Google Nexus 4 Smartphone to Sell Contract-free for $299

[JMcEntegart]

Google has finally made the newest Nexus phone official.

Google Nexus 4 Smartphone to Sell Contract-free for $299 : Read more

 

[tramit]

"the phone will sell for $299 or $349 (8GB and 16GB, respectively) contract-free"

This sounds awesome! I was totally about to give up on the Nexus line. They used to be innovative in both hardware and software but it seems the last couple generations have only had the benefit of software while OEM's are pumping out killer devices. The nexus should be the one to set the bar high in the Android world.

 

[jhansonxi]

Canonical is planning Nexus 7 support for Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail):
http://www.jonobacon.org/2012/10/26/ubuntu-core-on-the-nexus-7/

 

[bustapr]

Android 4.2 on this while most of the other high end phones are waiting for 4.1...

 

[alexmx]

Sounds like I'll have a new cellphone by christmas, I'm getting sick of my motorola defy

 

[myromance123]

[citation][nom]jhansonxi[/nom]Canonical is planning Nexus 7 support for Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail):http://www.jonobacon.org/2012/10/2 [...] e-nexus-7/[/citation]
I'm looking forward to that. It will hopefully mean that Ubuntu in general will become more optimized, so a better experience across platforms should be expected.

 

[robochump]

Wow! How can Google possibly sell them for so little?!? Amazing.

 

[boiler1990]

[citation][nom]robochump[/nom]Wow! How can Google possibly sell them for so little?!? Amazing.[/citation]

In reality, smartphones don't cost all that much to build (somewhere between $200-$350 depending on the manufacturers, etc.). Google is probably forcing (read: paying) LG to sell the Nexus slightly above or at cost to get these phones out there. The reason unsubsidized cell phones cost so much more is because of the margins that these devices earn.

 

[southernshark]

Was gonna buy a Win 8 phone contract free, but honestly at this price it looks like I will go Android.

I don't do contracts so this is great news for me.

 

[shmung]

Haha yeah i was planning on getting a Samsung ativ if it came to t mobile but its gonna be a Verizon exclusive and t mobile doesn't have LTE yet anyway so unless t mobile gets some spectacular windows phone that hasn't leaked yet nexus 4 is my next phone now if only it could come in white.

 

[whiteodian]

Yes. Excellent price. I think I will be upgrading finally. This phone and $45/month on Straight Talk beats my $100/month AT&T any day! F U big carriers and your high prices.

 

[twelch82]

I like the price. It even looks pretty decent. I like the edge-to-edge screen horizontally.

Wish the battery was bigger. It's not terrible, but now that I've had a phone with over 3,000 mA, it would be hard to go back to one with lesser battery life.

 

[ronindaosohei]

What's the deal with Google crippling their flagship phones in irritating ways? With the Galaxy Nexus it was the pitiful camera, with this one you've got only 8 GB or max 16 GB of storage? 16 GB should be the absolutely minimum on flagship phones these days with a more realistic minimum of 32 GB plus additional storage. Love what Google is doing but seriously they always castrate the Nexus line in one way or another.

 

[monkeymonk]

[citation][nom]ronindaosohei[/nom]What's the deal with Google crippling their flagship phones in irritating ways? With the Galaxy Nexus it was the pitiful camera, with this one you've got only 8 GB or max 16 GB of storage? 16 GB should be the absolutely minimum on flagship phones these days with a more realistic minimum of 32 GB plus additional storage. Love what Google is doing but seriously they always castrate the Nexus line in one way or another.[/citation]
I totally agree! I have the galaxy nexus and the little thing they did wrong really really irritating. I especially hate the peel off battery cover. This nexus looked really cool to me but the lack of LTE is lame and the battery could be a bit beefier as well.

 

[SneakySnake]

IT HAS NO LTE

 

[freiheitner]

LTE only means you burn through your pitifully low download cap faster. On a phone, I can't really see 42Mbps HSDPA (4x what I get over cable at home) as being "too slow".

This phone sounds tempting except for the lack of an SD card coupled with the low onboard storage (8GB with no expansion? Seriously?!).

 

[bustapr]

I'd gladly whip out an extra $50 for an SD slot. Don't really care for the lack of LTE. Just wondering if they will offer a CDMA version. I'm on Virgin Mobile which isn't compatible with SIM.

 

[sna]

[citation][nom]SneakySnake[/nom]IT HAS NO LTE[/citation]

and it is 299$ only WAKE UP , with High end hardware.

this is a smart move for people who dont care about LTE.

or do you prefer to pay 500$ for a phone with LTE and same specs ?

it has 2G ram and S4 cpu plus 4.2 Android ... and there is NO way to get that for less than 500$ today

 

[sna]

[citation][nom]ronindaosohei[/nom]What's the deal with Google crippling their flagship phones in irritating ways? With the Galaxy Nexus it was the pitiful camera, with this one you've got only 8 GB or max 16 GB of storage? 16 GB should be the absolutely minimum on flagship phones these days with a more realistic minimum of 32 GB plus additional storage. Love what Google is doing but seriously they always castrate the Nexus line in one way or another.[/citation]

they are aiming at the mass market.

similar phone costs 500$ without contract

S4 cpu , 2G ram , Android 4.2 ...

they take out LTE and SD card and sell it for 300$

thats FINE ... now Students and world wide buyers will be happy...

for a phone I dont care much about SD or storage. coz I have a tablet with BIG SCREEN...

I allways wanted a phone with super hardware , fast and responsive and cheap . and google are making it possible.

 

[phatboe]

FFS I buy the Galaxy s3 a few days ago on a 2yr contract then a few days later they announce a better phone that is to be released soon that cost almost as much off contract as wgat that I paid for the s3 on contract.

 

[lunyone]

* No LTE (might not matter much in a cheaper phone/device like this). Would prefer to have LTE, but at the cost of data plans these days.....
* No SD card, this is what I look for in any smartphone (easy memory upgrade and also transfer of files from computer --- talking about Verizon here due to their castrations)
* Fits the market for those who have unlimited data plans and don't mind 3G service speeds.
* As long as the camera is good this should be a good seller.
* Should be free on Verizon w/2 yr contract (if they have a Verizon version).

 

[ikyung]

I think I'll answer some questions for people who does not understand how the market works.

1) The reason this device will not support LTE is because of software. They pretty much run stock Android on nexus devices. If they wanted this phone to support LTE, they will have to form a contract with carriers that offer LTE. When that happens, the carriers can add whatever they want to the stock Android OS to meet their needs. You can also go read the presentation where he talks about how LTE just hasn't matured yet and they want to wait for that.

2) I'm not 100% sure why they wanted to leave out the SD card slot, but my only guess is that Google wants you to use their cloud service. They want their customers to upload their files on the Google cloud which will make the consumer buy other Google devices to share the ecosystem with.

3) If you noticed the Nexus devices, they always came out at the half-way point of Samsung/Apple's line. The Nexus 3 came out between S2 and S3 from Samsung, now the Nexus 4 is at the halfway point of S3 and S4 from Samsung. The reason is, Google has no way of competing against Samsung at the hardware point. If the Nexus 4 came out when S3 came out, there is no way they could have offered the Nexus 4 at the current price point. But, software wise, there is no way Samsung can compete with Google. To go from 4.0 to 4.1, first Samsung has to make adjustments, then they send that off to the carriers who make adjustments and the entire process takes 3-6months. While Google Nexus runs stock, which means there is no middleman adjusting with their OS and can send updates right away to the consumers.

 

[eklipz330]

looks like a pretty good phone if you ask me.. and the price is set more than appropriately. what reason should anyone have picking an ipod touch over this? think about it.

 

[techcurious]

"Google may have been forced to cancel its New York City launch event (due to hurricane Sandy)"...
Damn it.. even from all the way down there, Steve Jobs is doing everything he can in his power to stifle competition!

 

[Bloob]

Google striking hard against WP8 it seems. These are propably sold at cost or little lost. The parts alone are likely to cost about $160-220.