Nexus 6 - <AUTHOR> http://www.google.com/nexus/6/ <comment><USER2> 5.96" - A phone just under 6". This is possibly the biggest disappointment about the phone. Its simply too large for the average user. The nexus 5 was already quite difficult to reach the top corners with one hand in my opinion with its 4.95".

 _you get over 24 hours of use from a full charge._ \- too many times I have heard this phrase from other smartphone manufacturers and its never true. Since this phone is made by Motorola(which I think is a great company that builds good products)there is hope but that screen is going to be a battery drainer. Motorola had their [0] Motorola Droid Maxx which held a 3,500mAh battery and its at least kind of true for that statement above.

If they had put the 3220 mAh battery (or larger) in a 4.7" \- 4.9" phone, I would gladly pay for that. Why can't smartphone manufacturers understand that a longer battery life is whats lacking in mobile devices?

All the goodie features like Google Now and other location hungry services completely drain your battery in a short time. All I want is a smartphone that can last for at least one day on one charge.

Lastly the price. The nexus line is known for the competitive price/performance being greatly competitive. If this phone asks for more than £350, does it really have the nexus characteristics anymore?

I hope there will be android phones still produced with 5" or less screen size in the next 4 years. A significant portion of the population don't have unimaginably big hands (or pockets) to carry these so called "mobile" phones.

0\. [http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/16/motorola-droid-maxx- revie...](http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/16/motorola-droid-maxx-review/)

<comment><USER3> This screen size is so, so disappointing. I'm an iphone 5s user and was eagerly awaiting the new Nexus to make the switch to Android. But 6" is a tablet that can make calls, not a phone. I WANT to switch to Android/Nexus for hundreds of reasons but this screen size is a deal break.

I need a phone I can use like... a phone.

I've tried the iphone 6 plus in person and it's a monstrosity to use, definitely not a one hand device. And the Nexus 6 is even larger?...

And I'm a man – I have pretty large hands. I can't imagine how it must feel in my wife (or many other women)'s hands.

This needs to stop.

<comment><USER4> Sony is making a smaller Android device, the "Z3 Compact," exactly for the reasons you list.

<comment><USER5> Your comment got me excited -- but I looked up the size of the Z3 "compact" and it is larger in every dimension than my iPhone 5s.

<comment><USER6> It's ridiculous. I thought I remember someone saying the iPhone 1/3/4 size was designed to be perfect for the human hand and I agree. It's easier to make things larger, it's hard to make them small, how are we regressing?

<comment><USER7> "The human hand" describes a wide range of shapes and sizes. I have very large hands and find the smaller phones cumbersome and hard to use.

What we should strive for is choice.

<comment><USER6> Good point and I agree, nothing left for small hands currently!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Can anyone explain to me what the fetish is with pushing the same amount of pixels as a freaking 27 inch display (which, by the way, I've always considered gorgeous)?

I mean, does anyone actually notice the difference? Because if that difference means I'm paying $100-200 extra for a better screen, a better graphics chip etc, and it means my battery life is reduced, I really just don't get it.

I elaborated a bit on this question here: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8459761](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8459761)

Anyway... my biggest gripe is really price point. The Nexus 4, 5, 7 weren't any more interesting than devices coming out from Samsung or HTC. What made them unique was a sick performance/price ratio, the best mid-level entry device range for people who aren't interested in $500 a year fees for their phone+plan, yet like running the latest android on a nice device.

Now we seem to get another high-range flagship-type phone and tablet. I kinda get it, you want a benchmark device and you've got moto filling the lower-mid range quite nicely, but I really wish they'd have kept the Nexus series below the $500 range.

Love the thickness by the way. 10mm or so is great. Not a thick slab, but it's got some real grip to it. iPhone 6's thickness really sucks for me. (although it's a slightly different story when you add a case, I did like the thickness of the iphone 6 with a case when I tried it)

<comment><USER9> Did your gorgeous 27" display cost more than $500? I'm not quite clear why you think $500 for a very decent computer that fits into a (big) pocket is unreasonable.

<comment><USER10> OP has a reasonable point, not sure what yours is.

> Did your gorgeous 27" display cost more than $500?

Actually, they're going for about $300 on NewEgg, and are currently on sale for $200 at Best Buy.

<comment><USER11> > Actually, they're going for about $300 on NewEgg, and are currently on sale > for $200 at Best Buy.

Are you sure those are 2560 x 1440 res?

Usually those prices are for 1080p screens at 27"

<comment><USER12> The NewEgg one, at least, is 2560 x 1440.

[http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4JH1NB18...](http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4JH1NB1871)

<comment><USER11> Interesting. Looks like it's a VA panel, which is better perf than TN, but less than IPS. Which would explain the low price, yet high res.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I bought the Nexus 5 as soon as it was released and have really liked it, however, I'm not sure I'll be buying this one. The biggest issue I have is the screen size. I just think 6" is over my threshold. At $649 I can basically buy any other phone off contract. One of the original appeals of the Nexus 5 was the low price.

No wireless charging either? Not a dealbreaker, but I did use it on my 5.

<comment><USER14> [http://www.motorola.com/us/Nexus-6/nexus-6-motorola- us.html](http://www.motorola.com/us/Nexus-6/nexus-6-motorola-us.html)

very bottom: Battery 3220 mAh Mixed usage up to 24 hours* Qi Wireless charging support

<comment><USER15> Good catch.

OT: I hope wireless charging is there to stay. Being in robotics this is one technology that would benefit robots tremendously when it becomes more mainstream.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Very nice that all the physical buttons are on one side and also in the middle of the phone. The biggest gripe I have with the iPhone 6 Plus is that every time I try to lock it, I turn up the volume, and vice versa. The buttons are also way too high on the device.

Not that it's particularly important, but the Nexus 6 was the model of the androids in Blade Runner, but I'm not sure if this phone is "more human than human." :)

<comment><USER17> I actually dislike that feature on my Lumia 920. It's hard to get it in a holder tight enough to hold it and not mash the power or camera button.

<comment><USER16> Interesting! I assume that this problem would exist no matter where the keys are placed, assuming the holder doesn't handle the keys gracefully :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> I've bought every nexus phone when they were released, but I'm not sure about this one. The nexus 5 is already a bit oversized IMO. This thing is ridiculous.

<comment><USER19> The present obsession with "bigger is better" is perplexing to me. I know some use cases are facilitated by larger displays, and they are valuable to people with poor eyesight, but I've never once in my life thought "boy, I wish my phone was even larger." A phone I cannot fit in my pocket is virtually useless to me.

Anything larger than my (already too large) Nexus 5 is a complete non-starter for me. I can see a place for these models in a _lineup_ that includes smaller models, but the Nexus series does not seem to operate that way. This will be the first Nexus phone I will never own.

<comment><USER20> > but I've never once in my life thought "boy, I wish my phone was even > larger."

Labeling these "phones" is the wrong thing to do. These are computers that happen to have some lineage with phones. I think the ultimate aim is this: most people don't need computers, they need and want a single device. A phone with a small display is inadequate for that, but a phone with a display this big could be more than enough for a lot of people, for almost all purposes.

<comment><USER21> More than lineage; because of the way service contracts hide the actual price of the phone, phones get premium features over other devices.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> I had a Nexus 5, but I bought a Sony Z3 Compact a few weeks ago, and I don't regret doing so. This phone is simply too big.

For anyone interested, I would highly recommend the Z3C. It's a fantastic phone and a really great size.

<comment><USER23> If only Sony would acknowledge the existence of wireless charging (Qi). It has been great having many recent Nexus devices use it.

<comment><USER22> True, but the Sony magnetic chargers are actually pretty great. I got a dock that essentially does exactly what my wireless pad did.

<comment><USER23> Qi is an open standard. I have several Qi chargers including one in the car. A proprietary charger doesn't help.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> The trend of correlating device number (i.e. Nexus 'X') with screen size is going in the wrong direction. 6 is already too big (and heavy) for some. Next year, there'll be no distinction between phones & tablets.

Edit: Disappointed with the pricing too: $649. Google had set a good trend with Nexus series - Awesome devices at exception price. All that's gone. Kind of against the Android One initiative.

<comment><USER25> > 6 is already too big for some.

Are the actual dimensions of the phone known?

This matters a lot because screen size is only an approximate indicator of device size. For instance, the iPhone 6 Plus has a 5.5" screen and yet is very noticeably larger than the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, which has a larger 5.7" screen.

<comment><USER24> Dimensions : 82.98mm x 159.26mm x 10.06mm

Weight : 184g

Source : [http://www.google.com/nexus/6/](http://www.google.com/nexus/6/)

<comment><USER25> Ahh, I didn't realize that the specs section had an expandable button to see more details.

It's definitely a huge phone, although barely taller than the 6 Plus, which is exactly what I suspected.

<comment><USER26> I missed that too. I was looking for the weight of the Nexus 9 (slightly less than the iPad Air).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> So apparently there is no 7" tablet anymore. I think that makes sense, since the 7" tablets get cannibalized by the ever growing smartphones. After I bought a Nexus 7 I started to carry it around all the time. I used my Galaxy Nexus less and less (only for calls and whatsapp) so after a short time (when the Galaxy Nexus started to show its age) I decided I can live with an even smaller (and not so flexible) phone and bought an 5s. Now, with the Nexus 6 I may be able to retire both and get back to only carrying one device with me.

<comment><USER28> I never got into the tablets bandwagon.

For me a phablet makes much more sense. I just want a powerful smartphone, for everything else there is my laptop.

<comment><USER29> Yes but tablets are great for pleasure. I wouldnt use my iPad to do work on but for browsing the internet on the couch or reading emails (usually non- work) it really excels for me.

But I may be changing my mind as soon as my iPhone 6 plus gets here.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> I've owned an EVO, a Note 2 and a Nexus 5. The form factors being small, large and medium-to-large, respectively. I went from small to large, and while I thought the Note 2 had fantastic specs, it was too unwieldy for me and I decided to downsize to the Nexus 5. I still find the Nexus 5 a bit unwieldy with one handed use, but it's at least possible. Which brings me to my current conclusion: I want a smaller phone which doesn't give up too much in the screen resolution. Which brings me to my question: What makes ideal specs for you? Here's what I want, but cannot seem to find (something is always missing):

* Size: 4.9" screen

* Resolution: 1080p (it's really hard to find any phones this size with this resolution, which is disappointing because the PPI is possible, especially given the quad HD resolutions being slapped on phones now).

* SD expansion slot: One thing I really liked about the Note 2 that the Nexus phones don't have. I could upgrade with a 64G SD card which didn't cost much. 32G can fill up pretty quickly with videos and photos and it's annoying Google has a philosophy which shuns SD cards.

* Battery: At least 2600mAmp (should last at least one day).

* Stock android: No bloatware and no touch-wiz. This isn't as important as the other considerations though.

* CPU: This doesn't matter too much to me. 99% of what I do doesn't need a latest generation processor

* Memory: 2G is fine. Memory again isn't the main thing that's bothering me about the current android offerings.

What really bothers me is no-one is catering to this market segment and the trend is increasingly into the phablet market.

<comment><USER31> it's not perfect, but something in between the Sony Xperia Z3 and Z3 compact sounds like what you're looking for.

Xperia Z3 has 1080P screen, 3Gb ram, 5.2" screen.

Xperia Z3 Compact has 720P screen, 2GB ram, 4.6" screen.

Both have microSD expansion, both have very solid processors and battery life, and sony's android is a very lightweight add-on to stock android.

Maybe a slight compromise in either direction will get you close to what you need?

<comment><USER30> Yeah definitely, and thanks for the great recommendation. The Z3 is getting close, but still slightly too big. The Compact is the right size, or even a touch small, but it sacrifices the resolution. It's very cool that it's water proof though. My Note 2 died in a hot tub!

<comment><USER32> The Compact is supposed to have excellent 48hour+ battery life as well.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> Many people here complain that phone is too big without ever using phablet. I was in this camp too until I started to use N6. I was testing this phone for last couple months. It's an amazing device, and even though sometimes it does feel big, on day to day basis it was never an issue for me. Consuming any type of content was much easier and more pleasurable. I noticed the difference especially when I sometimes moved back to Nexus 5 which I thought was perfect size. Well, it turns out I changed my mind now:)

If you can, try to use phablet at least for 1-2 days before discarding it.

One thing that might have helped is that I'm also using a smartwatch now and I take out my phone less frequently, but I don't think this change anything much.

<comment><USER34> That's exciting to hear. My gut reaction is that this is far too large. However, the idea of always carrying with me something that is nearly as big as my Nexus 7 is enticing. I love reading on my N7, but I never seem to have it on me when I want it.

The smartwatch + phablet combo is not something I had thought about. Which watch are you using?

<comment><USER33> I have Samsung Galaxy Gear Live. It's a really convenient to check your notifications on the wrist and not have to take out the big phone ;)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER35> Fascinating arguments about size. It isn't the only phone on the market, so the size question is resolved by market acceptance. Granted there are confounding factors, Lollipop vs Android 4.x, cost, availability. But in general larger screens seem to sell well (compare the iPhone 6+ backlog to the iPhone 6 for example [1]). I get that this might not be a "good" thing for some people, but it is pointless to argue that Apple or Google should take less money by selling phones the market doesn't want (a strategy which is being employed by RIM at the moment)

[1] [http://9to5mac.com/2014/09/12/iphone-6-and-6-plus-already- se...](http://9to5mac.com/2014/09/12/iphone-6-and-6-plus-already-selling- out-5-5-inch-model-particularly-constrained/)

<comment><USER36> That link only establishes that the 6+ is sold out, not that more of them were sold. It seems equally likely that fewer 6+s were produced.

<comment><USER35> The point was that the 6+ sales exceeded the forecast by a significant margin. This same size debate goes on inside Apple, and Steve Jobs even highlighted the intense scruitiny they put on size when designing the iPhone, and the "Giant" (in Apple's words) Samsung Galaxy and Note phones were outselling them. And Apple released the 5s / 5c which tested some aspects of the equation, and they release the 6 / 6+ which tested the size question. Given those two market tests one might presume that Apple learned 'plastic was not a good material for an expensive phone' (under performed the forecast) and 'larger phones have significant appeal' (over performed the forecast). And as I stated outside Apple's testing this hypothesis there are a bunch of different Android phones in different sizes and they too inform on market acceptance or rejection of various design choices. The age old model of 'buy what you like, they will make more of them' is more true today than it ever has been, manufacturers are so intensely watching and tracking the buying habits of their customers that feedback is immediately implemented in products in the next round (you'll notice neither the 6 or 6+ are 'colorful' :-)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER37> Can anyone confirm what is driving this larger screen war? I know when LTE was rolling out manufacturers needed space for larger batteries but couldn't make the phones thicker due to market backlash so bigger screens began to trend. Now I can't help but think it is completely consumer driven but if that is so what are the larger screens enabling users to do? Is it the resolution? The multitasking? This just doesn't look like a valuable tradeoff for less portability and 1 handed use.

<comment><USER32> I think the loop goes something like:

\- few people yell loudly about wanting a big phone \- manufacturer makes a big phone which can have better hardware due to easier heating and larger battery \- the big phone sells well because it's the only decent phone manufacturer made that quarter \- manufacturer builds a bigger phone ;)

<comment><USER25> I know a lot of people whose smartphones have become their primary computing devices. A big phone offers much better battery life, much more usability across countless apps, and it makes watching videos a tremendously better experience.

I think it is a real possibility that many folks legitimately like bigger phones.

Keep in mind that the Nexus 5 is still around and is still a perfectly viable phone. It will also receive the Android L update. It's not like the Nexus 5 is being killed and replaced with a 6" phone. Rather, a 6" phone is being added to the lineup.

There's also the 2014 Moto X, which is effectively a Nexus but with a 5.2" screen.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER38> The fact that this has a thunderbolt resolution display shows how lame it is most desktops haven't adopted 4k yet.

<comment><USER39> 4k monitors are not that rare/pricy. You can get pretty cheap 60hz ones from Asus and the best ones from DELL.

Problem is that most consumers who would buy those monitors would expect every application to run on it without problem, that includes games and for that you need to spend a lot of money on GPUs.

<comment><USER40> Before anyone goes jumping on the "best ones" from Dell, take a read through this 35 page support discussion about their UP2414Q:

[http://en.community.dell.com/support- forums/peripherals/f/35...](http://en.community.dell.com/support- forums/peripherals/f/3529/t/19536443?pi23185=35)

Anecdotal, but a friend and I both have problems with ours, and he got lucky with the 1.1 firmware revision (Dell won't let you upgrade it, you have to go through support for a replacement, and they'll send you a refurb that _might_ have the newer firmware because they decided it would cost too much to update their existing inventory). And even then it might not work. He's waiting on Dell Support for his 3rd unit.

Do yourself a favor and wait until DisplayPort 1.3 is widespread and can drive a 4k screen without using Multi-stream Transport. It's not worth the headache.

Right now my computer is convinced that the left and right halves of my screen are separate displays and nothing will convince it otherwise. Other times MST will fail to connect and it only picks up 1/2 the resolution in the middle, with 1/4 width black bars on the left and right. From what I remember reading, Dell botched the DisplayPort handshake, and the workarounds that AMD/Nvidia have put into their drivers to try and fix it aren't 100%.

I need to return mine for backlight flicker too. But I'll write that off an an excusable manufacturing flaw that's going to pop up occasionally on some number of any model.

 _EDIT_ : Just for perspective, this is a screen with an MSRP around $1100, though we both bought ours on sale. The amount of shit we're dealing with for a screen that expensive is not reasonable.

<comment><USER41> > Do yourself a favor and wait until DisplayPort 1.3 is widespread and can > drive a 4k screen without using Multi-stream Transport. It's not worth the > headache.

It reminds me of getting an external monitor for my T420 from Dell and seeing that DisplayPort to DisplayPort 1.2 cables are practically non-existant. I ended up getting one after hours of search online, the only proper manufacturer of these being Lenovo itself. I wonder if the situation gets any better...

<comment><USER40> I was under the impression that DP's cables have all been backward compatible, and a 1.0 device could just plug into a 1.2 screen and work. Not the case?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER42> Yes! Google continues to add barometers to phones!

Although, it's disappointing that the Nexus 9 does not also include a barometer. I suppose they've decided that the use case for fast GPS and altitude works better in a phone than a tablet - that, or, since the 9 is built by HTC it would be their first time adding one. Oddly, though, Motorola put its first barometer in a tablet (the Xoom) before they tried any phones.

<comment><USER43> Just curious, what do you use it for? :)

<comment><USER42> I make a platform that automatically collects the atmospheric pressure sensor reading on a schedule, and sends it to scientists for analysis. The idea is to build the best weather forecast (higher accuracy, hyperlocal) by using this dramatically denser data source as inputs to models.

We make an open source app called PressureNet: [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.cumulonimbu...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.cumulonimbus.barometernetwork)

We also build an SDK and API so that you can integrate this into your own apps, and also access the live+archive data feed: [http://pressurenet.io](http://pressurenet.io)

<comment><USER44> Do you use other data to correlate locations that might have different offsets at different times? (EG; slightly pressurized buildings with forced air circulation or vehicles in motion?)

Or are such offsets too minuscule to notice?

<comment><USER42> There's actually a wide variety of noise in the data, but the one that really matters is altitude (the barometer can measure the altitude difference between your feet and your head)! Other sources of error are the biases in the sensors themselves (place two phones side by side, get different readings), pressure- controlled buildings, sensor drift, etc.

We have a number of mechanisms to filter out most of the noise, but it's not easy.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER45> Does it have a removable battery or is it another sealed device? That's not clear from the web page. Everything else looks great about this device but if it lacks a swappable battery then that's a deal breaker for me and I'll have to get a Samsung Note 4 instead. Even a 3220 mAh battery is insufficient and external battery packs are just too much hassle to deal with.

<comment><USER46> Looks like a sealed case, based on an unboxing video on Boy Genius Report. That's disappointing, though wholly expected. It seems like only Samsung and Nokia make phones with removable batteries and storage card slots...

</comment></comment><comment><USER47> This thing is a beast in every sense of the word! also with dual front speakers! That can make a huge difference in sound quality.

However it looks like this is heading to $500+ territory so the days of a cheap good Nexus may be coming to an end. Looks like the Moto E etc is filling that niche.

<comment><USER48> I don't understand the appeal of having dual front speakers, whats the point?. This is a feature a very small group of people will find useful, but adds to the price.

<comment><USER49> I have an HTC One with dual front speakers. Before I bought one (for reasons entirely unrelated to the speakers) I would have agreed. But now that I have them, I frequently find myself casually plopping my phone down for some music while I cook or do other chores. It's one of those things that, for me, inserts itself into your life in unexpected ways.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER50> > front-facing speakers

Great! This is why I bought an HTC One M8 instead of a Nexus 5. Great for speakerphone or if you do watch a video on that high resolution display.

It amazes me how the essentials get sacrificed really easily and that consumers often don't demand better when they are purchasing. I would buy a Mac, but I do have to demand a matte screen instead of just getting accustomed to glare.

<comment><USER51> The glare has been reduced a lot in recent Macs. I'm not sure if it's as good as the anti-glare screen you could order for some MacBook Pros in the past, though.

</comment></comment><comment><USER52> I'm visiting Japan, but I don't read Japanese. When I visit this site everything is in Japanese without any button to change local.

Apple and Ikea will redirect you to a url with country code in it (ikea.com/ja/en/bedroom kind of style) making it easy for people on the tech savvy side to manually change locale. But Google? No way in hell am I allowed to read this in English if I'm not physically in an English speaking country.

<comment><USER53> yes ... it's frustrating. I actually can read Japanese a bit, still even if you are LOGGED in to Google with preference English, they show you the Japanese page. Well done! VPN or TOR to the rescue ...

</comment></comment><comment><USER54> >With a large 3220 mAh battery, you get over 24 hours of use from a full charge.

I would hope so, call me old-fashioned but I would say that once a day is the absolute limit on how many times I'd accept having to charge my phone.

Of course, you don't use your phone 24 hours in a day (at least I hope you don't) however, marketing being what it is they generally mean "very very light usage" when they quote battery-life.

<comment><USER55> I'm at a desk in work, so I have my (3 year old iPhone) phone plugged in all day.

<comment><USER54> I tend to do so to, my phone has it's own spot on my desk, where I keep the charger. So charging it daily would not be a problem for me _most days_.

However, say I'm doing some travelling for example I will tend to use my phone a lot throughout the day. Be it listening to music, playing a game while waiting on $MODE_OF_TRANSPORTATION or browsing the web. That would be one of the days were I would pretty pissed if my phone would not last throughout the day, or I would have to make constant considerations like "If I watch this movie now, will I have enough battery life left to make a call if my flight gets delayed".

<comment><USER56> Generally those time-measurements are based around assumptions about typical use. If you're constantly using your radio and your screen and making it do processing, you cannot hope to come anything close to typical usage.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER57> Everything about it looks great except for the 6'' screen. I understand the appeal of big screens, but 6'' is just too much.

<comment><USER58> I felt exactly the same way, everything was well thought out (camera, battery, speakers, etc...) apart from the screen size. The consensus seems to be that 5 inches is the absolute maximum for most people (aside from phablet fans). It's such a shame because it's so close to perfect (for this generation at least). I do wonder what kind of market research phone companies do because I could have very easily predicted this negative outcome, and I'm sure plenty of other people could too. At least it should be the first Nexus phone with decent battery life.

<comment><USER59> > The consensus seems to be that 5 inches is the absolute maximum for most > people

Here's the current line-up of flagship phones side-by-side:

[http://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/1338/2298/o...](http://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/1338/2298/original.jpg)

Given that ( > 5 inches ) outnumbers smaller by 9:5 I'd say the consensus is that big phones are fine.

Aside: I remember the incredulity when I bought a 5" Dell Streak 5 four years ago. "You're going to make a phone call on that tablet?" Nowadays it would disappear in that line-up.

<comment><USER58> "Given that ( > 5 inches ) outnumbers smaller by 9:5 I'd say the consensus is that big phones are fine."

You're mixing things up, the reality is that there's a difference between what people actually want and what gets produced.

I have a feeling I won't be able to convince you on screen size (despite many of the comments on this post being about the screen being too large), so let's choose battery life as a talking point. Everyone who has owned a smartphone knows how critical battery life is to the user experience, yet time and time again we see companies skimping on battery life. Instead they make their phones slimmer, or with super high pixel counts, or just cut costs on factors that don't influence the appearance. Why do you think they do this? Do you really think they are paying attention to what matters in a phone?

<comment><USER60> In india at least people want larger displays. For most of them mobile would be their primary computer/internet connected device hence its desirable to have maximum size as possible. You can even get 5" for less $100(if you visit flipkart nearly 50% android mobiles have 5" or more). You want bigger batteries as well which comes with some mobiles. But at least with battery you can keep charging.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER61> I see an important question looming on the 5-year horizon: how are people going to be carrying these large devices? Clearly carrying large phones in pockets is impossible for many, increasingly impractical for many more, and simply undesirable to the curious.

Will handbags or hip bags become common for all? Will the average size of phones rebound and approach some smaller-screen equilibrium size near 5"?

Everything depends on the adoption of these devices by younger people -- whatever becomes "cool".

My prediction is that phones will become strapped to arms or shirts somehow. I see some sort of arm-hoslter or dedicated shirt pocket that comfortably, securely houses a mini-tablet.

<comment><USER62> >Clearly carrying large phones in pockets is impossible... impractical... and... undesirable.

People keep saying that and time and time again it's proven wrong. It has been wrong for years, and it will keep being wrong. If large phones were impossible, impractical, and undesirable, people would stop buying them. But they're not. They're demanding them in such large numbers that even Apple has put out a massive, massive phone. Even Nokia put out a massive phone. Samsung started matching the size of their flagship to the size of their largest phone years ago.

Every manufacturer has a huge phone, because the majority of the buying public wants a huge phone. But still I hear people say "big phones will never catch on". Guess what? They did catch on, and they're not big phones anymore. After several years of being big phones, they're just called phones now.

<comment><USER63> >>If large phones were impossible, impractical, and undesirable, people would stop buying them.

I think you're conflating several different things here. Something can be impractical but still desirable. For example, big SUVs are a pain in the ass -- they are inefficient, difficult to maneuver and hard to park. Yet people still buy them because of a simplistic "bigger is better" mindset. How many people with big SUVs actually use all the space in the vehicle? How many people with half-trucks actually use it to haul big and heavy equipment that would not fit in a smaller car?

Yes, big phones are impractical. This is simply common sense: they are difficult to fit inside pockets and impossible to use productively with one hand except maybe by Hafþór Björnsson. And yet they are desirable because "Big" is a status symbol.

<comment><USER61> I don't see the connection with SUVs. They aren't impractical in the same way. For example, for many people (men and women alike), a device above a certain size cannot be carried hands-free. This is a fact. For me, this would be a dealbreaker. It's not about status; it's more closely linked with my unwillingness to type anything longer than a sentence or two on a small keyboard and screen.

On the horizon, I see a disconnect between the ideal size of mobile devices and the practicality of carrying them around _everywhere_. Poolside, hiking, on the toilet, out to dinner.

Something will have to change to fix this. I see the solution as new fashion trends that will be ushered in by people who are young -- young enough not to think that, for example, wearing a cell phone on a hip holster is symbolic of greybeard-ness, etc.

<comment><USER64> Women carry handbags. There's very obviously a lot of men commenting on this issue who cannot imagine that pocket size has been nonexistent for one genders fashion for a long time now, and so was never a practical constraint on device sizes.

Male fashion will just up pocket sizes in response - my dad when he goes traveling has a jacket he can fit a 13" macbook air into.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER65> I don't see how a 6" phone is convenient at all. I can only assume that the reason major brands are making oversized phones is because there hasn't been enough technical innovation in the past year to create an adequately exciting "update" to an existing phone (the Nexus 5, for example). Is this the case, or am I missing something?

<comment><USER66> I agree this is exaclty it.

They can't innovate, so they take the lazy route of packing more of the same old battery tech, display tech, and CPU tech in a container that simply holds more stuff.

</comment></comment><comment><USER67> iPhone 6 Plus: 5.5" 1920×1080 (401 ppi)

Nexus 6: 5.96" 2560×1440 (493 ppi)

The iPhone 6 Plus is comically enormous. This thing is ridiculous. And the same resolution as the current 27" Apple displays.

2.7 GHz quad core vs iPhone's 1.4 GHz dual core (but 32-bit, vs Apple's 64-bit).

That is some serious hardware.

<comment><USER68> The Nexus 6 has smaller bezel on the top and bottom than the iPhone 6+ which has to make space for the TouchID/Home button. Android uses on-screen soft buttons.

<comment><USER69> My biggest peeve with the onscreen buttons (using flagship Galaxy Nexus) is accidentally pressing them, primarily when I'm trying to take a selfie with the rear camera. It's insanely frustrating the way the orientation moves them around and trying to find the on-screen shutter button rather than clicking the home button.

<comment><USER70> Something that should be easily fixed by allowing power or volume buttons to take pictures. I'm not sure why that isn't the case.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER71> Slightly off topic, but is it just me or does this page brutally ignore your browser's language settings? (as well as those of your google account.)

Apparently it guesses a language based on your IP address and serves you an inappropriately localized version. Kind of a noob-ish mistake to make for such a campaign. Too bad for you if you're abroad! There's a language drop-down in the "help" section, but it's not stored in the session and it's completely ignored by the other pages. So you simply cannot view the landing page in your own language!

<comment><USER72> >> Too bad for you if you're abroad!

You should use a VPN anyway :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER73> Anybody found a way to force it to display in English? I'm in France at the moment so I can't even read the text on the site. None of the usual tricks (?hl=en, etc.) work. No links on the site to change language or redirect.

Seems silly to have to VPN into a box in the US just to read a website.

<comment><USER72> How about /ncr ?

</comment></comment><comment><USER74> As ~always~ with Google sites my Accept-Language header [1] is ignored and I end up being redirected to a different, 'more suitable' site. But yeah, those people can talk about SPDY and HTTP/2 and new standards all day long I guess. I'm sure that makes sense..

1: en-US,en;q=0.5

</comment><comment><USER75> Nano Sim. Do they really need the space saving from micro to nano? Prepaid carriers charge extra for nano sim. Not sure if it is because it is more expensive to manufacture. Requires more delicate handling for those who swap sims which is more common in Asia.

</comment><comment><USER76> Ah, but the Nexus 6 only has a 4 year lifespan. Then .. time to die.

I thought that Google decided not to release a phone named Nexus-6 out of deference to Blade Runner and Phillip K Dick's family who were annoyed that they used the name.

<comment><USER77> If Google could produce a phone that lasted 4 years, that would be incredible.

<comment><USER76> and then it would grab you by the throat, give an incredible speech that makes you realize the true splendor of life and then it would shut itself off.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER78> I'm thinking the real deal-breaker for me will be the camera, which seems to be the same as the mediocre Moto X camera. Otherwise, it looks like a nice device. Nothing particularly amazing, except for stock Lollipop.

<comment><USER79> Actually it seems it's a different camera than the 2014 Moto X, my evidence being primarily the larger aperture size, also OIS.

</comment></comment><comment><USER80> "Nexus 6 will be available for pre-order through the Google Play Store in late October starting at $649."

This is from Motorola [http://motorola-blog.blogspot.fr/2014/10/nexus-6-from- google...](http://motorola-blog.blogspot.fr/2014/10/nexus-6-from-google-and- motorola-more.html?linkId=10037353)

<comment><USER72> Didn't Google sell the Motorala cell phone business to Lenovo?

</comment></comment><comment><USER81> How do you announce a phone without a price? That is always a terrible idea.

Edit: I guess it's $649.

<comment><USER82> According to [http://motorola-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/nexus-6-from- goo...](http://motorola-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/nexus-6-from-google-and- motorola-more.html), yes - starting at $649. I wonder how that'll translate to GBP...

<comment><USER83> I bet it will be £649..

<comment><USER84> Yep pretty how most companies price their tech in the UK, change $ to £ and call it a day (we pay a premium even with VAT added onto the USD price)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER85> After long back and forth I ended up buying iPhone 6 over Nexus 5. So the news of Nexus 6 was exciting but it still seems bit behind on hardware front:

* No 128GB memory option. This is absolutely important for me and it seems Apple is the only one of few company who gets this. I started running out of 64 GB long time ago.

* No TouchID equivalent which is excellent and works flowlessly on iPhones.

* No slow-mo videos at 200+ frames per second.

* From hardware perspective N6 still stuck in 32-bit world. Plus it lacks motion processor that monitors my movements and fitness data all the time without draining batteries.

* 8MP camera is actually better than 12MP and gives better low light performance. Higher MP is actually deal breaking for me (if sensor size remains same).

* At 10mm thickness, that's actually going backwards from 7mm for iPhone 6. Every mm of thickness adds perception of "hugeness" dramatically.

<comment><USER86> I agree with many of your points, but

 _> started running out of 64 GB long time ago._

I started running out of 140 characters a long time ago, twitter isn't the place for a novel.

 _> Plus it lacks motion processor that monitors my movements_

You're selling this as positive for the iPhone?

<comment><USER87> You're seriously questioning why someone would want more storage on their mobile device? Clearly 640kb is enough for anyone.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER88> Full specs: [https://i.imgur.com/S0ifg2B.png](https://i.imgur.com/S0ifg2B.png)

Of note: Nano SIM, 493 ppi display, 4K video recording.

(The specs on the Google page have a button to expand them. It's a bit hidden and not linkable, hence the screenshot.)

<comment><USER89> But how much volatile memory does it have?

<comment><USER72> At least 4 thousand words IMHO.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER90> Sadly this will bring the Nexus buying streak for me to an end. 6" is too large... the price is too high. Too bad though, that battery and camera would have been nice. I think the Nexus 5 will hold for another year.

<comment><USER91> I agree with all your points and also own a Nexus 5, but I'll keep it until it dies. I kept an LG Optimus for 3 years, to the point that I replaced it when I couldn't reliably make a phone call. My one gripe with the Nexus 5 is that the camera is pretty bad, and I find the controls pretty awful too

Hopefully there'll be some refresh on hardware for the 5" phone

</comment></comment><comment><USER92> Like many others here, I agree on the screen size issue. I'm actually at a bit of a loss as to what phone to use next. I want something that's future proof for several versions of Android, runs smoothly, runs vanilla android by default, and doesn't exceed the screen size of the galaxy nexus (the one that's currently stuck without a stable upgrade to kit kat due to firmware issues), and has a great resolution. I'd gladly pay good money for a device like that.

</comment><comment><USER93> Feel more like marketing data collecting, to see how size the phone relates the sales... I'm interested to know the result. Personally, it's definitely too big.

</comment><comment><USER94> Without going into specifics, Apple's event(whatever they reveal) is scheduled for tomorrow and so today is Google's day.

Today, some startup/enterprise somewhere in the valley may be making final touches to a press release on some bad/shocking news such as layoffs...etc tomorrow so that little attention will be paid to that, since most tech press may be glued to Apple's event.

Life repeats on and on as before.

</comment><comment><USER95> It seems like we just got the Nexus 5, the Nexus One is still fun to pull out and mess with. The One was the perfect size. I'm not even sure the 6 would fit in my pants pocket? Seems like it would jab into my groin when driving. Storage isn't even listed or Chrome's Ctrl+F can't find it? Does it have external storage or expandable storage? The 5 messed this up.

</comment><comment><USER96> The Nexus 6 not having a high-speed camera sensor is really disappointing. I was hoping Apple and Google would eventually break down the high-speed / slow- motion camera market, because industrial applications cost well into the multiple thousands of dollars for cameras not much better than the iPhone 6 with the only exception being that it is PC-controlled via software.

Frustrating.

<comment><USER97> So if I understand you correctly, the nexus 6 will NOT be able to take slow motion video?

<comment><USER96> It is not in the detailed specs that I can find.

[http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_nexus_6-6604.php](http://www.gsmarena.com/motorola_nexus_6-6604.php)

"Video: 2160p@30fps, optical stabilization"

No other frame rates or resolutions listed.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER98> What will the screen resolution default to ? The resolution mentioned i.e. 2560×1440 (493 ppi) is too high for human eye to decipher on 6" frame. MacBook Pro's with retina displays have 2560x1440 resolution available however the highest viewable is 1920x1200 (unless you use 3rd party software like SwitchresX to override the maximum )

<comment><USER69> Doesn't it depend on how close the device is to your eyes? Also just because the individual pixels aren't visible doesn't mean there's a noticeable difference in picture or animation quality. Just because Apple claims that "retina displays" use the smallest pixel size noticeable doesn't mean it's true.

Edit: Google search on the topic: [http://mostly- tech.com/2013/11/08/debunking-the-retina-displ...](http://mostly- tech.com/2013/11/08/debunking-the-retina-display-myth/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER99> I don't see any details on the body anywhere. I'm assuming the sides are in aluminium, but what about the back? I always hated the cheap android phone for their glossy cheap plastic feel. (Also the reason why I can't stand any case on my iPhone) But with a price point around 650$ I'm expecting some more premium feel.

</comment><comment><USER100> Was the Nexus 5 refreshed at all? I can't tell by the website.

<comment><USER101> In my opinion as a owner of a N5 there is no need for a refresh now. The hardware (except battery and camera) are still on top of the tree.

All the snapdragon 801 and 805 are "minor" upgrades to the snapdragon 800 shipped by the N5.

</comment></comment><comment><USER102> [http://www.google.com/nexus/9/](http://www.google.com/nexus/9/)

</comment><comment><USER103> I find this an interesting departure by the trend which has been set by the previous phones in the Nexus program. Prior phones followed an average lower price that what is most _likely_ to be seen here. Given that the Nexus program has stood as the pinnacle of the Android environment more so than just simply being "reference" hardware it does seem logical to me that Google would want to escalate the quality and produce a true flagship. That being said, this is also atypical and as much as it plays into the trend of higher quality for the entire ecosystem, it also undermines their tenant of simply finding hardware which promotes the qualities that the OS does. In the end it is most likely I will still buy the phone, but still, on morals, I dislike the anticipated pricing.

</comment><comment><USER104> Why the storage on all high end phones is stuck at 64gb? I honestly would like to have more storage space.

<comment><USER105> Help drive adoption of Google cloud storage would be my guess.

<comment><USER104> For Google/Apple it makes sense, but this is the case with all the handset manufacturers. Like, what does HTC, LG etc have to gain by limiting storage size?

<comment><USER106> Lower price points.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER107> With the increase in price and out-of-the-gate contract subsidies, the Nexus line has now transitioned from a developer-targeted effort to a full-fledged mass-consumer brand.

Having said that, this transition demands that they compete with the iPhones and Samsungs. Taking that into account they should've released an additional 4.5" phone, along with the 6". This could steal away the people who hesitated in getting the 4.7" iPhone 6 due to the size, and if someone is into getting a humongous 5.5 inch iPhone 6 Plus, they'd be even more into getting a 6" device with not much larger physical dimensions. The goal should be find the perfect two offers to cover the whole spectrum of buyers.

<comment><USER108> Probably the Nexus 5 will remain in production as the smaller alternative. It's going to run Android L so the user experience should be similar.

</comment></comment><comment><USER109> Well, I want to see it, and hold it, but I fear the size is probably too big for my small hands, and I _know_ the price is too big. The battery being big is nice, but with a screen that size I don't believe the battery life claims until I see independent reviews.

Given that the battery isn't removable too, this makes for a very shitty development phone. (What do we do if it freezes? How do we hard-remove power?) I think this won't do.

I'm also rather disappointed this isn't the Snapdragon 810 or 808. For a phone this expensive, it doesn't measure up.

Overall this is not what I hoped for from a new Nexus. Perhaps Android Silver will deliver something better, but I doubt the Nexus 6 will be my next phone.

<comment><USER110> > Given that the battery isn't removable too, this makes for a very shitty > development phone.

When was the last time you pulled a battery on an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch. I think calling a phone 'shitty for development' just because you can't pull a battery is a bit over the top given the current landscape.

</comment></comment><comment><USER111> For me, the biggest surprise here is that it will be available on Verizon.

I thought that Verizon and Google parted ways permanently for the Nexus line after Verizon botched the Galaxy Nexus so badly in 2011 - this is the first Nexus available on Verizon since then.

</comment><comment><USER112> Anyone remember the HP Veer? [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Veer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Veer)

This phone was advertised for beeing as small as a credit card. Now Nexus 6 is as tall as a whole opened wallet.

</comment><comment><USER108> So it's announced, and the price is a surprising $649, nearly double the price of the Nexus 5 ($349). I suspect the Nexus 5 will continue to fill the "budget development" niche.

In fact, now that I've seen the official N6 specs, I'm going to go ahead and order an N5 to replace my Galaxy Nexus because I need a device that does BLE. In a couple of years, perhaps it will be time to upgrade to a refurb N6 or maybe a less expensive N6.5, if they decide to go back to the loss-leader pricing of the older Nexus models.

I'm disappointed that the N6 doesn't come with memory expansion. A MicroSD slot might have tipped the scales for me.

</comment><comment><USER113> What keeps me off buying another Playstore device is Google's terrible customer support, especially before they can command such a premium price. I have an unresponsive Nexus 4. I cannot just send it in for warranty repair. In order to return it, I have to go through a list of steps on their website, then get on a phoneline on which they state I have to wait for 45 minute to get a customer rep. Often the line is interrupted. I haven't been able to get my number for two weeks now.

Eric Schmidt recently said in Germany that Amazon is their biggest competitor. For that to be true, they need to seriously up their support.

<comment><USER114> Weird. I returned a Nexus 4 last year and got faultless support. I was gobsmacked.

<comment><USER115> Same here. Google's support phone line has been second to none.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER116> This one is huge...And seems like Google didn't upgrade their Nexus 5 model?

<comment><USER117> As a Nexus 5 owner, I can see why. It's by no means obsolete (runs the newest games still, very smooth and fast, great screen), and easily has the nicest 'feel' of any phone I've ever used...

<comment><USER116> I still thinks a better camera is necessary.

However I agree even without any upgrade, nexus 5 will still be one of the most cost-effective phones out there, only a little bit disappointed.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER118> 1440x2560 leaves my laptop in the dust. That's insane... I want that kind of resolution for my laptop too!

Seems kind of big for a phone though. This Nexus 4 that I have is about as large a phone as I'd want.

</comment><comment><USER119> There is a missed opportunity in the tagline. Instead of "More space to explore" it should have said "More space for Activities". Because, you know, the Activity class.

</comment><comment><USER120> What is this obsession with having to use the phone with one hand? I have big hands and even with iPhone4/Nexus One I found myself using two hands to get things done more quickly.

</comment><comment><USER121> As I see it, there are tree reasons for ridiculous six inches.

1) To fit a larger battery, better screen, more horsepower, better camera with OIS they just have to make them bigger.

2) Nexus line has gone out of control and people instead of buying other phones are queuing up for nexuses which initially were meant to be just reference devices for new android oses. Instead they became so popular that had an impact on sales of other Android devices.

3) They got focus groups or questions all wrong.

</comment><comment><USER122> I remember being mocked when talking on my Treo 180 due to its size when fully open...I find the increased dimensions of new phones amusing in this light.

I'm still looking for a replacement for my Nexus One that matches three criteria: metal case, stock Android, not stupidly large. With the noticeable exception of the tiny amount of app storage the N1 still holds up well for my purposes.

</comment><comment><USER123> I reckon they should have just gone with HTC for both tablet and phone.. it would have resulted in a much better outcome on the latter.

</comment><comment><USER124> "Available for pre-order starting late october ..."

Sort of like "you can watch this movie as soon as you'll grow up ..."

</comment><comment><USER125> Going to wait and see the reviews about the camera. The Nexus 5 had the absolute worst camera I've used in a smartphone. It takes 3 or 4 seconds to focus and gets unfocused super easily. I have so many terrible pictures and am embarrassed giving my phone to someone else to take a picture with.

<comment><USER69> Although I can't speak for all Android phones, in my opinion this is absolutely what the manufacturers need to _focus_ on (hurhur) to compete with Apple.

</comment></comment><comment><USER126> The screen is a deal breaker for me too. I was super excited for this phone. It's a Moto X with all the stat bumps I really wanted. Sure the camera and battery are the weak points but both better than what I have in my 1st gen Moto X. But I don't want a phablet, so i'm out of luck.

</comment><comment><USER127> > Camera

> 13MP front-facing with optical image stabilization > 2MP rear-facing

Is it really 13MP front-facing? Selfie optimization!

<comment><USER128> I was confused by that too, seems they switched the definition of front and rear. The new "way" is used consistently also on the Nexus 9 and Nexus 5 tabs.

<comment><USER129> maybe that is a mistake made on purpose to get more people talking about it...

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Dear Google, Please announce a 'Nexus 6 Mini' someday in the near future. Just trim the screen size to a sub 5" level and price to sub $400. Rest all features are welcome. The reduction in battery size proportionately is acceptable.

\- Sincerely, A long time Nexus user !

</comment><comment><USER130> Being a long time Android user with fairly large screens (+5"), I'm now using an iPhone 5C for three days and I really love its size. I guess that even the iPhone 6 is way too much for me. Around 4", it's the ideal size for me.

</comment><comment><USER131> Many people don't realize that the Nexus 6 is not the next iteration in the Nexus line. It is Google's entry into the phablet market.

To me, the follow-up to the Nexus 5 is the Moto X. Decent specs, moderate price, stock Android, etc.

</comment><comment><USER132> I'm casting my vote for "Screen Size Too Big!" I can't imagine using a device larger than the Nexus 5. I'll test out similar size phones in stores, but it looks like the size is a deal breaker.

</comment><comment><USER133> The pricing is really high. Seems like Google is now no longer interested in forcing great phones out of Samsung/HTC etc. Now that great phones exist they raise the prices and no longer upset the hardware chain.

</comment><comment><USER134> If I scroll to the "Introducing Lollipop, our sweetest release yet" section, there's a google now card for a coffee place I've been to recently (in Portland, OR for that matter ...).

It's uncanny...

<comment><USER135> I see that card as well!

I am nowhere near Portland. I suspect you just got lucky. :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER136> Is RAM not a worthy technical specification to list? I think its pretty critical.

Until somebody corrects me I'll just assume this thing has the 1GB of RAM which is pretty standard these days.. But not enough IMHO

<comment><USER137> RAM really doesn't matter for most people, IME, at least after Project Svelte. For example, here's a video [0] of the Moto E (not G, but lower-class, 125$ E) outpacing a Samsung S5 at simple tasks like opening Facebook, etc.

With 1GB of RAM, I've noticed the Moto G can multi-task between low-RAM apps (Chrome, SMS, Drive, Dropbox, Twitter, GMail, etc) just as well as a Note III (3GB RAM). The only time I've noticed a difference is context switching with a high-RAM app, like sending messages while gaming. This is actually an excruciating experience on a 1GB phone, because the game needs to reload every time one switches back to it.

>>Is RAM not a worthy technical specification to list? I'd say yes, but it is a grossly overvalued spec. With modern RAM compression and multitasking, I suspect very few people will notice the difference between 1GB and 3.

[0] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P9vDAY0U0A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3P9vDAY0U0A)

</comment></comment><comment><USER138> What is the reason for nexus devices to not have fingerprint scanners?

<comment><USER139> Possibly because they're pointless.

<comment><USER4> really? I absolutely love it on my iPhone 6!

<comment><USER140> Really. They've been demonstrated to be easy to break. You leave your impossible-to-change fingerprints (basically your permanent "password") lying around everywhere you go. I'm quite happy that android manufacturers aren't encouraging users to think that profligate "security" is a feature.

[http://www.ccc.de/en/updates/2013/ccc-breaks-apple- touchid](http://www.ccc.de/en/updates/2013/ccc-breaks-apple-touchid)

[https://www.schneier.com/essays/archives/1999/08/biometrics_...](https://www.schneier.com/essays/archives/1999/08/biometrics_uses_and.html)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER141> Looks like they took the design that was widely praised with the Moto X and used it for the Nexus 6. The Nexus 6 looks like just a bigger version of the X (obviously better specs).

</comment><comment><USER142> Using the N5 I already have a problem distinguishing the top from the bottom at a glance. I'm sure with the new design this will be much more than a minor nuisance.

<comment><USER143> I've found I flip my phone around less with the N5 compared to other phones. The little white earpiece thing gives both a tactile and visual cue.

</comment></comment><comment><USER144> Although a bit too big for my liking (still using a Galaxy S2) I wonder if that LCD will be in the next Oculus Rift iteration, having 1280x1440px per eye!

</comment><comment><USER145> Deckard, I need your magic, I need my old Blade Runner.

<comment><USER145> What model are they?

<comment><USER145> Nexus 6

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER146> The one thing I've waited for is the DSP support so I can just say "OK Google" and go instead of having to do a long-press.

</comment><comment><USER147> I still have heard no word on whether this will support a Moto X like 'always on listening'. Anyone can comment on that?

</comment><comment><USER148> I guess all icons are going to have to be SVG to scale on these new devices, otherwise they are going to be impossible to see.

<comment><USER149> Yet, Android doesn't support SVG.

<comment><USER148> How does it support icon sizes - multiple resolutions stored in a single format?

<comment> din-9 You can provide resources in multiple sizes, and Android will also scale as needed

[https://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_suppor...](https://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER150> Shame they didn't release a new Nexus 7.

</comment><comment><USER151> My main gripe is lack of memory. Since it has no sd card, it should have at least 128GB like the iPhone 6.

</comment><comment><USER152> $650!!!! for that price, i'll get me two nexus 5.. this way I can talk to myself, never get lonely....

</comment><comment><USER153> Well I'm not letting one anywhere near me until someone runs the Voight-Kampff test on them.

</comment><comment><USER53> great ... I'm in Japan (signed into Google/Gmail in English) and the whole page is in Japanese without any obvious way. Great Job Google ...! (sorry for the rant, my Japanese is not so bad now, still it annoys me ...happens very often with google pages)

<comment><USER154> Did you find a solution? I also have the same problem.

<comment><USER53> no except using VPN or Tor :S ... great!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER149> Any news yet on whether Verizon is going to fumble it as badly as they did the Galaxy Nexus?

</comment><comment><USER155> Anyone knows how I can display this page in english? For some reason it displays in french.

</comment><comment><USER121> "4 inches in a smartphone? That's too large!" /Everyone, 2008/

</comment><comment><USER156> There's a typo in the spec area where they mixed up front and rear cameras

</comment><comment><USER157> This thing has a screen resolution higher than my laptop, and 4x the RAM...

<comment><USER158> You're probably misreading the flash space (32 or 64GG) as RAM. Either that or you only have 750MB of RAM.

<comment><USER157> You're right. They list storage as "memory". How much RAM does this thing actually have?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER159> For those looking who were looking for a new Android and disappointed by this release, have you considered the Galaxy Alpha? [http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_alpha-6573.php](http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_alpha-6573.php)

</comment><comment><USER160> Does this mean they won't be releasing a new 5" nexus this year?

</comment><comment><USER161>
        Display
        5.96" 1440 x 2560 display (493 ppi)

Insane!

<comment><USER162> 1440 x 2560 is becoming more common. LG G3 has the same resolution but a higher pixel density (538 ppi). Samsung also has a 1440 x 2560 phone.

<comment><USER163> Hey jclark, I read some of your comments on another thread and wanted to ask how extensive your knowledge on optics is. We might be interested in looking for someone to help us consult in this subject. If it's something you might be interested in please email me at louis8989 at gmail dot com thanks

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER164> Finally, a Motorola Nexus! A mighty succesor to the Moto X-es.

<comment><USER165> The Moto X has been a Nexus-ish device at carrier prices. This is an actual Nexus device, still at carrier prices.

If it was < $400, I might have sold my 5 and given it a go. At $650, I have no incentive to go for this vs. any other device (or to upgrade at all for that matter).

</comment></comment><comment><USER164> Pricing and more info here: [http://motorola- blog.blogspot.de/2014/10/nexus-6-from-google...](http://motorola- blog.blogspot.de/2014/10/nexus-6-from-google-and-motorola-more.html)

</comment><comment><USER166> Looks like buying the one plus one was the smarter choice.

</comment><comment><USER167> off topic (i think)

for a "phone" that has 493ppi, you expect the site introducing the phone to be retina ready (couple of images and the favicon)

</comment><comment><USER168> Nexus 9 as well.

</comment><comment><USER147> Completely off-topic, but I can't help but notice how posting a new-device link gives you a lot more Karma in one day than I earned in a few years. :)

</comment><comment><USER169> localized version without an option to change the language? really are they smoking crack?

</comment><comment><USER170> The price killed it for me :-(

</comment><comment><USER171> Come on, stop with making bigger and bigger phones.

I do not think, this is how technology should evolve.

</comment><comment><USER172> Wasn't Nexus 6 the last model of replicants in Blade Runner? Just sayin'...

</comment><comment><USER173> 3220 mAh battery. Wow.

</comment><comment><USER127> No Wireless charging?

<comment><USER174> Google's spec don't list it but Motorola's claim it does support Qi: [https://www.motorola.com/us/Nexus-6/nexus-6-motorola- us.html...](https://www.motorola.com/us/Nexus-6/nexus-6-motorola- us.html#nexus-6-specs)

</comment></comment><comment><USER175> comparing with N5, obviously it's too expensive.

</comment><comment><USER176> Does this have a flash? I can't see one, unless I am being dumb?

<comment><USER176> Not sure why the downvotes, but I can't see a flash at all on the back of that thing.

</comment></comment><comment><USER177> that is one thick phone.

<comment><USER178> I've been dying for a thicker phone in exchange for better battery life for quite a while now. Seems like this phone might negate a lot of that benefit with the much larger screen, but I wish more phones were willing to make that trade-off.

</comment></comment><comment><USER152> for $650, i'll pass...unless nexus 6 can answer my emails for me.

</comment><comment><USER179> i can't fit this phone into my pocket. i guess im gonna wait till nexus 4 or 5 drops in prices and buy that instead.

</comment><comment><USER180> The nexus font is too big on the back of the phone.

</comment><comment><USER181> Whatever version it is. NEWS is best. NORTH OR EAST WORLD IS BEST!!!

</comment><comment><USER182> Another beautiful device and it is only at the cost of your privacy.

<comment><USER183> It's true. There's no selective control of permissions per app on Android. This is a glaring omission. Eg, granting permission for the app to use the internet, while denying access to your address book. This is important for maintaining control of your private data.

Google needs to do better on this front. Apple introduced selective permissions at least, but Google is way behind.

<comment><USER184> (off topic) hey @exodust, don't forget to codepen some examples of ur web approach! [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8349825](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8349825)</comment></comment></comment>


SpaceX releases new footage of last month's rocket landing - <AUTHOR> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANv5UfZsvZQ&feature=youtu.be <comment><USER2> If you haven't been following SpaceX since this landing, they're planning on doing a static fire of this returned first stage as soon as Thursday[1]. Then it'll probably end up in a museum somewhere - they won't attempt to fly this one.

Their next few launches (the first could be as soon as this Sunday Jan 17)[2] will probably involve landing attempts on a barge in the ocean since they are launching heavier satellites and won't have enough fuel to boost all the way back to land.

[1] [https://twitter.com/flatoday_jdean/status/687284449151709184](https://twitter.com/flatoday_jdean/status/687284449151709184)

[2] [http://www.americaspace.com/?p=90612](http://www.americaspace.com/?p=90612)</comment>


Why people complain about the quality of Hacker News - <AUTHOR>

After yesterday's _why backlash and the return of the Erlang outbreak, I thought I'd point out why I think people complain about Hacker News.
PG has basically said that he thinks the degradation of a site into crapville can be delayed or prevented by constant careful tweaking of the rules. Somewhere behind the scenes, he's pulling the levers guiding his creation away from the obvious potholes that he thinks Slashdot, Digg, Reddit, etc... have hit.
Generally, we all feel some ownership of Hacker News. We are submitting links, commenting and voting on submissions and other's comments. This is basically the only influence we have on the site. We each have a different idea of what an ideal HN would look like but in the end have relatively little control over it.
We use the few tools we have to register our disapproval. We down-vote people we disagree with. We cheer on and up-vote others who attack people we disagree with. We mass-submit stories to try to drown out the ones we don't like. We flame. While somewhat amusing, these are absolutely anti-social behaviors. They come about because we don't have other options.
One common response is "let me filter HN in x way" so that I can make it mine. There are a few custom views (i.e. classic) that have been played around with. If I were pg, I would resist this solution. I think part of what makes a good community is having a set of rules to deal with opposing views rather than tools to let them coexist like oil and water. A social common ground where ideas can mix. Once you allow your community to fragment like that, the news stories submitted become defined by the boundary layer. If you allow people to filter, then you risk creating flamewars when the filters fail. The tone of the site becomes a contest to 'win' a point for your side; to break through other people's filters and taunt them.
In the end, I'm not sure what the right answer is here. One group of people thinks that articles about _why and zed are valid; one doesn't. If it keeps going, I think at some point pg will have to tell one group "this is not the site for you" by pulling a lever. Until he does, people are left trying to fight to make this into the site they want with the few tools I have: bitching, retribution votes, flames, crap-flooding, etc... <comment><USER2> I think the bigger underlying problem is that HN forces those groups together without any kind of safety valve.

There is just the 'flag' option and that's about it. Whereas flagging normally is used to control spam but on HN it is used to control the topic of conversation. With a narrowly scoped site on-topic and off-topic are whatever people will use as a definition for those terms.

Here it seems that (and that's based on the current front page) a wide variety of subjects are perfectly ok for the homepage. And yet, in spite of that with some regularity there are discussions with 10's of upvotes and lots of people participating that get ruthlessly shut down. I don't think that proves that 'the system works'.

Enough ask PG and ask HN posts have been devoted to suggestions for improvements without so much as a rebuttal that I'm not holding my breath for change.

And telling people to leave in one way or another seems a very drastic solution, I'd basically conclude at that point that HN has failed.

I'm wondering how much of the resistance to improving the user experience on HN is grounded in arc, after all it is hardly a standard platform so every little bit of code has to be hand crafted for this one-off site.

PG has a lot on his plate (company, family) and probably has his hands more than full. This would explain the fact that his appearances here are relatively rare and that the development of the site is not keeping pace with the growth of the number of users.

<comment><AUTHOR> I agree that the "flag" link is overloaded. I don't think I have ever flagged anything because I associate that with spam, not "opinions of people that I think are ruining the community"

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I don't think it's possible to make a system that is completely resistant to human error. Let me use the the idea of socialized health care as an example: it's proponents claim that the current system fails because of corrupt, unfair people, and it's opponents claim that the proposed system would fail because of selfish, lazy people. In neither case do people talk about inherent successes or failures of either system - the problem lies with the people using it.

So to apply this to HN: You can't make an online community or system that will be a success with every user. If you get enough people to do certain things, you can ruin the community. PG implements a system as best he can, but there will always be a time when he has to tell people "this is not the site for you" if he wants it to go a certain direction.

<comment><AUTHOR> You chose healthcare as your analogy? You really are looking for a flamewar. :-)

I don't think pg has an issue with catering to a small group of people.

He's the only one who can set that tone, and I don't think he really has yet. If the problems continue, he will have to tell the others to go away, either explicitly or with rule changes, because right now, our tools for it are so primitive.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> It's the constant battle between those who are widely interested in the world and those who are interested in one or two little areas.

pg seems to be of the latter stripe, so it's no surprise that Hacker News reflects this bias, and will continue to do so in the future.

<comment><USER5> I respectfully disagree. I'm a person who is "widely interested in the world" but I don't come to HN to be a source of all interesting things in the world.

There are already a thousand other general news sites, or even tech news sites. I come to HN specifically because it satisfies one niche very well. It is incorrect to suggest that attempts to keep a site on-topic and focused implies that the people doing said guidance don't have outside interests.

<comment><AUTHOR> I think the problem is: what do you do when you really like a site and the community of people that revolves around it, but your interests are broader than just what that site covers? What if you want a hacker news, but for other topics in your life you are interested in?

You are tempted to try to broaden the definition of that niche site but pushing it's boundaries. It is up to the site to push back on you and resist that.

I think there is a lot of confusion around what qualifies as "Hacker News" both in tone and scope anyway. The niche is ill-defined. I could probably even defend a position that focusing on startups isn't really hacker news either even though it's clearly an interest of pg's.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I think you can instead try to fight this by using a long-forgotten tool of the mankind called 'common sense'. I believe that, being very difficult to make a computer understand common sense (hence the setbacks on the AI field), many people on the IT field decided to take the same approach and rule out common sense of their lives.

Bitching, retribution votes, flames, crap-flooding is exactly what made the other once great sites the crap that they are today. But pretty much like the spam, one has to start it. If you do NOT start it, it will not happen. Since it is already happening, if people of common sense do not do it, we can trace it down to a handful of people and weed them out properly. And the site will remain great.

And the only tool the site gives you is the flag button. And it is the only one you need.</comment>


Most innovative web design - <AUTHOR>

Here's the most inspiring landing page I've seen in a long time.  Action, anticipation, and message delivery, all into one.  (Remember, this is just a landing page-not a useful UI)<p>Here it is (subject to change) http://www.macheist.com/ <comment><USER2> It's fast loading, graphically pleasing, and interesting.

However, I wouldn't call it innovative. I had to stare at it for 10 seconds before I realized a menu wasn't going to popup. Then I spend the next few seconds clicking the boxes, which weren't clickable. Only then did I realize the navigation on the bottom.

And after writing this, I still don't have a clue as to the purpose of the page.

<comment><USER3> Agreed... I stared at it for a few secs... tried to click on the boxes/truck. Then went to the "About" page which says nothing about the site/company but more about the people behind the site (at least I couldn't find anything relevant in 10-15 secs)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Sorry, but I have to respectfully disagree. I knew a bit about MacHeist, and I still had trouble figuring out what the site was about from that page.

Unless the purpose it be purposefully cryptic and intuitive only for those already "in the know", the entire site design fails. You have to burrow in and find the forum to finally get some useful information: <http://www.macheist.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8945>

It's amusing that the first line of that Forum entry points the reader back to the useless ego-stroke that is their About page. The comments are also amusing. Should provide some clue to the MacHeist guys about how to make things more better.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> I agree with all of your comments, that's why I gave the disclaimer: (Remember, this is just a landing page-not a useful UI)

May not be a great UI/UX, but in pure conceptual design, it's pretty neat.

MacHeist gives away bundles of simple free Mac apps every few months.</comment>


Experiment: Does Googlebot index dynamic content from a JS app? – Shizzle - <AUTHOR> http://lenni.info/blog/2012/03/experiment-does-googlebot-index-dynamic-content-from-a-js-app/ <comment><USER2> I am looking forward to the results! I have made a complete client-side AJAX powered movie website. It's home page DOM (latest movie trailers) is filled by firing an AJAX call to a movie API. Google never indexes that page, and I have tried 'fetch as Google bot' which only fetches HTML/JS code. I am thinking to have a server-side dirty escaped-fragment URLs for just indexing purposes. The site <http://instamovi.com></comment>


Toga: A Python native, OS native GUI toolkit - <AUTHOR> http://pybee.org/toga/ <comment><USER2> This project appears to be quite early stage (many missing APIs, no stable Windows support, poor documentation, etc) but very promising. If it had integration with a GUI designer and was feature complete, I'd start using it on projects.

I've explored the options for Python GUI toolkits quite extensively. They're a real challenge to get running conveniently (by conveniently, I mean a simple PIP install away with no external C/C++ library dependencies) on OS X with native looks, and that is a nice advantage of this one IMHO.

<comment><USER3> "No external C/C++ library dependencies" is simply impossible. Given that the host OS is not implemented in Python, some kind of bridge to its native libraries is necessary for a GUI library. Such libraries can be either compiled during the pip installation, or required as an external dependency installed using the package manager of the OS, Either way it's never going to be hassle free due to all the different OSes and package managers.

<comment><USER4> >"No external C/C++ library dependencies" is simply impossible. Given that the host OS is not implemented in Python, some kind of bridge to its native libraries is necessary for a GUI library.

Not true. Python provides facilities for dealing with dynamic link libraries from native Python code. These can be used to interface with the OS directly, without necessitating writing a C/C++ wrapper.

<comment><USER3> OK then it's a terminological confusion, because I would say that gives you a dependency on said "dynamic link libraries". Whether you need to write a C/C++ wrapper only determines if the dependency is in runtime or also compile time.

<comment><USER4> You have zero dependencies aside from the OS.

<comment><USER3> On Windows or Mac this may be true, but with Linux the GTK or Qt libraries are not part of the OS, but are used in desktop environments which may or may not be installed, and there are different version etc. so things are more messy and it's definitely a dependency which has to be fulfilled (at least at runtime).

<comment><USER5> From the conversations I had with the creator of Toga at PyCon AU 2014 and before its release, this is understood, and the current dev was towards 'it works on ubuntu', and more will come. The system is extensible so down the track the issue will be more "which do i pick" not "i can't find a way to render" ... since nothing stops this using some kind of text mode terminal UI rendering library, or a raw frame buffer one, its very awesome.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Another toolkit that uses Python, but with Qt (and previously also wxWidgets) is enaml - it has a cassowary solver, a Visual Studio docking system, and very interesting approach to connecting that to visual elements.

[https://github.com/nucleic/enaml](https://github.com/nucleic/enaml)

[http://nucleic.github.io/enaml/docs/](http://nucleic.github.io/enaml/docs/)

<comment><USER7> Having developed several advanced apps in enaml over last 2 years, i commend enaml. It encourages MVC and provides clean observer-style bindings (Atom).

The framework is used internally by at least one fortune 50 corp for a large app suite.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> The Mac screenshot I see on the home page looks about as non-native as the average Qt app.

<comment><USER9> It's using native Cocoa controls, so I'm not sure why you don't think it looks native.

<comment><USER10> Because the layout that's presented is not native. Actual mac apps don't have tabs and toolbars pushed together like that, and the margins are different.

wxWidgets can use the platform native controls, but the apps rarely look native because the layouts and behaviors are non-native. Mac/GNOME/Windows all have different ideal metrics for spacings, control placement and labeling (OK/Cancel vs Cancel/"Do Thing") -- being native means getting all of those details correct.

<comment><USER9> Fair point. The spacing and margins are totally wrong, for sure. But that's just spacing & margins, and I assume that's easily adjusted (and they should do that, so their demo doesn't look ugly). But nonetheless, the widgets are native Cocoa widgets, so they not only look native, they feel and _behave_ native, something you can't say about Qt (at least not to the same degree — although I develop with Qt, love Qt, and have zero issues with the way Qt applications look and feel on Mac).

<comment><USER11> The spacing and margins are all manually specified (or, in the case of the example, _aren 't_ specified at all, so they default to 0). If you cared to do so, this spacing could be manually adjusted.

Under the hood, it's 100% native widgets (i.e., on OSX, the code is actually instantiating an NSButton, adding it to an NSView, set as content on an NSWindow; on Ubuntu, it uses Gtk.Button etc), so the look and feel of the widgets themselves are exactly as the platform dictates.

<comment><USER12> "100% native widgets" is the easy part and wxWidgets/wxPython is doing just that (and always have been). Providing higher-level API is harder and again, wx does that too.

But the devil is in the detail. The reason why many wx apps don't look very well on OS X is because getting all the tiny details like spacing, behavior, layout etc. right for all supported platforms, with (mostly) same code base is _hard_ \- and it has nothing to do with the look of individual widgets.

But well, you'll learn that during the journey ;)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> For a project like this where there are many other potential options (wxPython etc.) the first question I'm thinking is 'why do I care about this new one'. I.e. What does this do better/differently/more conveniently. I assume the answer here us the native Python aspect and not needing big compiled libraries. Might be worth selling it a bit more on your homepage and making that advantage clearer?

It may be that everyone else picked up on Python native quicker than I did, I'm reading this in bed during a lie in so am a bit sleepy!

<comment><USER11> Thanks for the feedback! I cover some of the "why" in the docs, but I agree the homepage could do a better job of making the case for a new UI toolkit.

The short version:

* System native widgets, not themes

* Installable via "pip install" \- no third party or binary dependencies

* Not just naïve wrappers around widgets - capture the underlying use case and provide an API wrapper.

* Genuinely Python native. This means exploiting language specific features (like generators and context managers)

<comment><USER14> "Python native" is an oxymoron, given the language's interpreted nature. "Python-idiomatic" would probably be a more correct choice of words. But that's just me.

<comment><USER3> I think that is typically called "pythonic".

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> This looks promising. It would be better if the documentation was a bit more exhaustive[0]

[0][http://toga.readthedocs.org/en/latest/internals/platforms/de...](http://toga.readthedocs.org/en/latest/internals/platforms/desktop/cocoa.html).

<comment><USER11> I'll completely agree. This is a project that has been built in the last 6 months of my spare time from all my other projects, and most of that time has been spent getting things to a point where they _work_. The APIs aren't yet stable enough to warrant me spending a bunch of time formalising them, but I absolutely want to document them as soon as the ground stops moving :-)

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> I was really confused when I read "the constrain() call takes _expressions_ that define the relationships you want to impose" (emphasis mine) and saw this code:

      container.constrain(button.TOP == container.TOP + 50)

Python doesn't let you pass expressions! Why isn't that just getting evaluated to true or false? Is this not vanilla Python? Is there a pre-processor?

I dove into the code and found the answer here[1]. button.TOP and container.TOP are both Toga Attributes, which have their equality operators redefined.

Very interesting and clever use of operator overloading.

[1] [https://github.com/pybee/toga/blob/master/toga/constraint.py](https://github.com/pybee/toga/blob/master/toga/constraint.py)

<comment><USER13> I am very conflicted about that trick. On the one hand it is a neat bit of syntax to express what you want, but it goes completely against your expectations of how Python syntax is parsed. 'Clever use of operator overloading' historically has always meant 'confusing use of operator overloading' \- something the C++ community took some time to learn.

Python is very good at behaving as you expect it to, despite the fact that you can implement pretty much any magic. This is down to library design more than it is language design.

<comment><USER17> At least it's less magic than puLP:

      prob += x*2 + y, "foo"

This sets the objective function of prob to (2x+y), and assigns it a name of "foo".

      prob += x*2 + y > 3, "abcd"

That puts a constraint that 2x + y > 3, called "abcd".

On both of these the string is optional.

I'm also conflicted. On one hand, it's about the most compact syntax you can get for something like this - when similar libraries in languages without operator overloading resort to passing strings into functions... On the other hand, it can be utterly incomprehensible if you haven't gone through the documentation.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18>
      left_container = toga.OptionContainer()
      AttributeError: 'module' object has no attribute 'OptionContainer'

Frustrating when things that are supposed to work out of the box, don't. Initial search yields no help.

<comment><USER19> What version of toga are you running? I'm on Ubuntu with Python 2.7.6, toga v 0.1.0 and cassowary 0.5 and your oneliner works fine.

Edit: In fact, OptionContainer is just 15 days old, so I think you've got an old version: [https://github.com/pybee/toga/commit/262efbfc00fae0a96e09666...](https://github.com/pybee/toga/commit/262efbfc00fae0a96e096664dbdb9b409b31413d)

<comment><USER20> either than or you're on windows, where unfortunately next to nothing is implemented

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Very interesting. They have other tools which are rather useful looking as well: [http://pybee.org/](http://pybee.org/) (debugger, test runner, coverage visualiser etc)

<comment><USER11> Thanks for the promotion :-)

Of those tools, the test runner (cricket) is the most mature; the debugger isn't much more than a proof of concept. Those tools are also based in Tkinter at the moment; I started Toga because I've started to hit the limits of Tkinter.

The intention is to port the other PyBee tools to Toga as soon as they get mature enough.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> Does anyone know of any similar GUI toolkits, for languages other than Python? That is, cross-platform GUI toolkits that use true OS-native widgets, and ideally, also abstract away platform-specific details such as the placement of the Quit/Exit menu items and the order of OK/Cancel buttons. Toga is actually the first library with those features that I've heard of.

<comment><USER23> I think you're looking for phoenix: [http://byuu.org/programming/phoenix/](http://byuu.org/programming/phoenix/)

An example application using it, with the GTK backend: [https://i.imgur.com/pW2Jl9q.png](https://i.imgur.com/pW2Jl9q.png)

and the Qt backend: [https://i.imgur.com/z6cC3rM.png](https://i.imgur.com/z6cC3rM.png)

The author (byuu) posts here, he might be able to answer questions.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> The use of constraints to let the user specify where to put things but still allow enough flexibility to do OS-dependant things is interesting (and possibly novel?):

[http://toga.readthedocs.org/en/latest/introduction/tutorial-...](http://toga.readthedocs.org/en/latest/introduction/tutorial-0.html)

<comment><USER25> Cassowary ( [http://constraints.cs.washington.edu/cassowary/](http://constraints.cs.washington.edu/cassowary/) ) is used by Apple for this.

<comment><USER11> FYI, Toga uses Cassowary as well - natively through Apple's implementation on OSX and iOS, and via a Python implementation of the algorithm ([http://pybee.org/cassowary/](http://pybee.org/cassowary/)) for GTK and Windows.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> This toolkit seems extremely simple and user-friendly, might have to give it a try

</comment><comment><USER27> loutish/lazy Debian/"testing" system here:

       ~> apt-cache search toga
       toga2 - computer chess engine, calculates chess moves

(hm... wake me when it hits testing)

<comment><USER11> Given that the project was announced publicly 1 week ago, I wouldn't expect to see it in Debian (testing or otherwise) for a little while.

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> Android compatible?

<comment><USER11> Not yet. Android support is on the todo list once I've processed all the feedback that has come as a result of the initial release.</comment></comment>


Show HN: NSFW images URLs collection for scraping - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/EBazarov/nsfw_data_source_urls <comment><AUTHOR> Project that provide lists of URLs that will help you download NSFW images, this set can be used in building big enough dataset to train robust NSFM classification model.

[https://github.com/EBazarov/nsfw_data_source_urls](https://github.com/EBazarov/nsfw_data_source_urls)

This work was inspired by [https://github.com/alexkimxyz/nsfw_data_scrapper](https://github.com/alexkimxyz/nsfw_data_scrapper) and for downloading images suggested to use scripts from the scraper.

You will find different txt files each of them contains list of URLs, here some stats for this set:

\- 159 different categories

\- in total 1 589 331 URLs

\- after downloading and cleaning it's possible to have ~500GB or in other words ~1 300 000 of NSFW images</comment>


Rocket Launch Numbers – Bridge (YC W11) Signs Up 1,000 Developers in First Day - <AUTHOR> http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/05/rocket-launch-numbers-startup-signs-up-1000-developers-in-first-day/

<comment><USER2> Before Bridge, your two options were:

1\. Pay per message at Pusher/UrbanAirship to use their internal systems optimized for messaging.

2\. Do it for free writing your own messaging stack using some combination of Node.js / Socket.io / RabbitMQ / ZeroMQ / etc.

.

I liken it either getting fully a written TCP/IP socket client and paying per connection (crazy!) or writing in your own bitstream and ensuring protocol compliance (also crazy! -- easy to get wrong, takes globs of time away from the actual app you want to write).

Using the base level protocol with RabbitMQ / ZeroMQ requires a great deal of design to even achieve something barely production-ready. What the folks here did was use their expert industry messaging knowledge and wrote a messaging protocol that takes care of all edge cases, protocol peculiarities, performance refinements.

The result is a beautifully crafted work of art that provides hyper efficient messaging.

.

The part that sold me completely was the fact that these guys don't charge per message. Better than that, YOU get to control your own server. You handle uptimes, downtimes, and all things that come with owning your server. You don't get locked in.

The tradeoff of complexity + price + handholding goes as follows:

\- Pusher / UrbanAirship (Charge per message)

\- Bridge (Charge per core you run)

\- Write your own Node.js / Socket.io / RabbitMQ, ZeroMQ system (Free)

.

I've been using Bridge's predecessor (Nowjs) for about 9 months now and I can unabashedly say I love Darshan and his team. Countless times they gave me invaluable advice for setting up a real time messaging system and ways to optimize it.

If you decide to use Bridge, rest assured, you will be in good hands.

.

TLDR: This new service is _magic_. If you don't want to be charged per message and want full control over your messaging node, Bridge is at the cutting edge of cost structure + technology.

</comment><comment><USER3> Wow that is impressive numbers.

One thing to note:

"Bridge's deepest competition will come from the legacy giants when Bridge starts working with large enterprise operations."

Yep, if you want to pick a fight, pick a fight with the biggest one guy in the room. Best of luck to this team!

</comment><comment><USER4> I've been messing around with this since it was posted on HN about a week ago, its awesome! I'd love to hear any cool ideas about what I should make using this.

</comment><comment><USER5> Looks like a great service.

I think i found an error in your example at <https://www.getbridge.com/learn/examples>

see: <http://i.imgur.com/vYUyL.png>

</comment><comment><USER6> Where is the pricing?

<comment><USER7> Sorry about that. I'll update the website with pricing information soon. Basically, we have two components: Bridge and Bridge Cloud. Bridge is the actual downloadable Bridge server, and Bridge Cloud is simply the Bridge server running on a few cloud instances.

You can get started with both for free[1]. The benefit of Bridge Cloud is that you don't have to operate the actual Bridge server. This is great for people testing Bridge or startups that want to focus on their product. The downside is the latency of a cloud hosted Bridge server. Each message travels to our cloud first before going to your servers/clients. This is fine for most use cases - there's a startup that built a synchronous realtime mobile multiplayer game over 3G internet and there are no lag problems. The pricing for Bridge Cloud is to simply cover the cost of hardware and running the service.

The primary deployment model is the Bridge server itself. You can download a free version and run it on one server rate limited to 40k msg/min. That's a huge amount of messaging for free. As you grow, we'd like to provide commercial support and charge on a per-core basis.

Most startups and developers can use Bridge without paying a single dime. Large organizations whose only other alternative is to pay millions of dollars for bloated enterprise software from the 80s or hire an in-house team of messaging experts will find it cheaper and better to pay for Bridge.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> How does Bridge compare to Meteor?</comment>