If you’re a fan of Android devices, you are probably somewhat familiar with the Nexus Q – which was unveiled by Mountain View at Google I/O 2012 just a few weeks ago.
The streaming media platform sells for $299 directly from the Google Play Store and packs in a TI OMAP 4460 dual-core processor. The spherical device also has 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage, along with integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC and Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich).
Since the device has all the makings of a reasonably powerful Android platform, I’m sure more than a few users will be interested in installing and running apps and games. Fortunately, a developer going by the name of “shodutta92” has posted all the instructions you need for installing and running Android apps on the Q at the xda-developers forum.
The only downside? The process is somewhat complex, as least compared to other Android devices. For example, USB debugging must first be enabled to connect the device to your PC computer, which also requires a running version of the Android SDK. Only then can you type an install command on the computer to install an app on your Q.
The other catch? Once you have the app installed, you must open the Android debug bridge shell to launch the app – and then enter commands manually to interact with the app by emulating tap or drag actions. Essentially, the hack is far from what most would consider usable at this point. So here’s to hoping the devs manage to easily run apps like Netflix on the Nexus Q ASAP.
