Cost and Reaction
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| Nexus 6 |
I was surprised to learn, recently, that the Nexus 6 would start at $650. In fact, I received some criticism from others when I posted about it on Google+. Truth is, I was expecting a lower price, ranging between $450 to $500. The reasons being, well... because it was a Nexus, and because the two prior models were below $400. From what I gathered while reading various threads about it online, I wasn't alone in being a bit shocked at the price tag. By the way, the Nexus 9, which is a 9" tablet that was announced the same day actually costs less. Go figure...
The main reason I've seen thrown up in most of the threads is due to it's being larger and higher specs. Ok. I get it, but I don't think that's the all there is to it. I've had some time to think about it and I've realized that there are several things in play here that are worth mentioning and I'll explain how I believe they are all related.
Juggling Act
1-3. If you've used Google Voice in the past, you know that you couldn't use MMS with it on most carriers. To my knowledge, Sprint was the only carrier that supported it. Then Google launched a new messaging service called Hangouts that was intended to merge all of their various services into one. And up until recently, everything worked except for MMS. The carriers just wouldn't budge on that. This meant that if you used Hangouts as your primary messaging app and someone sent you an MMS, you didn't receive it. But in the latest update, Hangouts (Google Voice) finally received MMS support from all but one of the carriers (Verizon).
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| Hangouts and MMS |
4. Next up, Moto X. The Moto X currently costs about $500 unlocked, from MotoMaker. The Nexus 6, being inspired by the Moto X, would be directly competing with it and wouldn't make sense to undercut the Moto X.
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| motomaker.com |
5. Android One is Google's newest project focused on high quality, lower cost devices, with long term OS version support, much like a Nexus. Although currently only available in India, as it just rolled out, I believe it will soon be Google's entry level tier. If you, like myself, are interested in low cost devices in the sub $400 range, then this will be right up your alley.
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| Android One |
6. And finally, we have the artist formerly known as Android Silver. Android Silver was a program that was basically designed to head off the upcoming, cheaper competition by making the Nexus line a premium brand. That's it, in a nutshell. However, according to several reports, the program was dead or had been put on hold. I don't think it is. Regardless of the name of the program, the Nexus name will continue. I believe what we're seeing with the new Nexus 6 is this program coming to fruition, which isn't a bad thing at all.
So how are all these things related? Some concessions/deals were made, which is what Google is particularly good at. Basically, I think the carriers haven't been too interested in Nexus devices in the past because they weren't exactly known as premium and were considered "developer" models. When Google introduced Android One as its entry level tier and Nexus as its premium tier, the carriers now have a reason to get on board. As part of the deal, it seems likely that they agreed to allow MMS in Hangouts since now Google can be viewed more as a partner rather than a competitor.
So in conclusion it looks like Nexus got bumped up to premium status, which explains the $650 price tag, there's now a bigger arena for future devices to be released by Google in the Android One category, none of the devices are competing directly with each other, and now we finally get MMS in Hangouts to round out a true all-in-one messaging app. Sounds good to me. What do you think?
