Nexus Q (via Google)
Although many products are designed in the United States, very few of those actually get manufactured here. In the early 90's many companies began shifting their manufacturing to China, due to plentiful low cost Chinese labor. In addition, many component supplier companies are readily available in China. However, we may see some manufacturing coming back home to the USA. In the last year, companies such as General Electric and Caterpillar have brought their manufacturing back home largely due to rising labor cost overseas. As a result, companies can have the benefit of easily accessing their production line and can possibly create two million to three million jobs for Americans according to Boston Consulting.
Google's first piece of hardware, the Nexus Q, is one of those few products that will be designed and manufactured within the USA. In addition to boasting the made in the USA seal on the bottom, the Nexus Q is a very unique and ambitious radio creation. Google is definitely taking a gamble with this mystery sphere, but it will be a very high quality sound system as well as a great conversation starter.
The 4.6 inch Nexus Q lets anyone carrying an Android powered device pick out some music. It allows users to add songs to the play list, delete existing songs on the play list, and control the media volume. No songs will be saved onto the device, rather users can listen to the streamed music for up to 24 hours after it has been downloaded, but it will not create a way to access others music. Google is hoping to create a unique experience for users through the device. The Nexus uses its Wi-Fi connection to pull music off Google's storage cloud. Google allows users to store up to 20,000 songs for free on its cloud.
The Nexus Q is a small, dense, and durable piece of hardware. Its bottom is die-cast metal that also acts as a heat sink for its OMAP 4460 CPU. It also comes equipped with a 25-watt class-D amplifier that is sure to make any pair of speakers its hooked to sound great. Running around the middle of the sphere is a 1 millimeter thick line that hides an array of LEDs that can dance to the music in a variety of different colors to help set the atmosphere. The Nexus Q will be available for $299 or Google is also selling it with a pair of Triad bookshelf speakers for $399. It is nice to see a device that isn't the typical black slate. We will have to wait and see how Google's new product plays out for them.
For those who care, the Nexus Q has been rooted to now accept some app and game installations. It is not recommended since it is outside the warranty area, but has that stopped anyone? Read more here.
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