The supposed codename for the Nexus 6, “Shamu”, couldn’t been more descriptive – for a device that is rumoured to have a 5.9-inch display, it is nothing short of a ‘whale’ of a phone. Plenty of people have already sworn off the phone, saying that if it really is 5.9-inches, that it will be much too big a phone for them. And that’s probably the truth of it, but somehow I don’t think Google minds too much. Let me explain.
We’ve long associated the Nexus line of devices with fantastic value and as all-round great devices with entries in every major form factor an Android fan could hope for. It started with phones, then tablets were added, and it appears that the emphasis is strongly on phones again. But the 5.9-inch Nexus 6 threats to break that trend, not because it’s not going to be good value or provide fantastic performance, but because it’s simply not a device that many of us want or, perhaps more literally, are able to hold in one hand. But what if that isn’t the point of the device? What if that isn’t the point of any of the Nexus devices?
Let’s rewind to something that head of Android and Nexus engineering at Google, Dave Burke, said at Google I/O earlier this year when he was questioned about the status of Nexus and confirmed that “we are still invested in Nexus”; it’s what he said shortly after that which is the most interesting:
“When we are working, there are sort of two outputs. We’re building a Nexus device and we’re building the open source code. There is no way you can build the open source code without the phone or tablet or whatever you are building. You have to live and breathe the code you are developing… You can’t build a platform in the abstract, you have to build a device (or devices). So, I don’t think can can or will ever go away. And then, I think Nexus is also interesting in that it is a way of us explaining how we think Android should run. It is a statement, almost a statement of purity in some respects. I don’t see why we would ever turn away from that, it wouldn’t make sense.”
Without reading too far into Burke’s passage, it should be sufficiently obvious that Google is using the Nexus as its hardware platform to match its software development needs – devices for developers, if you will. It stands to reason then that Google would want to continue to try and cater for devices of all shapes and sizes, and while they have had smartphones with screen sizes from 3.7-inches (Nexus One) right up to 5-inches (Nexus 5), Google has yet to really support phablet devices in any capacity.
“But doesn’t Google want their devices to be a commercial success,” I hear you ask? Quite simply, I would say no. Many of us will remember when the Nexus 4 was launched, it went out of stock almost immediately. That was attributed to a lack of supply, but not because manufacturer of the phone, LG, didn’t make enough; it was because Google didn’t anticipate that people would like the device so much. LG has previously said that they simply get orders from Google to make a certain number of devices, after which the relationship is over. So as a commercial exercise, it wouldn’t seem like the Nexus is a particularly good one, but what’s happened is that Android has gotten so good as an operating system that even the average person can appreciate the speed and functionality of stock Android, which has caused a huge increase in popularity.
This isn’t to say that Google is simply ignoring its customers or deliberately going out of their way to burn bridges by making a whale-sized phone. But for Android to continue developing as a platform and to make it as robust as possible with devices of all shapes and sizes, I believe that a 5.9-inch Nexus 6 makes perfect sense for Google to release later this year.
But that’s me just rambling: what do you think about the rumoured 5.9-inch Nexus 6? Do you think I’m wrong about the Nexus line?
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