The Death of Nexus: The Shortcoming of Google's Short Vision
Different people may have different understandings of the death of Nexus, but I personally think that Google's change of the naming of its hardware products this year is a long-destined thing - from the beginning of the Nexus series to a nasty set of product naming .
Looking at the history of the entire Nexus series, you can summarize two basic naming methods: serial number naming and size naming. The former are Nexus One, Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 6, and the latter are two generations of Nexus 7, Nexus 10, and Nexus 9. If you choose a single way to name it, the Nexus brand probably won't fall into this category. The problem is that Google hasn’t planned the Nexus product line from a long-term perspective, and both of these terms have been used.
The original Nexus One was named after the serial number, but it was a bad rule when it came to the second generation. The Nexus S and the third-generation Galaxy Nexus are basically Samsung's various ways. The fourth generation of Nexus 4 on the surface returned to serial nomenclature, but at the same time Google extended the Nexus product line to join the tablet, and Nexus 7 this apparently based on the size of the product named makes the former's name meaning is ambiguous - Nexus 4 The screen is 4.7 inches and it makes sense to use the size and serial number to explain. Nexus 5 and Nexus 6 inherited the "ambiguous nomenclature" of 4, but Google also released the Nexus 7 II, Nexus 10 and Nexus 9, which are named after the size, and Nexus Q, which is totally unknown.
By 2015, Google suddenly discovered that the two new phones to be released faced a very embarrassing situation: According to the size nomenclature, the two phones should be named Nexus 5 or Nexus 6, but according to the serial nomenclature, the two should be called Nexus 7. The problem is that all three names are taken up. In the end, Google chose the Nexus 6P and 5X to solve this problem, but it is also obvious that the Nexus brand had basically run out of usable names in 2014 (except for the Nexus 8, but it already has dimensions. In the case of the naming principle, calling a mobile phone Nexus 8 is always a little weird...), so changing the name of a brand in 2016 is a matter of course, but it is quite a helpless choice.
Why is Pixel after Nexus?
After facing the embarrassing situation of naming, we saw that Google did not change the trick to give Nexus another name (such as the Nexus X1 or Nexus 2016), but chose the new brand directly: Google Pixel.
Pixel is actually not a "new" brand for Google. It is a hardware brand under the Chrome OS ecosystem. It has already launched two generations of Chromebooks, and there is a transitional tablet that seems to be "practical" for a long time now. Pixel C. Pixel is a pure Google brand, brand elements (four color dots) are also matched with the current Google Logo, is a very good successor. In addition, the existing Chromebook Pixel and Pixel C plus Pixel and Pixel XL are just like mobile phones, tablet phones, deformed tablets and laptops, and are finally aligned with the major hardware product lines of Apple and Microsoft.
From the long-term perspective of the convergence of Chrome OS and Android, the merger of Nexus and Pixel is an inevitable result. Whether it is from the earliest Pichai to manage two system teams at the same time, Chrome OS is gradually compatible with Android application ecology in recent years, even including the future of the mysterious new system Fuchsia, Google has been making unremitting efforts for this goal. From this perspective, Nexus is bound to die, and now is a good time.
To sum up, Nexus's direct cause of death stems from Google's lack of naming confusion caused by Nexus' lack of long-term planning. Indirect but more important cause of death is the inevitable choice made by Google to promote the integration of Chrome and Android ecosystems.
How will the Pixel series define Google hardware in the post-Nexus era?
After replacing the brand, the existing Nexus production model - more precisely the "co-design, OEM" model will change with the brand change? At least for now, it seems that this model may gradually come to an end and turn into an "indigenous design, OEM manufacturing" similar to Apple.
This change stems from two reasons:
1. In the era of Nexus, Google never had a unified hardware product department. This year, with the establishment of the Google hardware department led by former Motorola Mobile CEO Rick Osterloh, there is finally a unified professional team to conduct research and development of Pixel hardware, instead of looking for other manufacturers to help design or even directly apply ready-made solutions - of course, the real There are still many ways to go to achieve independent R&D;
2. Google’s current CEO, Pichai, has repeatedly mentioned that it will strengthen its control of hardware products. The fact that the OEM manufacturing in the Nexus era formed dual-brand awareness clearly undermines Google’s own brand influence. Pixel’s transformation into a pure Google brand will allow Google to better control its own product experience and increase brand awareness.
In fact, in the Nexus 6P and 5X products, we have already seen Google's deeper involvement in the design of mobile phones. The devices produced by two different OEMs have a lot of the same components (Nexus Imprint, Nexus Camera, etc.) and almost The consistent front panel, "cooperative design" has been shaken in this generation. Although this generation of Pixel and Pixel XL are still partially concealed, there are not many HTC styles from the renderings currently leaked.
But personally think that Google will not substantially change the relationship with other vendors. Nexus is the benchmark of Android. Pixel is also the benchmark of Google's hardware. However, it is not entirely a competition between you and other manufacturers such as Samsung and Huawei. It is more about relying on each other, using each other, and learning from each other. . The obvious trend is that a large number of features and designs originally appearing on third-party ROMs appear in Android 6.0 and 7.0, and custom Android interfaces such as Samsung, LG, Sony, etc. are gradually moving closer to the original. Samsung has even begun. Follow Google's monthly security update.
Pixel may be more "Google Style" than Nexus, but Google apparently will not use this device to kill other vendors - in fact they can not do it, there is no need to do so.
Nexus is not only a name, but also the heart and feelings of Android.
Before Google Nexus, most people mentioned the word Nexus, which might be associated with the famous robot Nexus-6 in the movie "The Silver Wings Killer," and "The Silver Wings Killer" was adapted from the science fiction of Philip K. Dick. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? †This is said to be the origin of the Android system and Nexus phone name.
Now, the Nexus brand has a curtain call, and at the same time bid farewell to the original heart and feelings of Android.
Time to say goodbye.
Finally, we hope that Google will organize and plan the hardware product line well, and don't die on the naming of such small things. The new hardware will be a little bit no matter if it is appearance or configuration, so don't do any wonderful designs.
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