Why don’t Nexus devices have SD cards? Google’s Matias Duarte answers

[josin]

Since the launch of Nexus S, all Nexus lovers had one pertinent question in their mind, why Google does not provide microSD card slots in Nexus devices.

The only Nexus device to have a microSD card slot was the Nexus One, since then none of the Nexus phones or tablets have microSD card slot.

Even the latest Nexus 4 comes with just 8GB and 16GB internal memory options and there is no expendable storage.

Well, we cannot answer that – why don’t Nexus devices have SD cards? But Matias Duarte, Director of Android operating system User Experience can and he did, on his Google+ page.

Here is his answer:

Everybody likes the idea of having an SD card, but in reality it’s just confusing for users.
If you’re saving photos, videos or music, where does it go? Is it on your phone? Or on your card? Should there be a setting? Prompt everytime? What happens to the experience when you swap out the card? It’s just too complicated.
We take a different approach. Your Nexus has a fixed amount of space and your apps just seamlessly use it for you without you ever having to worry about files or volumes or any of that techy nonsense left over from the paleolithic era of computing.
With a Nexus you know exactly how much storage you get upfront and you can decide what’s the right size for you. That’s simple and good for users.

LINK
phone arena
androidos
OMG....What a silly reason... i think he is underestimating his customers

Nexus 4: Technical Specification Breakdown

External Hardware Specifications
Exact model: LG Nexus 4
Dimensions: 133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1 mm (5.27 x 2.70 x 0.36 in)
Weight: 139 g (4.90 oz)
Construction: Corning Gorilla Glass 2 front & back, plastic bezel
Ports: 3.5mm headphone jack (top), microUSB (MHL) (bottom), microSIM tray (side)
Microphone: Dual Mics for Noise Cancellation

CPU
Exact model: Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064
Manufacturer: Qualcomm
Cores: Quad core "Krait v2"
Speed: 1.5GHz
Lithography: 28nm
Cache: L0: 4KB+4KB, L1: 16KB+16KB, L2: 2 MB
Instruction Set: ARMv7
Pipeline Depth: 11-Stage
Dhrystone: 3.3 DMIPS/MHz
Memory: Dual-channel 533 MHz (8.5 GB/sec)
Integrated Radios: BT 4.0, 802.11ac/a/b/g/n (2.4/5 GHz)

GPU
Exact model: Adreno 320
Manufacturer: Qualcomm
OpenGL: ES 3.0

Baseband
Exact model: Unknown
Bands: GSM/EDGE/GPRS (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), 3G (850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100 MHz), HSPA+ 42

DSP
Exact model: Hexagon QDSP6
Manufacturer: Qualcomm
Generation: H4
Clock Speed: 256MHz - 350MHz
Frequency: 500Mhz
Cache: L1: 16KB, L2: 256 KB
Lithography: 28nm
Dhrystone: 20 DMIPS/mW

Rear Camera
Exact model: Unknown - Sony BSI
Manufacturer: Sony
Max. Image Size: 3264 x 2448
Max. Video Size: 1080p 30fps
Sensor: 1/3.2" Back-Side Illuminated
Lens: LG 5 Element lens
Aperture: f/2.4
Flash: Single LED
Pixel Size: 1.1mµ

Screen
Exact model: Unknown - TrueHD IPS+
Manufacturer: LG
Display Type: IPS
Resolution: 1280x768
Aspect Ratio: 15:9
Size: 4.7"
Pixel Density: ~318ppi
Brightness: 470 nits
Sub-pixel Arrangement: Stripe TGM RGB
Black Screen (100% Brightness): 0.33 cd/m2
White Screen (100% Brightness): 471 cd/m2

GPS
Exact model: gpsOneGen 8A
GLONASS: Supported
A-GPS: Supported

RAM
Exact model: Unknown
Size: 2GB
Technology: LPDDR

NAND
Exact model: Unknown
Size: 8GB or 16GB

Battery
Exact model: LG BL-T5
Manufacturer: LG Chem
Capacity: 2100mAh/8.0Wh (minimum 2030mAh/7.7Wh)
Voltage: 3.8v
Type: Lithium-ion polymer

link: XDA

most praising review of nexus 4

[havoknation]

lol.. seriously what a lame answer. They should have 16/32/48gb variants IMO

[josin]

lol.. seriously what a lame answer. They should have 16/32/48gb variants IMO

yup.. Now that the Sd cards are so cheap Even an 8GB variant would have sufficed, if they had provided Sd card support.
Anyway i will buy one, cause the price is so tempting. If it comes out below 20K, then it will kill all Samy except S3(may be), all Sony Xperias and All Htc range above 20k mark.

[ajaymailed]

external SD Card is supposed to be just like external hard disk. Regular Apps, Music, Photos, Files should be in phones internal storage. large videos, game sd data files, old pictures should be in external SD Card.

[havoknation]

yup.. Now that the Sd cards are so cheap Even an 8GB variant would have sufficed, if they had provided Sd card support.
Anyway i will buy one, cause the price is so tempting. If it comes out below 20K, then it will kill all Samy except S3(may be), all Sony Xperias and All Htc range above 20k mark.

below 20k. Are you kidding dude?

[moniker]

Oh no! Google seem to be treading on the dreaded path of apple!! Even the dumbest of noobs will get offended by this answer

[josin]

below 20k. Are you kidding dude?

no not at all, just see its international pricing.(my smart price Gsm Arena)
Just $299 (=Rs.16184.87).This is the price of an unlocked version and is available with out any contracts in US. With contract it is selling for just $199 in US. Ok its unbelievable even to me, i had to pinch myself a few times to make me believe it

[a_k_s_h_a_y]

Totally valid reason.. you guys are pros at tech and sh1t
but you guys are n00bs at real life and people, go figure..

storage should be unified, not sepreate, store file, and forget..
even on PC, all this C:\ D:\ E:\ H:\ is bull sh1t, who the F has time to organize, the sytem should self organize, it should be smart.
am tried of all those hard disks, same on phone. just store this sh1t safely some where.. and fast.

and yeah, they should just give 64gb version and don't confuse more, 32, 16 WTF, enough, and take all money required.

[noob]

Totally valid reason.. you guys are pros at tech and sh1t
but you guys are n00bs at real life and people, go figure..

storage should be unified, not sepreate, store file, and forget..
even on PC, all this C:\ D:\ E:\ H:\ is bull sh1t, who the F has time to organize, the sytem should self organize, it should be smart.
am tried of all those hard disks, same on phone. just store this sh1t safely some where.. and fast.

and yeah, they should just give 64gb version and don't confuse more, 32, 16 WTF, enough, and take all money required.

It has nothing to do with n00bs etc...it is all about File system permission.

Read this to understand : Here Is Another Reason Google Continues To Shun SD Cards - Multiuser Support

[josin]

Totally valid reason.. you guys are pros at tech and sh1t
but you guys are n00bs at real life and people, go figure..

storage should be unified, not sepreate, store file, and forget..
even on PC, all this C:\ D:\ E:\ H:\ is bull sh1t, who the F has time to organize, the sytem should self organize, it should be smart.
am tried of all those hard disks, same on phone. just store this sh1t safely some where.. and fast.

and yeah, they should just give 64 gb version and don't confuse more, 32, 16 WTF, enough, and take all money required.

But they are not giving us any option to purchase those 32/64 Gb versions, they are stuck @ a mere 16 Gb, at least they should have provided a 100 GB Google drive storage for nexus owners. Oh ya storage should be unified and the future is CLOUD, i know but the future is not yet arrived in countries like India. We are used to the Idea of Sd cards for ages, see all those dumb Nokia(aka Symbian 40 series)/Karbon /spiece /micromax phones have sd cards and i have seen no one who are unable to use the space on their Sd cards. Common why do we prefer a Nexus? IMHO its for Geeks, its for those people who want an unlocked boot loader, its for those who can play with flashing roms and not for spoon feeding baby's.IMHO we need space lots of storage space@ low cost and when you say low cost nothing comes so close to an Sd card .

[mastervk]

I have 16 GB tablet and bought 32 GB sdhc card as 16 GB was too less for my usage .Nowadays android games are of size 1 gb to 1.5 GB. 500 mb games are also common.so more storage is always better.

But all these devices are for US market where net speed is very good and you don't need to store music and video on your device.even Google music allows you to store 20000 songs for free.

[ssdivisiongermany1933]

to counter piracy ?????????????

[josin]

to counter piracy ?????????????

how? and Why? as far as i know android is open source, if ur talking abt apps you cat stop piracy by just omitting Sd card

[ssdivisiongermany1933]

how? and Why? as far as i know android is open source, if ur talking abt apps you cat stop piracy by just omitting Sd card

My dear friend , apps and games are not free

[josin]

My dear friend , apps and games are not free

I know some of the apps and games are not free but even if you don't have SD card you can still install any kind of apps( you know what i mean and you can get those apps from all over net, its not at all a secret) on ur android.( don't ask how).Android is not IOS, android does not required to be jail-broken for installing third party apps, there is a check box and you need to tick/select the option "install third party apps" and you are done.So my conclusion is you are wrong.

taste the new camera of android 4.2

[sam]

this is my answer: AndroidOS comment

[josin]

well here is another review of the LG NEXUS 4

[parth.khopkar96]

I also kind of liked the unified storage idea at first. But then came the harsh reality..my brother has galaxy nexus.We decided to test its camera for an event. It shot excellent pictures and all. After the event we found out that the phone had been bricked(no one could figure out why, it was running stock rom). Even after multiple attempts the phone had to be flashed again. All the data on it was lost. Considering to what extent what all of us like to root and flash our android devices it is just good to know that all your data is safe on the sd card..

[Vyom]

I also kind of liked the unified storage idea at first. But then came the harsh reality..my brother has galaxy nexus.We decided to test its camera for an event. It shot excellent pictures and all. After the event we found out that the phone had been bricked(no one could figure out why, it was running stock rom). Even after multiple attempts the phone had to be flashed again. All the data on it was lost. Considering to what extent what all of us like to root and flash our android devices it is just good to know that all your data is safe on the sd card..

That's one good point in support of SD cards.