-criticize, but as a start-up community, maybe HN'ers can look at this in a positive light.

KirinDave7• 14 years ago

For those of us who wanted a Nexus Q for what it was, this is a fantastic outcome. I still get a Nexus Q but I get my $300 back.

andyman1080• 14 years ago

yeah, all product launches should be done this way!

taligent3• 14 years ago

But "what it was" is going to change. The Nexus Q could lose the built in amplifier and HDMI port and released 2 years from now.

Refunding customers is the least they could've done.

czr80• 14 years ago

They didn't "demo a prototype" - they launched a product, took pre-orders, and then bailed before shipping. Makes you wonder about their product development process.

hkmurakami2• 14 years ago

Oh true! The whole "took preorders" part somehow escaped me :(

taligent3• 14 years ago

What reality are you living in ?

This isn't a startup we are talking about. This is Google. One of the largest companies in the world. Heads need to roll if they couldn't work out the obvious problem that the Nexus Q had a massive product positioning problem.

calciphus• 14 years ago

I much prefer the headline "Google redesigns Nexus Q, refunds every pre-order and promises to ship a free one to everyone who preordered" since it seems more accurate and less like random Google bashing.

Feedback from previewers meant they needed another cycle. That's good, since the same detractors tend to be the ones who accuse Google of shipping half-baked products.

correctifier• 14 years ago

The headline is stating the facts, what you are suggesting is stating the google spin. Its usually a better idea to report the facts rather than the spin. There is no Google bashing in that headline.

There was a lot of negative feedback to this, and this is probably a good step. Its also nice to see the goodwill gesture of fulfilling preorders for free.

raldi• 14 years ago

I think both the real and proposed headlines are stating facts; the question is which facts to emphasize.

taligent3• 14 years ago

NO part of the headline is inaccurate or disingenuous.

If you wanted a Nexus Q then you will not be able to get one. Simple as that. And this little exercise in product development is about as half-baked as it comes. You do product development/marketing BEFORE shipping not after.

natrius• 14 years ago

"If you wanted a Nexus Q then you will not be able to get one."

From the article:

"To placate those who did pre-order the device, the same preview version of the device (now called "dev units") that was given out to I/O attendees will now be provided to pre-orderers at no cost according to an e-mail sent to those who had already placed orders."

ralfn2• 14 years ago

Seriously? After all the Apple apologist, are we now going to see a Google apologist.

The headline is accurate and not inflamatory. Your proposed summary reads like PR puke on the other hand.

drivebyacct22• 14 years ago

I'm guessing it's related to one of the following: Google Fiber, the Kickstarter Android game consoles (and/or hackers getting games running on the Nexus Q "dev units"), the high availability of cheap media-pc-on-a-usb-stick Android devices.

(I presume they really are improving, didn't mean to imply they were running or anything).

ConstantineXVI2• 14 years ago

Simpler: it's more limited than the two existing devices closest to it: the Sonos and Apple TV (in the context of Apple's ecosystem), and three times the price of the latter. A third-party API of some kind would go a long way towards making that price tag much easier to swallow.

myko• 14 years ago

A third party API? Isn't it a full fledged Android device?

zacharycohn• 14 years ago

This really isn't surprising at all. They basically came out and said "We wanted to launch this at I/O, but it's not really done. We'll release it to the general public when it's done."

vibrunazo• 14 years ago

This isn't surprising? When in the history of humanity have you previously heard of a company abandoning pre-orders, giving out free devices to pre-orderers, and saying they'll relaunch it when they add more features because of customer feedback? Name one other example in history.

Isn't surprising at all? This is the most unexpected thing that could possibly happen. Maybe losing only to all shipped devices turning into flying pigs who shoots laser from their tails. Other than that, this is the most unexpected thing that could happen.

ryanisinallofus• 14 years ago

This is something that awes me about Apple every time they do it.

At the press event:

"Great new product..."

"We think it's the best ever iYada, yada yada yada..."

"And you can order it today."

How the hell do they do that?

novum• 14 years ago

Tim Cook.

...and a world-class supply chain, which might best be summarized as: Tim Cook.

bicknergseng• 14 years ago

I'm actually wondering if it's entirely because of Ouya. I'm sure someone at Google saw that Kickstarter explode and took a look at the trickle of Q preorders.

dshep• 14 years ago

Is it just me or does the Nexus Q look like the Empire's probe droid from the Empire Strikes Back?

KirinDave7• 14 years ago

It looks nothing like the probe droid from Empire Strikes Back.

danilocampos• 14 years ago

It's the right move.

I've used my Nexus Q for all of 20 minutes since I installed it. Without Netflix, without Hulu, without streaming from my desktop computer, it simply isn't useful. Yet it's the same cost as my much more capable Xbox 360 and three times the cost of an Apple TV or Airport Express (with its audio out port).

Getting a piece of pure consumer electronics into the market is a big move for Google. Pausing to re-tool the software harms their credibility far, far less than launching an obvious dud.

Shaking things up in the stagnant living room tech space can only be good news for consumers. So I want these guys to succeed. A nicely hackable piece of hardware is a fantastic counterpoint to Apple's polished but locked-down approach.

But no wine before its time.

georgemcbay• 14 years ago

I don't get why they don't just make a Nexus TV settop box that combines the full Google TV Android experience with the music sharing stuff the Q was supposed to do.

Makes more sense than the Q by itself and it would tie nicely into their Google Fiber tv service for those lucky enough to have it.

Nexus Q launch delayed indefinitely, no longer available for pre-order

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