Don’t get me wrong, I’m a developer and a lot of the stuff they have released is exciting, but they also know that consumers play close attention, and out of everything the android users wanted most, I think this was it.
I hope that they give a high profile to the Chrome aspect of hangouts, at least if people install the chrome plugin, it could get them more involved. Without SMS integration though, I have no other way to recommend it to my family or friends.
Should Google release Google Voice in the UK however, I will forgive them anything ;-)
Fingers crossed – as a non-US resident I don’t have the joy of Google Voice to tide me over while we wait… I dunno, maybe it’s Google’s ambition or they are just hitting a certain level but this year’s I/O just seems like it was a few months earlier than most of Google’s devs would have liked.
Realistically, I think Hangouts with SMS integration would have been the one thing they had to get right at I/O, and people would have been happy enough.
As it is, it’s just another messaging client I’m not able to use, due to the network effect.
Does seem quite a lot, but I guess a thing costs as much as people are willing to pay. Have you considered searching for the part and replacing yourself, From my memory of a GNex tear-down when it first released, I don’t think it would be all that tricky if you had the part – and by finding the price of the part, you’d be able to see what labour charges you would be forking out for if you did give it to a dealer.
