The future of Google in the field of hardware has brought devices recognizable by anyone, also some that were not very successful. And one specific product has a particular history: the Nexus Q. It proposed to revolutionize the multimedia field and in the end it ended without being sold. And it served as the germ of what is today the Google Chromecast.
It’s not that Google has been too prolific in the field of hardware, but it does have different product lines that have evolved into the varied catalog that exists today. It developed mobiles, tablets, has watches, a home automation line that was supported by the purchase of Nest and also has multimedia players. In fact, The Google Chromcast are the great success in the company’s hardware. And said success came from a device that did not materialize.
Nexus Q, ahead of its time. too advanced
Original Nexus Q sales page. Image from Archive.org
I remember Google’s first mobile, the Nexus One, in the window of an electronics store that I passed several times a week. I looked at the lines of the phone, at the Google logo, I was surprised by the fact that the company, well known by the search engine, finally entered the field of hardware (although still with HTC behind). Said Nexus One was the beginning of a saga that brought us to the Pixel 7 of our days. A saga that diversified into a multitude of product types, including multimedia devices.
It was June 2012, Google was in its key event for developers and it revealed not only Android news (4.1 Jelly Bean), but also what would be its best-selling tablet: the Nexus 7. 2012 was also the year of the presentation of the Google Glass, one of the Google’s most ambitious experiments in the field of hardware. The Nexus Q reserved much of the interest of that Google I / O 2012.
The media player was offered as a home device with a curious spherical design. It started with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and included access to Google Play to install the apps and games from the store. Behind, the Nexus Q reserved space for connections to the television and thus transfer the audio and video to the big screen. Technically, Google built a “set top box” based on Android to which it decided to give a certain air of exclusivity in design and, above all, in price.
The Nexus Q was quite expensive in 2012: its sale price marked a tag of 299 dollars in the US market. Google proposed accessories for the device at a price that was also high; such as connection cables or speakers specially designed for the Nexus Q (and which cost more than the player itself). When everything was ready for consumers to acquire it, Google decided to cancel the sale after several extensions that ended in failure.
Google’s set top box promised to be revolutionary thanks to its social playback features. Playlists of music or videos could be loaded onto the Nexus Q to be played on the TV and/or speakers, everything from the mobile. And these lists could be shared with friends, even they could access the reproduction to contribute their own suggestions. Is this communion between TV and telephone familiar? It is precisely what started the Google Chromecast, a device that the company presented at the I/O of 2013, a year after the presentation of the Nexus Q.
Rise from the ashes, the key to Chromecast
Google never put the Nexus Q on sale: after extensions, the company removed it from its store. Image from Archive.org
I could never have a Nexus One, obviously, nor a Nexus Q. I did get the first Google Chromecast, the device that marked the path of Google in the field of hardware. It seemed revolutionary to me at the time and a great example that power is not everything: the software that manages the devices ends up making the difference. The simpler, the better. And if it’s cheap, the combination is a winner.
The Nexus Q started very advanced for the time, Google did not know how to fit it into its catalog. Based on tests he conducted among users who were able to access the device, the company did not finish fine-tuning the characteristics and its overall performance. With another detail that marked his premature death: the price of the Nexus Q was too high. Its manufacture contributed to this, entirely in the United States.
Despite the setback, Google learned from its mistakes to create the best device it has ever made. And ended up evolving it towards the original concept: Chromecast with Google TV are quite similar to the Nexus Q. As often happens in generational sagas, the dominant traits sooner or later come out again.
