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Google Takes Beating For Lack of LTE In Nexus 4
As Many (Especially Apple Fans) Don't Buy Battery Excuse
Google's Nexus 4 was unveiled earlier this week, highlighting how Google once again wants to bypass the carriers and will be selling the device directly to consumers (with the exception of T-Mobile, who'll offer a slightly subsidized version with a 2-year contract). That choice however came with one major caveat: Google's new flagship smartphone lacks LTE support. The device only supports HSPA+ speeds up to 42 Mbps, meaning it only really supports two major United States carriers: AT&T and T-Mobile. That's a definite competitive disadvantage for the iPhone 5, though Google's Android lead Andy Rubin tells The Verge that the decision to exclude LTE was a "tactical" one, made due to limited LTE deployment:
quote:
Click for full size
Android head Andy Rubin calls the lack of LTE a "tactical issue," and cites cost and battery life as major concerns with devices that have to support multiple radios. "A lot of the networks that have deployed LTE haven't scaled completely yet — they're hybrid networks [...] which means the devices need both radios built into them," he said. "When we did the Galaxy Nexus with LTE we had to do just that, and it just wasn't a great user experience." But the reality now is that many LTE devices — including the iPhone 5 and the LG Optimus G, which shares common hardware with the Nexus 4 — use larger batteries and newer, more efficient chips to balance the power draw from LTE.
Some news outlets don't think the excuse holds water, given that Apple was able to include LTE in their device while still keeping the unit small. While LTE being available on numerous frequencies also makes things complicated, that was also a problem that didn't seem to dissuade Apple. Essentially, some are arguing that Google simply didn't work hard enough to get an LTE model done:
quote:
Apple has managed to work inside the carrier subsidy model for 5 years and still ended up delivering LTE without mucking up its user experience. The real question is why Google is so beholden to the carriers. And the answer goes back to the very beginnings of Android, when Google gave up control in order to speed adoption of the platform....Google has to work outside of that system in order to ship something that they really love without compromising. That’s on them.
That said, HSPA+ is plenty fast for many people, and the benefits to having a direct-from Google device may outweigh the lack of LTE for many users. With a flurry of LTE deployments this and next year, lack of LTE isn't going to be a viable excuse for long, and an LTE version of the device will likely follow up in 2013.
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SLC 96
join:2005-04-03
Chicago, IL

1 recommendation

SLC 96

Member

Taking a beating??

Taking a beating?? I think not having LTE is a feature. It's a cheaper phone and I can get it unlocked with the ability to move between carriers around the world as I please. Most importantly it is fully compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile's networks.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

Re: Taking a beating??

said by SLC 96:

Taking a beating?? I think not having LTE is a feature. It's a cheaper phone and I can get it unlocked with the ability to move between carriers around the world as I please. Most importantly it is fully compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile's networks.

Well considering T-Mobile doesn't provide ANY service of any kind and my area. And At&t just now brought us 3G I call this phone total FAIL. Could have had me as a customer but not now. Google's loss.

Eagles1221
join:2009-04-29
Vincentown, NJ

Eagles1221

Member

Re: Taking a beating??

I live in the boondocks and I have LTE from VZ and crummy ATT coverage and no Sprint or Tmo to speak of. Interestingly though there is a Wimax tower but very few Sprint phone can VoWimax
tired_runner
Premium Member
join:2000-08-25
CT

tired_runner to Anon

Premium Member

to Anon
^ This

T-Mobile delivers plenty fast HDSPA in NYC, and their MVNO's deliver the same blazin' fast speeds, though granted they're either capping or are only able to deliver 15/1 so far that I've seen.

bobjohnson
Premium Member
join:2007-02-03
Spartanburg, SC

bobjohnson

Premium Member

Re: Taking a beating??

said by tired_runner:

^ This

T-Mobile delivers plenty fast HDSPA in NYC, and their MVNO's deliver the same blazin' fast speeds, though granted they're either capping or are only able to deliver 15/1 so far that I've seen.

In Orlando tethering with my Nokia that's limited to 14.4 I get 13/3 but on my friends mifi it's more like 30/5. So I guess it's just where you are.
djeremy
join:2004-07-12
San Francisco, CA

1 recommendation

djeremy

Member

Re: Taking a beating??

»www.speedtest.net/androi ··· 8505.png

This is pretty normal for me on T-Mobile out here in San Francisco on my One S. And the fact that it's unlimited makes it even better. I usually average around 5GB a month in usage by the time my bill comes around. Then again, I never use WiFi because I want the $30 worth of data I pay for.

With those speeds, I don't really see the need for LTE just yet. Oh, and I will be purchasing a Nexus 4 directly from Google. Anyone want to buy like new a One S?
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned) to Anon

Member

to Anon
said by ArrayList:

What's it like living in the middle of nowhere?

Just fine with my 4G LTE I get from Verizon.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: Taking a beating??

and you pay out the ass for that LTE from Verizon
34764170 (banned)
join:2007-09-06
Etobicoke, ON

34764170 (banned)

Member

Re: Taking a beating??

said by ArrayList:

and you pay out the ass for that LTE from Verizon

You can say that again! jesus christ.
elefante72
join:2010-12-03
East Amherst, NY

elefante72 to 88615298

Member

to 88615298

Re: Taking a beating??

$300, unsub. There had to be some compromises made.

This phone was purposely made for the prepaid market and outside the US where people actually pay for the phone upfront. If you look at 2012 almost all of the subscriber growth came from the prepaid market. American Movil (Tracfone, Straighttalk, Net10) is now as big as Tmobile in subs--over 20 million. NONE of the prepaid vendors allow LTE, so this is purpose built. Outside of the US, LTE is a slow roll. We in the US think we are the only people on the planet. Outside of the US the iPhone isn't nearly as popular because people would have to plunk down over $600, whereas google comes in with a great product for half the price.

Also, if you buy this phone no carrier bloat, unlocked, consistent android experience, and actual updates and improvements.

In my hood, Tmobile tracks at 9Mbs and At&t 7Mbs. We also have cricket and MPCS. I would hardly call that ghetto. As all of the iphone folks move to LTE, watch those networks cough and HSPA rock.

Carrier are slowly starting to move away from subsidized phones, so if you need to plunk down $300 for a google phone or $600 for an iphone, watch AAPL stock.

If they put LTE radios in them, this would have made the price point too high, so they didn't AND they would have to kiss the carriers a$$ to get it qualified which could drag deployment 6 months.

This phone is a picture of the rapidly changing landscape with google trying to free their stuff from the carrier's control and bloatware.

Btw, if you don't have GSM coverage in your area, that's not Google's fault.

buddahbless
join:2005-03-21
Premium

1 recommendation

buddahbless

Member

Re: Taking a beating??

I have to agree Google is targeting this phone to the prepaid and those out of contract market, LTE would be nice but not necessary.
TMO has also stated that even after there LTE deployment there will still be HSPA in place so this phone will still be usable, for how long not sure.

With the addition of all the MVNO in the US theres a lot to be had with the bring your own sim crowd. Not to mention the numbers were out as of spring 2012 that there are more prepaid accounts in the US now then postpaid, with prepaid not allowed currently on LTE there is no point to include LTE for this yrs model phone, especially since Verizon is the only North American company to have a decent LTE network. Apple had to go with an LTE model as there targeting Verizon postpaid customers and those customers would not survive or purchase without LTE now that Verizon has upgraded there network, If the iphone 5 was still on ATT only do you think there would have been A LTE radio built in , don't hold your breath on that.

Google still can make a bundle selling this phone in the US to: TMobile, ATT, TRACphone , Simple mobile, Walmart Mobile, Rogers wireless canada, Bell canada, Wind mobile canada, mobilicity canada, etc... So there not a shortage of buyers that will appreciate the $300 price tag. Also overseas LTE is slow to deploy so this phone will still be highly accepted in there market.

My only gripe is NO micro sd card port? that was my main turn off. Target the customers who have the lowest amount of data access available, so screw the cloud when your caped and throttled. Also The customers who can hardly stream due to various prepaid restrictions but leave them without the option to carry around there own 32gb of data on a micro card, that was the fail.
PastTense
join:2011-07-06
united state

PastTense

Member

Re: Taking a beating??

People expect to be able to keep the same phone for two years anyway. And two years from now all the major carriers are going to have decent LTE networks.

buddahbless
join:2005-03-21
Premium

buddahbless

Member

Re: Taking a beating??

Most will have a decent LTE in 2 yrs True but,

The majority will still have there HSPA networks in place as well. The one to go the way of the dodo in the next few years is standard GSM. even foreign countries ( the ones not interested in LTE anytime soon) are looking to ditch GSM in the near future and adopt HSPA as the ground floor standard.

jap
Premium Member
join:2003-08-10
038xx

jap

Premium Member

Re: Taking a beating??

Thanks for the informative posts, buddahbless. Helps this not-so-phoney guy make sense of his upcoming smart phone purchase. The limited local storage option (no SDcard) might keep me away from Nexus 4.

djdanska
Rudie32
Premium Member
join:2001-04-21
San Diego, CA

djdanska to 88615298

Premium Member

to 88615298
said by 88615298:

said by SLC 96:

Taking a beating?? I think not having LTE is a feature. It's a cheaper phone and I can get it unlocked with the ability to move between carriers around the world as I please. Most importantly it is fully compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile's networks.

Well considering T-Mobile doesn't provide ANY service of any kind and my area. And At&t just now brought us 3G I call this phone total FAIL. Could have had me as a customer but not now. Google's loss.

So what is stopping you from buying it from the play store and using it on at&t 3g?? Nothing..
Big Dawg 23
join:2002-03-27
Northfield, MN

Big Dawg 23 to 88615298

Member

to 88615298
You live in the middle of nowhere and 100 Miles from a major city. Not sure why you after to point out the same thing over and over. Its Tennessee country side so if I was a carrier it would be the last to get an update. T-Mo provides service to higher populated areas. Congrats to you and your LTE service. Verizon chose to provide LTE service to you while they pass over towns in Minnesota that are 10 times the size of your podunk city. In the end I could careless about LTE. Where ever I go in the Midwest AT&T is far better than VZW and my HSPA+ hangs with there LTE. In cities where LTE is cover by VZW and AT&T, AT&T is faster in my experience. I have a VZW MIFI LTE Spot and GNote on AT&T.

As for you fail comment, you are clueless about mobile devices. GSM is globally supported unlike VZW and Sprint CDMA. There are a lot of people on AT&T and T-Mo that buy international global GSM devices unlocked to get a pure form of the phone as it was meant to be versus bloatware VZW provides. Yep Verizon is so good they kept the G Nexus from getting Jelly Bean for a long time. Google is smart to do what they are doing. There will be a lot of people who buy this phone because of the low cost and NO Contract.
joe94395
join:2006-04-10
Taylors, SC

joe94395 to SLC 96

Member

to SLC 96
I'm with you man! Lack of LTE is a feature until there becomes a point for LTE. Like the LTE speeds actually exceeding the 42Mbps this phone is equipped with for one. If they put LTE in this phone it would just be a waste of money right now.

michieru
Premium Member
join:2009-07-25
Denver, CO

michieru to SLC 96

Premium Member

to SLC 96
Android is about the latest and greatest and they failed with this latest update of the Nexus. This is a stunt Apple would of pulled and if this was about choice then we would see two variants of the phone. I am sticking on to my current Nexus from Samsung and will upgrade once Google decides to include LTE.

All they really had to do was include a LTE variant and they would of been ok in my book and let the consumer decide if the price increase is justifiable.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: Taking a beating??

how many versions of the phone would they have to make? or do you just want horrible battery life for the sake of LTE?

michieru
Premium Member
join:2009-07-25
Denver, CO

michieru

Premium Member

Re: Taking a beating??

They can make one that's all well round with LTE, or they can include the option of one that has LTE. So if you did not release a product that consumers want then of course people will complain.

You also believe that having LTE = horrible battery life. If Apple was able to do it then so can Google and better. Also let's not forget that with current 3G platforms you can disable it to simply use 2G for extra power savings. The same can be said for LTE. So no there is no excuse why not to include or at least have the option to buy a version with LTE. If consumers don't want LTE then they can get the base model which works just as good but without it.

Maybe right now there isn't a HSPA+ and LTE on a single chip and that was the deciding factor. If that were the case Google could of waited for a even more powerful release later on. So if anything it looks more like a jerk reaction towards the iPhone 5 and a failed attempt at that.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

1 recommendation

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: Taking a beating??

if they added LTE, it would have to support how many different LTE networks all operating on different frequencies. The time is not right to make a phone that supports that many networks. It would be nice, but the idea is ridiculous. I'd venture a guess that the price for support of a device like that would go up significantly also. This phone wasn't made to appease Sprint and Verizon customers. It is a global phone made to appease other markets.

michieru
Premium Member
join:2009-07-25
Denver, CO

michieru

Premium Member

Re: Taking a beating??

Point taken. Still want LTE eventually though. I am skipping this upgrade like I am skipping Windows 8.
Rakeesh
join:2011-10-30
Phoenix, AZ

Rakeesh to michieru

Member

to michieru
I have a Sprint Galaxy Nexus, and it gets horrible battery life compared to the unlocked Galaxy Nexus unless you turn off the LTE radio. Even when the radio is doing nothing at all (because there's no LTE in my area) it still drains battery.

Really
@charter.com

Really to michieru

Anon

to michieru
said by michieru:

All they really had to do was include a LTE variant and they would of been ok in my book and let the consumer decide if the price increase is justifiable.

...and if the consumer decides that the price increase is not justifiable, how much money does Google lose?

michieru
Premium Member
join:2009-07-25
Denver, CO

michieru

Premium Member

Re: Taking a beating??

That depends on too many variables to actually give you a simple answer.

1. Stock
2. Manufacturing
3. Availability
4. Cost
5. Engineering of second model.
6. Time

The list goes on.

Now, if Google decided to release a detailed PR about the reason behind it such as the cost increase from the original model and vice versa then we can look further into this issue. I doubt any such PR will happen though.

Count Zero
Premium Member
join:2007-01-18
Milton, FL

Count Zero to SLC 96

Premium Member

to SLC 96
said by SLC 96:

Taking a beating?? I think not having LTE is a feature. It's a cheaper phone and I can get it unlocked with the ability to move between carriers around the world as I please. Most importantly it is fully compatible with AT&T and T-Mobile's networks.

LOL - and if it had LTE you'd be claiming it was "on par" with the iPhone.

mindhead1
@clearwire-wmx.net

mindhead1 to SLC 96

Anon

to SLC 96
+1
bnceo
join:2007-10-11
Bel Air, MD

bnceo

Member

No LTE Not Only About Battery

It's about a few things. Not on Verizon cause of their insistent of reviewing app updates (do they do this with Apple?) and no AT&T LTE is because LTE radio is a little pricey and their frequencies are not like the rest of world. So they make one SKU and keep the cost down. No prob with the HSPA version. Speeds are good for me.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: No LTE Not Only About Battery

They also don't want to build 3 different phones and have to support all of them. They want a standardized device free of carrier meddling. I really don't blame them. Many people are sick of carriers getting their hands into the device business.

cdru
Go Colts
MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN

cdru to bnceo

MVM

to bnceo
said by bnceo:

No prob with the HSPA version. Speeds are good for me.

Likewise. I'm a tmo subscriber, so LTE availability really isn't an issue anyways at the moment. 90% of my time is spent at two places, my house and my job, both of which have faster real world connections then what LTE provides. And the 10% of the time that I'm not at one of those two places, HSPA(+) is sufficient for me.

Gone
Premium Member
join:2011-01-24
Fort Erie, ON

Gone

Premium Member

Hah

Apple fans and 'some news outlets' not buying the excuse that Google didn't put LTE in the Nexus 4 because of battery life? Where were these same people when Apple claimed that they didn't put HSPA into the original iPhone for the exact same reason?

Yeah.

•••••••
steven s
Premium Member
join:2002-09-14
Dearborn, MI

steven s

Premium Member

Apple fans complaining about no LTE?

It's kind of ironic that Apple fans are complaining that this phone lacks LTE when the iPhone didn't get LTE until a year and half after it became standard.

From what I've heard, there is no LTE because then the phone would become carrier controlled, as with the Verizon and Sprint Galaxy Nexus, and Google would be forced to compromise. Also, there is no way you are going to be able to sell an LTE phone for $300 unlocked, and Google seems to be pushing unlocked for cheap.

The Nexus 4 definitely isn't for me, but come on now.

•••••••
Dodge
Premium Member
join:2002-11-27

Dodge

Premium Member

Why is LG building Nexus phones

Didn't google buy motorola? Can't they just start building their own nexus phone going forward using motorla's hardware resources?

•••••••
NeoandGeo
join:2003-05-10
Harrison, TN

NeoandGeo

Member

.

This is simply Google catering to lobbyists protecting the profit model of cell phone companies. Nothing to see here.

••••
mob (banned)
On the next level..
join:2000-10-07
San Jose, CA

mob (banned)

Member

No LTE? Eh...

What turned me off what the fact that it's an LG phone. I would go to Apple phone at cash and carry pricing before I took a free LG phone.

•••
jwdaigle
Premium Member
join:2004-07-10
6215

jwdaigle

Premium Member

For me, its a bigger issue to not have SD & replaceable batt

No LTE? I can live with that for the next 12-18 months if I can get a phone with the pure google experience without all the bloat on top (yes Samsung, Im looking directly at you!) at a reasonable cost.
What floors me is they cannot include SD card functionality? How much could that possibly increase the price? $50 or less? Its still around half the cost of an iPhone.
Also, does replaceable batteries really add to the cost? Isnt it just how the back cover fits on more or less? This is less important to me than SD, but for those long trips, I like having a spare battery around. And when the internal battery ceases to hold a charge, am I supposed to just throw the phone away?

••••

Acuity
join:2002-06-22
Londonderry, NH

Acuity

Member

I don't think...

I don't think you'll see LTE in another Nexus phone until Verizon unties their 3G service from it. There is no such thing as an "unlocked" LTE smartphone because of this.

For me, HSPA+ is fine. I was considering Republic Wireless for a while, but now I'm learning towards going with the Nexus 4 on T-Mobile's $30/month 100 minutes / unlimited text / unlimited data.

spewak
R.I.P Dadkins
Premium Member
join:2001-08-07
Elk Grove, CA

spewak

Premium Member

Yay Apple...

again
34764170 (banned)
join:2007-09-06
Etobicoke, ON

34764170 (banned)

Member

Re: Yay Apple...

FAIL Apple FAIL. No surprise.
RDC17
join:2011-05-15
Vienna, VA

RDC17

Member

HSPA+ is not bad at all but it should still have LTE

I get speeds of 10/5 regularly with HSPA+. LTE is always in the 15-22 downlink range.
joe94395
join:2006-04-10
Taylors, SC

1 recommendation

joe94395

Member

Google got it right

I don't see any problems with this phone. I would have made it the same way if I was Google. LTE isn't going to be prevalent enough for another 2 years or so. I'm excluding Verizon because I'm not a fool to pay those prices and you can't bring your own phone to their network.

LTE radios are also going to be sucking the power like crazy for the next 2 years or so until they get the technology more refined.

Is any LTE network even exceeding the 42Mbps that this phone is equipped with anyway? Theoretically if a tower has more backhaul for LTE shouldn't this phone benefit up to 42Mbps? Who need more than 42 anyway? What on earth are you doing on your phone? Multiple simultaneous HD streams or something?

We need to be focusing our bashing energy on the carriers and not Google. They won't even upgrade their backhaul lines to handle the existing HSDPA+ technology let alone LTE. They won't even give us a data cap that will allow us to use our phones to their potential even if we had the speeds that we should have.

Bottom line is that Google didn't put LTE in this phone because LTE is pointless in its current form and is an unnecessary expense. Blame the carriers for that not Google.
elefante72
join:2010-12-03
East Amherst, NY

1 recommendation

elefante72

Member

Re: Google got it right

Look at the spectrum shuffle. Most Sprint phones w/ Wimax are pretty much dead, because Clear isn't going to sink any more money into that. Sprint is moving their LTE bands around so all of those LTE phones without the basebands will be useless too. TMO is ADDING 1900Mhz so people can use AT&T phones and upgrading to HSPA+ on those.

If you buy any LTE phone, you simply can't unlock it and take it to another carrier today. In the future that will be MVNO, but you can't move it across networks--mvno or not that is network lockin.

This phone does the opposite. People should be cheering about this. The Apple folks keep comparing a $300 phone to a $650 dollar phone, and slam it? I can buy a ford fiesta for $20k and a mercedes for $40k. Do you say that since they are both cars the Fiesta should have the same features? That's ridiculous.

This is the FIRST unlocked, unsubsidized phone of this caliber to be released. Why has the press not cheered about this? Well because their AAPL stock is sinking, they are firing execs like water, and Google is starting to make serious inroads in the highend with midpoint costs.
ConstantineM
join:2011-09-02
San Jose, CA

ConstantineM

Member

Re: Google got it right

I think it's at least the second, actually. Galaxy Nexus (Google Nexus 3) has nearly identical specs and the same price. Both are pretty great deals at 350$ unlocked!

Most people don't realise that they can save a ****load of money by using a contract-less 30$/mo Walmart plan by T-Mo with this phone.
bartolo5
join:2001-12-03
San Carlos, CA

bartolo5

Member

reasonable compromise

Given the status of LTE networks (so many bands and running along previous networks) this is a reasonable compromise. HSPA+ is really fast so I doubt most users will notice for common tasks. Also notice the price, $300 no contract!
FrontirCynic
join:2006-10-25
Long Beach, CA

FrontirCynic

Member

inefficient stupid system

2g, 3g, 4g (lte or hspa+)..too many systems, too many carriers all with proprietary systems and handsets that must be made for their system. All the handsets are subsidized due to this with onerous 10 page contracts then required to cover (more than cover) the cost of the handset subsidy. After 2 years phone is dead so time for a new contract

It should have been done like electricity. All 110 voltage no matter what power co you use and anything can plug into it. Power co does not subsidize toasters made for its unique voltage. Imagine if the power system worked like the phone system
ConstantineM
join:2011-09-02
San Jose, CA

ConstantineM

Member

I like my Google Nexus 3

I don't think lack of LTE is meaningful at this point. AT&T Mobility and T-Mobile USA don't have much and any, respectively, LTE; still not entirely clear which frequencies are going to be used by whom (especially from the user's perspective); Apple's solution with multiple different iPhones, depending on LTE frequencies and CDMA support, is far from optimal etc etc.

I have a Google Galaxy Nexus (Nexus 3), and it's kinda cool. Very buggy, I must say, but lots of features, and free Personal Hotspot. At 350$ for device, plus 30$/month for unlimited internet, with 5GB at 4G speeds, is still a steal. No point in having LTE until T-Mobile USA will support it.

RRedline
Rated R
Premium Member
join:2002-05-15
USA

RRedline

Premium Member

LOL

If Apple had just released a phone without LTE, even if it was offered as a cheaper alternative to the iPhone 5, there would be a dozen threads on this site filled with people trashing them for it. Some of the loudest critics would be the same people making excuses for Google right now.

I am actually surprised by this, especially since so many people love to put Apple's products under the microscope. Of course, the press won't care because Android phones are a dime a dozen. There are plenty of choices, but having Google themselves release a phone like this is pretty strange. There seems to be a double-standard when it comes to expectations.

"I dropped my iPhone, and now it is scratched. My phone actually SCRATCHES! Apple sucks!"
GBerry
join:2011-06-12
Guelph, ON

GBerry

Member

Re: LOL

said by RRedline:

If Apple had just released a phone without LTE, even if it was offered as a cheaper alternative to the iPhone 5, there would be a dozen threads on this site filled with people trashing them for it. Some of the loudest critics would be the same people making excuses for Google right now.

I am actually surprised by this, especially since so many people love to put Apple's products under the microscope. Of course, the press won't care because Android phones are a dime a dozen. There are plenty of choices, but having Google themselves release a phone like this is pretty strange. There seems to be a double-standard when it comes to expectations.

"I dropped my iPhone, and now it is scratched. My phone actually SCRATCHES! Apple sucks!"

If Apple released an iPhone(lite) with the same technical specs as the 5 but lacking LTE and retailing for $300 unlocked I think many would be buying an iPhone and not caring one bit.

The difference in criticism comes from the fact that apple products are marketed as halo devices. They are supposed to be the best of the best. Their price tag reflects this standard. It is why they don't offer a line of phones. It is all about the walled garden. This is where you should buy your music/apps/videos. This is how you get them on your device. etc etc.

The nexus line from google is meant to be a technical showpiece of how they envision a certain product. Since the nexus one they have wanted to be able to retail unlocked phones that work on the provider of your choice (unless they are cdma). Even then they were annoyed by the fact that they needed to offer 2 phones. Tmobile/att. Now they have that option. This is a world phone. If they tried to offer LTE it would no longer be a world phone. If all phones did this, we would have more carrier options, better plans, better prices.

They also need to push their services. Google isn't in it to make money on the nexus devices.

As someone who doesn't even have a data plan, I couldn't care less about LTE v HSPA+. Why would I need 50Mbps? $20 gets me 1gb. Fulll stop on LTE and that would be gone in minutes.

Andy from CA
Premium Member
join:2008-09-05
Anaheim, CA

Andy from CA

Premium Member

Article mistake

The device only supports HSPA+ speeds up to 42 Mbps, meaning it only really supports two major United States carriers: AT&T and T-Mobile. That's a definite competitive disadvantage for the iPhone 5, though Google's Android lead Andy Rubin ...

Wouldn't that be a definite competitive advantage for the iPhone 5?

I wouldn't normally point it out except for the fact they have a job and I don't. So for the writer & proofreader

Chosen1
@bellsouth.net

Chosen1

Anon

No discounted Sammy?

Am I the only one who was hoping after this announcements the Galaxy Nexus would drop to like $200 or something to clear out stock? I'm disappointed that it is "no longer available" from Google's site. Unless I want to pay $380 from Amazon (when I can get the 16gb Nexus 4 for $350??? Puh-lease!). Meh...will probably get the 4. Tough to argue with the price.

-Chosen1
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT
·Frontier FiberOp..
Asus RT-AC68

BiggA

Premium Member

All about the Bay Area and NYC

Those areas have good T-Mobile service on HSPA+. This phone was never designed for AT&T, even though it works fine on AT&T 3G. The problem is that it assumes it has a good 3G network, and since AT&T's 3G network has horrendous congestion in NYC and in other spots, you almost need LTE on AT&T now, even though you shouldn't.