So we are around five weeks away from Google I/O 2016. How likely do you think it is that Google will unveil a new Nexus Player? I mean, Google Store has been out of stock for a while now —except for some recent gone-in-a-matter-of-minutes episodes—. I'm thinking of getting a non-smart TV and plugging in one of these bad boys.
So I guess what I'm asking is if there's a hype train and whether or not I'm supposed to be boarding it. What do you think?
My money would be on end of the year along with the Nexus phone(s)
I don't know if it's that likely. There haven't been any rumors/FCC filings about it, and it's not likely going to make any significant improvements over the current model for either consumers or hardware manufacturers.
I think they may have been planning to release a new one and pushed it back and, that's why we're seeing nexus player stock starting to recover on the play store. I don't think we'll hear anything interesting at I/O but, here's hoping that I'm wrong.
There isn't really any huge reason to update it anyways, for the average consumer it's fine. I mean, I would love to have a real gigabit ethernet port and, 4k might be nice some day but, the average consumer either doesn't care or doesn't even know what those things are.
My primary hope is more for software enhancements. Actual work on the live channels app, new partners, etc.
I would say we would get a new Nexus player if Android N has some major new feature that would take advantage of a new type of hardware. For example if they made it so N can be a dvd/blu-ray player then the new nexus player with optical drive to take advantage of the new feature.
So I kinda doubt we would see a new nexus player.
I'm hoping. Although I think the only thing they'd be able to add to it is 4K or a better SoC. The current hardware is still pretty good.
Just an FYI dont restrict your search to non-smart TV's. Get the best TV in your budget regardless of smart features and then add whatever peripheral you desire.