Cutting edge industrial design that demands attention featuring a band of lights that blink n’ flash in time with music and it is Made in USA™ — what more could people want? Apparently quite a lot and Google has acknowledged the Nexus Q’s failure by closing the down the device’s order page and promising unspecified improvements to be delivered someday.
And, the problem with the Nexus Q is that it does very little for the high $299 asking price, which is well above the more capable $99 Apple TV and various Roku boxes that start at $49.
Google has admitted the general lack of function and high price in a posting on its Nexus Q landing page:
We have an important update about your Nexus Q pre-order.
When we announced Nexus Q at Google I/O, we gave away devices to attendees for an early preview. The industrial design and hardware were met with great enthusiasm. We also heard initial feedback from users that they want Nexus Q to do even more than it does today. In response, we have decided to postpone the consumer launch of Nexus Q while we work on making it even better.
To thank you for your early interest, we’d like to extend the Nexus Q preview to our pre-order customers and send you a free device. If you had other items in your order, your credit card will be charged for those items only.
Your Nexus Q will be on its way soon and you will receive a notification and tracking number from Google Play when it ships.
The Nexus Q Team
So, everyone that has ordered a Nexus Q will be getting a freebie and, someday, Google will deliver an even better version.
Kudos to Google for admitting their failures before they managed to completely kill this budding set top box franchise…
What’s your take?