Google closes its $1.1B deal with HTC Corp

[elvirs]

after being an iPhone user for 6 years and recently switching to android (first a pixel, then one plus) I can say with confidence Google's hardware approach sucks. Android can do a lot more than iOS but it does most of the simple things in a user unfriendly way

[ariwilson]

For a contrasting perspective, I went Android to iPhone and I can say it sent me running back to Pixel as fast as I could for basic usability.

[randomString1]

And if you want things like "receiving updates" and "no bloatware, stock android" you have to compromise on the hardware side. Gets even worse when you add phone carriers and warranty to the mix (depending where you live).

I just hope Treble will allow us to install a signed stock ROM (custom ROMs don't count in my book) on any device so all that matters is the hardware and customer support.

[sigmar]

>Google's hardware approach sucks

What is wrong with the Pixel hardware? (Have never owned one and have only heard good things)

[chisleu]

Yep. Back when they were much more simple (like gingerbread?) I felt they hit the usability peak. My Pixel 2XL has a lot more features. It's certainly faster and better in almost every way, but it has so many trivial user experience bugs that it blows my mind that QA isn't fired.

[p3llin0r3]

I've had no problems with the Pixel 2, I actually love. it.

So I guess what I'm trying to say here is:

OK GUY.

[chrisper]

I hate most of the redesign of going all white. Especially in Settings sometimes it is not clear what is a button and what is just text.

[sfifs]

> most of the simple things in a user unfriendly way

Care to elaborate? The thing I value about Android is how I can setup the things "my way" vs. "Johnny Ive" way and so make important things far more simple to do than on iPhone.

Also interesting that you chose to test waters with sub par hardware vs. going top of the line Samsung. Both Google and OnePlus are well known to have hardware reliability issues.

[eanzenberg]

Their software also sucks compared to the “just-works” ios and its integration.

[thisisit]

I don't understand, how is this different from Google acquiring and then selling off Motorola Mobility?

[puzzle]

I was at Google during the Motorola years. There was no integration whatsoever, by design. The Android team bent over backwards not to give Motorola any special access.

[on_and_off]

The narrative is that they only wanted the patents (and the experimental division) of Motorola.

Although I suspect that Google's directionless approach does not help.

[guhan_ganesh]

I have worked as a contractor with TI audio team. I have heard from them that, HTC Taiwan team is one of the best in the world.

[abvdasker]

This time will maybe probably actually be different despite Google's short strategic attention span. Seems to me that the main difference between then and now is that Google is probably less concerned about alienating the other Android device OEMs now that Android is more entrenched.

To speculate a little more wildly it's possible Google's motive is also to push the current Android manufacturers to "up their game" in the same way Google Fiber may have been a subtle threat to internet service providers.

[bitmapbrother]

This was more of a acquihire while the Motorola deal was more about the patents.

[eanzenberg]

Google doesn’t understand least-friction products like apple and HTC isn’t going to get them there.

Their customer first and formost are ad-buyers and what they sell is your data. Apple’s customers are users, and it shows.

[scriptingnerd]

Apple comes across as people friendly, a hardware company who provides a tangible, usable set of products. Google comes across as what they are, an ad company with a semi-decent search engine and an OK web mail and docs platform. I stick with my i-devices and Fastmail.

[Yetanfou]

What Apple or Google or any other company comes across as is mostly in the eye of the beholder and can be influenced by many, sometimes trivial things. As an example my perception of Google has changed in recent years, not so much due to them shedding projects but more due to the intense politicisation of the place and the censorship which followed. I don't use the search engine directly, preferring to go through a third party to gain a semblance of anonymity. The Android project still gets my vote as long as AOSP remains viable, as soon as that road is cut off I'll jump ship to something else. To me Apple seems to be more in the business of herding their flock of users, trying to extract as much profit from them as feasible. They know which strings to pull to make keep most users from leaving the flock but recently more and more have strayed to the edge and beyond.

[joejerryronnie]

Agree with this - however I am consistently awestruck by Google Earth. It rarely helps me in my day to day life (apple/google maps work fine for that) but I never grow tired of zooming in on a tiny fishing village on some remote island in the Pacific or a random settlement high in the Himalayas. It feels almost God-like.

[cpeterso]

Why would HTC sell 2000 engineers to Google if they plan to still make smartphones? This move suggests HTC management felt they would be unable to produce $1.1B value with those engineers (which should be a warning to investors).

[bitmapbrother]

HTC has been losing money each quarter and needed an infusion of cash to sustain their operations.

[nicetime]

For sure, the only reason I’ve been on Apple devices these past few years is because Ubuntu is such an abomination. Windows is plainly unthinkable. And if you have my laptop, the mobile devices fall like dominos. I don’t love iPhones, but even at premium prices it’s worth it to integrate with OS X.

Android really makes me sick though. Touted as free and open, but you still have to root your phone with shady exploits, payloaded over some sketchy USB shell. And then when you do, the custom roms are trash. And I wouldn’t even be rooting these devices if I could just efface some of the stock brand and bloatware, but no, every mobile provider wants me to sign into their analytics package, and billboard their logos all over the place. It’s a wasteland in all directions.

[feikname]

That's the mobile provider fault, not Android's... And no custom ROMs are necessary for root usually.

Also, what makes you prefer macOS UX than Windows or Ubuntu? They surely have their downsides, but I don't think they're THAT bad to the point of not even touching one.

[BaronVonSteuben]

There's nothing sketchy about it if you buy a phone that is unlocked or unlockable. If you get a Samsung from Verizon, then yeah you're gonna have a hard time.

[pokemongoaway]

Exactly, we're going to need a replacement for Google's vanilla Android soon. You can't even take off the Google Now bar - which takes up significant space on all workspaces!

[coliveira]

Another me-too from Google. It doesn't matter how much money they put on it, it won't work until they do something innovative. Apple had to do it to get where they are.

[ac29]

> Apple had to do it to get where they are.

Apple aquired a lot of companies to get their "innovative" features. Siri was aquired (I know, its not great, but it was novel when it came out), PA-Semi was aquired (boosted their in house SoC development), and the original Kinect team for the iPhone X face recognition sensor suite come to mind.

A much bigger list is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio...

[gesman]

+1 They should learn from Ballmer wasting MSFT resources housing him. Epic "me too!" failure.

[guhan_ganesh]

Though Apple is lagging behind in innovative features in recent times, I think they are at a higher level because of the excellent hardware that complements their software and vice versa. I think Google feels let down by the other mobile manufacturer's hardware and hence wants to bet big on improving its in house hardware expertise.

[rimliu]

I am interested what innovative features are offered on other flagship phones that are not available for iPhone users? My impression is that smartphones matured enough not to have any major breakthroughs in recent years. That said Face ID is magic.

[thisacctforreal]

I feel like their approach to user-friendly security is plenty innovative.

[lostmsu]

Yeah, the battery story shows how excellent their hardware is.

[r00fus]

Gotta say as an iPhone user throughout (I own a nexus5 v1 ), I'm pretty impressed with HTCs design. However it's not clear that google will integrate them well.

I see this as more of a sign that Google doesn't care about scaring the hardware manufacturers anymore.

[aphextron]

I wish Google would just buy HTC already and put out a Fuschia based phone so I can be done with iOS.

[on_and_off]

Fuchsia looks like it is at least 2 years from release (probably more. No wonder O was presented as `the technical foundation of the next 10 years of Android` (from the last IO): it is possible that Google plans Fuchsia as an Android replacement (maybe only at the technical level, as long as they add ART, it can be the next version of Android) but it is not going to happen overnight.

[paulcole]

Apple has built a brand that’s cool and stylish. Google’s got a long way to go to get there. More brains aren’t the answer to this problem.

[dcow]

But tailored hardware might be.

[fnord77]

Google has always been tone-deaf when it comes to how they treat their users. Apples treats their users as something special. Apple delights - google, well it's fast, but it sometimes creeps you out.

throwing more bodies at the problem isn't going to fix it - this is a top-down issue.

[jk563]

Fairly subjective to be fair. I'd wager that the same features that creep you out are some of the features that delight me.

[sparkie]

How come the title was changed? Original title from the article was "Google Bets a Billion Dollars More Brains Can Help Take On Apple".

My thoughts when reading this title: https://i.imgur.com/Y6Js3Ju.jpg

[freeOpenBloat]

For sure, the only reason I’ve been on Apple devices these past few years is because Ubuntu is such an abomination. Windows is plainly unthinkable. And if you have my laptop, the mobile devices fall like dominos. I don’t love iPhones, but even at premium prices it’s worth it to integrate with OS X.

Android really makes me sick though. Touted as free and open, but you still have to root your phone with shady exploits, payloaded over some sketchy USB shell. And then when you do, the custom roms are trash. And I wouldn’t even be rooting these devices if I could just efface some of the stock brand and bloatware, but no, every mobile provider wants me to sign into their analytics package, and billboard their logos all over the place. It’s a wasteland in all directions.