Google’s worst hardware flop was introduced 10 years ago today

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Before the device was ever released to consumers, it was decided that the device would be pulled from the market. The $299 media player that was introduced at I/O 2012 is still a flop ten years later. Say what you will about Glass, but the company's first attempt at Wearable Tech got people talking. When a company becomes lost in its own garden, it can be an example of what can happen.

There were promising aspects to the Q; in retrospect, you can clearly see the groundwork and early beginnings of the Chromecast. Everything about the execution was short-sighted. Someone describes the product in a promotional video that was released on the day of the announcement.

Something is inside it. It would like to leave. Everything is normal. You have no idea what this thing is or what it does in the first sixty seconds of the video. The Nexus Q is a computer that can play music or videos from the cloud.

It wasn't well-received by the public. The New York Times was written by David Pogue. We gave it a score of five. The Q just didn't do enough to justify a price so much higher than a Roku or Apple TV, according to reviews from various websites. It wasn't practical or appealing for many people to use a device that only worked with a single service.

Designed by Google, made in the USA

Yes, did it look cool? When banana plugs and other A/V cables ran out of it, the orb-shaped industrial design of the Nexus Q gave it a sci-fi vibe. Remember, this was long before the arrival of Amazon's echo. The Q seemed to jack you into the matrix. It was all brand new. The Nexus Q was not a result of collaboration with other partners, but was the brainchild of the search engine giant.

GIF: Google

It was designed and made in the US. The Q's $299 price was contributed to by the fact that it was made in the U.S. The initiative to assemble the original Moto X in the US didn't last long.

The Q had an audiophile-grade amplifier that could power passive speakers, along with connections for optical, MicroHDMI, and ethernet. Hardware director Matt Hershenson said there was a Microusb port to encourage general hack-ability. TheNexus Q was powered by the same chip as theGalaxyNexus The upper half of the sphere could be turned on or off. A great living room device was made there. That potential was ruined by limiting software.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

Play Music, Play Movies & TV, and YouTube were supported by the q. There was no streaming services available. The problem with putting in an amplifier was that it didn't have a way to get high quality audio from the analog port.

The Q didn't come with a remote and you had to use a dedicated app to control it. Some of that will sound familiar to the people who use the device. There were major differences between the Nexus Q and the Chromecast that made it a success. After learning a hard lesson from favoring its own software, the company made a heavy push for third-party apps to adopt casting. The device also supported the mobile operating system.

Social streaming

In order to pitch the product as a social experience, the company tried to include the core function of playing music and video. Multiple people would be able to contribute to a music list without having to worry about their phones or controlling a speaker. It was possible for friends to share content on the TV screen if they were on the internet.

This was before theChromecast so it sounds fine in theory. Let's say that the process for "Social" streaming was inconvenient. All of your friends would need to download and install theNexus Q app before they could add songs to the queue. The software was not easy to use when it came to managing music libraries. It was not possible to accidentally play a song and blow up a collaborative mix.

The top streaming music services were able to solve this on their own after a few years. You don't have to use a special device or app to make a collaborative playlist.

GIF: Google

End of the queue

The criticisms of theNexus Q were loud and clear. The company said it was postponing a consumer launch of the product while it worked on making it even better. Customers who pre-ordered the device would receive it for free as a thank you.

The Q didn't make it to the shelves. The product was removed from the website by the end of the year. The company began to break compatibility with the device. With so few Q units out in the world, it was left in the mirror.

Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge

tinkerers and mod developers spent a few years trying to give theNexus Q a new lease on life One person was able to turn it into a device that could use the integrated amplifier. Efforts to get more devices in circulation have faded into history.

There was a third wave of consumer electronics that would make greater use of the cloud to keep all of your entertainment close to hand. Today we can add gaming to the equation. Consumers have high expectations of living room entertainment devices and not even giant tech companies can afford to go it alone.