Google Pixel and Pixel XL

I think for the most people features are not a big deal. I don't see any one of my casual friends using siri or google now, and I doubt they will use google assistant either. I think the angle they are taking with these ads are good. People trust google search, I trust google search more then friends and family, its just amazingly good at what it does. And I think they are trying too say you can trust a google phone.

Either way I think they need a lot off ads and too push it hard, its clear that a lot of people pay stupid money for iPhones and the same people could be convinced to pay stupid money for a Pixel phone. Most of the day to day things are the same, use whatsapp, facebook, snapchat.... And google has made effort to make the transition easier.

From what I've personally seen so far it seems like a really good phone, just need too wait on more reviews. I don't expect Samsung numbers but I think thats not the goal, its the first real google branded phone, I think a good few million sales will get them on the map and start some moment for them to grow on. Rumours of in house SoC is also really interesting.
 
Fallen god said:
I think for the most people features are not a big deal. I don't see any one of my casual friends using siri or google now, and I doubt they will use google assistant either. I think the angle they are taking with these ads are good. People trust google search, I trust google search more then friends and family, its just amazingly good at what it does. And I think they are trying too say you can trust a google phone.

Either way I think they need a lot off ads and too push it hard, its clear that a lot of people pay stupid money for iPhones and the same people could be convinced to pay stupid money for a Pixel phone. Most of the day to day things are the same, use whatsapp, facebook, snapchat.... And google has made effort to make the transition easier.

From what I've personally seen so far it seems like a really good phone, just need too wait on more reviews. I don't expect Samsung numbers but I think thats not the goal, its the first real google branded phone, I think a good few million sales will get them on the map and start some moment for them to grow on. Rumours of in house SoC is also really interesting.
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Really interesting comments!

1. Software features..

I appreciate your friends' comment about Siri and perhaps even Google Now (which I actually use a fair amount). There is actually a timely article from Walt Mossberg this morning that explains why people like your friends are not using Siri in particular. You may recall that Apple announced Siri in 2009, then as an app. Two years later in 2011 they bought Siri and announced it as a "core" feature built into the iPhone 4S. Mossberg extensively tested Siri recently and found it to be dumb, limited and stumbling often. In his tests of Siri features, he compared it to using Google Now on the same iPhone and found Google Now to be "clear and correct". And this is before Google introduced Assistant. He concludes that Siri is "too limited and unreliable" to be useful to Apple in coming wars v Google Assistant.

http://www.recode.net/2016/10/12/13251618/mossberg-apple-siri-digital-assistant-dumb

2. Google Assistant has the potential even now to be in a different league to Siri, Cortana and Alexa. It is the first AI-enabled virtual assistant. As AndyCR15 makes clear in his posts, how Google implements Assistant in the UK will be critical and how many third party devs get involved in broadening its usefulness. In fact you may have seen the news overnight that Google's subsidiary, DeepMind Technologies, made a significant breakthrough in bringing thinking computers a step closer. They created a machine able to solve problems by deduction--combining a neural network computer with conventional computer memory. Their "differentiable neural computer" (DNC) can solve small problems without prior knowledge! The small task example given was planning the best route on the London Underground between two distant stations. This is a breakthrough because until now, neural networks have only been able to access the data within their own network. DeepMind has been able to make its neural network access previously incompatible external networks. The range of applications for a DNC is enormous. One major one that would assist Pixel's Google Assistant would be real-world dialogue with question and answering. Think about how major a breakthrough this would be.

3. Finally as to the actual Pixel phone itself: I learned today that with the Pixel Google has really begun to advance towards full control of Android (like Apple with iOS). According to news reports, the mobile operators selling Pixels will not be customising the software in any meaningful way (ie no bloatware) and have given up the role of software updates to Google. So now EE, Verizon, Telstra, etc will be "updating" the software at the same time as Google. These are big steps by Google in addressing fragmentation which creates problems for the user and in being able to update a growing part of its ecosystem. This likely means that the operators have no liability for the Pixels (Google appears to be taking over this completely) and will earn purely a share of total revenues on Pixel sales. Hence their store employees should be highly motivated to make sales as that is the only source of revenue for them on Pixel.
 
So Google have put all this effort into their software so where is the proper back up and restore feature? How long must we wait till we can backup and restore apps, messages, games saves etc between devices? Why can't all these things be backed up in the cloud like Whatsapp messages on Google Drive?

Poor show.
 
kona786 said:
So Google have put all this effort into their software so where is the proper back up and restore feature? How long must we wait till we can backup and restore apps, messages, games saves etc between devices? Why can't all these things be backed up in the cloud like Whatsapp messages on Google Drive?

Poor show.
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Not 100% sure now as I always like to start fresh when it comes software etc. to avoid any possible issues.

But... doesn't android or at least stock android anyway already back up app settings/data, game saves, messages etc.???

At least they say they do in the backup screen:

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Unless do you mean that you want to be able to restore said items under a different google/email account?
 
Mine is always on - it doesn't back up anything like I want.

All it does install the apps you have on your other device, no data or settings. That's about it from my experience.


edit - Game saves I'm not sure about - maybe someone with this experience can chime in.
 
Starting fresh is fine, but there should also be the option to restore settings/app settings if you want to do so.

And there's no reasons for messages and call history not to be saved in the cloud.
 
you can get apps to back up messages and restore call history

While what you are asking for would be nice but I don't see how they can implement it with so many different apps and devices out there. I think that's up to app developers to implement it
 
kona786 said:
So Google have put all this effort into their software so where is the proper back up and restore feature? How long must we wait till we can backup and restore apps, messages, games saves etc between devices? Why can't all these things be backed up in the cloud like Whatsapp messages on Google Drive?

Poor show.
Click to expand...

I always forget about this, but that's another reason people like iOS. Your average person always restores from a backup, and it tends to work pretty well.

Surely Google can do the same? It's a must have feature.
 
Robbo said:
I always forget about this, but that's another reason people like iOS. Your average person always restores from a backup, and it tends to work pretty well.

Surely Google can do the same? It's a must have feature.
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I've never actually seen it work on the iPhone. I set my dad's new iPhone 7+ up and it failed when I asked it to restore from his old iPhone 6. Plus is the backup space limited to 5 GB? It says it's nearly full yet I have no idea how see what it's full of or how to sort it out. I have have to read up on it but it's not intuitive at all.

Google give 15GB cloud storage which is nice and unlimited space for pics.
 
bayo000 said:
you can get apps to back up messages and restore call history

While what you are asking for would be nice but I don't see how they can implement it with so many different apps and devices out there. I think that's up to app developers to implement it
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I only mention it because Apple do it with the iPhone and it seems Google like to mimic a lot of what Apple do recently with the pixel.
 
kona786 said:
I've never actually seen it work on the iPhone. I set my dad's new iPhone 7+ up and it failed when I asked it to restore from his old iPhone 6. Plus is the backup space limited to 5 GB? It says it's nearly full yet I have no idea how see what it's full of or how to sort it out. I have have to read up on it but it's not intuitive at all.

Google give 15GB cloud storage which is nice and unlimited space for pics.
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If you plug it in there's no backup space limit. iCloud is 5GB but you can expand it for very little cost. If you just have everything setup as default, it does it all without even prompting you much, and then when you get a new phone, you just follow the setup wizard. I don't think it could be much easier.

I can't think of anyone I know with an iPhone who isn't on a restored backup! Except myself of course as I always like a clean slate and don't care much about old messages. :p
 
I thought app data backup was built in to Android a year or so back, it's down to developers to enable it? Maybe not though, as I don't think I've seen it on any?
 
mattyfez said:
Software features aside, it's still a £400 phone with a £600 price tag. I just don't get it.
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Your quote reminds me of an attempt at humour over a rather morbid affair: namely, actual assassination of US President Abraham Lincoln by a lone gunman when Lincoln attended the theatre in Washington DC with his wife.

Supposedly, as the gallows humour story goes, a reporter asked Mrs Lincoln a few days later: "Apart from that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?"

With the utmost respect, may I say that I cannot understand how you can conclude that a £ 600 Pixel is worth £ 400 because you have excluded what to many will be the great joy of owning a Pixel: namely, the software. To many a Pixel user, the software is now and will always be the main event. It is what makes a slab of metal, plastic, sand and wires a stroke of genius.
 
If it had an Apple on it, people wouldn't say it was overpriced and I honestly don't think the public see it as overpriced anyway.

I've ordered one and I hope it will be good to use. It's essentially the iPhone of Android which we've been asking for for years and I am happy to pay the money for that.
 
I've always said the iPhone is overpriced for the actual tech you get with it. I guess people buy because it is well made, well supported by Apple and iOS is a slick, fluid OS. Now I think the Pixel is shooting for the same thing is all. We're just not used to that approach on the Android side of things perhaps.
 
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