Google's Shamu.. ( I WANT one)

[SoCalDem]

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/10/09/google-hopes-whale-of-a-phone-will-make-splash-in-phablet-market/

Oct 9, 2014
Apple
Google Hopes Whale of a Phone Will Make Splash in Phablet Market



By
Alistair Barr and Rolfe Winkler



Google this month expects to release its largest smartphone, intensifying competition in the fast-growing market for super-sized mobile devices known as phablets, according to three people familiar with the situation.

The new phone — code-named Shamu after a killer whale — will have a 5.9-inch screen, a high-resolution display and be sold under the Nexus brand, two of the people said. Motorola Mobility, the phone maker that Google is selling to China’s Lenovo Group Ltd.0992.HK -5.05%, is manufacturing the phone, the people added. A Google spokeswoman declined to comment.

The new phone will be larger than Apple AAPL iPhone 6 Plus, which is 5.5 inches, and the Samsung Galaxy Note, the first truly successful phablet, which is 5.7 inches. Google plans to release a new version of its Android mobile-operating system at the same time. Tech blog The Information reported in July that Motorola was working on a Nexus phablet with Google.

Phablets, defined as smartphones with displays five inches or larger, were once ridiculed as unwieldy bricks for short-sighted, older consumers. But as phones have evolved from calling devices into computers for work tasks and watching videos, larger devices have caught on.

In 2011, phablets accounted for 1% of global smartphone shipments. This year, these big phones will make up 24% of the market, according to consultants Strategy Analytics. Stats like that forced Apple to drop its aversion to larger iPhones this year and now Google is responding.

“The phablet wars are in full effect and vendors need any possible edge they can get,” said Neil Mawston, a mobile-industry analyst at Strategy Analytics. “Having a large phone will help Google.”

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[hedgehog]

1. I thought you were telling me to Google "Shamu",

and that a cute photo would pop up!

[SoCalDem]

2. Although I love Orcas,

I eould never want one

they look waaaay too "bite-y"..

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. I find it fascinating the way the puters are getting smaller and phones bigger.

Can't even keep up.
Amazon Kindle has morphed into Fire phone, laptops into notebooks into tablets, etc.
amazing world.

In spring of 1998, I spent over 1,000 for my first computer
Now Mr. Dixie is throwing them together for under 300.00.

Maybe it is time for me to get a cell phone.