Gallery: It's a Sphere! The Inside Story of Nexus Q, Google's Music Hardware Gamble

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    The Nexus Q factory is located in America -- close enough to Google for Britt (left) and Hershenson to drop in for a site visit when they need to. The facility is a single, vast, open room filled with both robotic equipment and real human beings assembling Nexus Q spheres, part by part.
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    Notice that the circuit boards are colored Android blue. This particular PCB will later be separated into two individual circuit boards running the Nexus Q LEDs.
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    A skilled technician does a visual inspection of the LED rings.
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    062112-google-q-factory-105edit

    ![](http://blog-admin.wired.com/gadgetlab/wp-content/gallery/google-q/062112-google-q-factory-110edit.jpg) Really big pieces can't be inserted into a circuit board by a robot. This kind of work must be done by hand.
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    One can only image just how many Nexus Qs have already been manufactured.
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    Vivid, Androidy blueness.
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    Just like the original assembly lines of the industrial revolution, parts move from one station, to the next, to the next, and so on.
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    No, that black box isn't part of the Nexus Q packaging. Some parts sit waiting for attention in comforting cradles.
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    This Nexus Q is almost done!
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    The whole world uses Windows -- even Google's manufacturing facility.
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