Google and Apple are currently two of the top leading companies of the tech industry today and have established their own characteristic modus operandi to attain success in the global market. For Apple, simplicity is the key as it manufactures and owns both the hardware and the software of its devices. The result of this is a simpler set of choices to choose from, be it the iPhone or the iPad. For Google, however, their Android devices have the beneficial allure of diversity as handsets are typically manufactured by several different hardware manufacturers. However, this is precisely what causes confusion for many consumers as to what constitutes a ‘Nexus’ device and how it’s different from any number of Android devices.
Google’s products are manufactured by having its own software engineers design the operating system with a specific vision of the software, while enlisting handset manufacturers like Samsung, HTC, LG and Motorola to design the hardware. However, most companies, in order to introduce a more competitive edge to their products, tend to add their own tweaks to the Android software so that their branded handsets can stand out. Sometimes these personal tweaks tend to benefit the software, enhancing the Android experience for the customers, and other times it just adds unnecessary clutter. In any case, moves like this help these companies’ Android products stand out amongst the rest and establish their own identity in the market.
The typical downside, however, is that these tweaks tend to adulterate the software and prevent them from receiving updates in time or even at all in some cases. That’s where Google’s Nexus line stands out. The Nexus devices are manufactured by Google and support the unadulterated version of Android that Google intended it to be. The main advantage of these devices is that updates to the software reach these devices within days of release, whereas other handsets typically have to wait for months.
The current Nexus line includes a smartphone, the Nexus 4, and two tablets, the Nexus 7 and the Nexus 10. These devices provide a pure Android experience to its users and are typically priced quite reasonably for the quality of handset; the two tablets priced at $199 for the 7” and the $399 for the 10”. The smartphone, priced at $299, comes free of any contracts or commitments and is only compatible with carriers AT&T and T-Mobile. While consumers receive the pure Android experience, the devices aren’t necessarily better than Android devices manufactured by any other company – a point of fact that consumers must still keep in mind when choosing Android.
