"Tech giant Google is holding off on launching its expensive streaming media bowling ball, the Nexus Q, to the public, the company announced today.

Google first announced the streamer nearly a month ago at its Google I/O developer event. The $300 sphere-shaped Nexus Q lets users play media from their Android devices on TV sets and external speaker systems. It also lets users "socialize" by collaborating on music playlists and mirroring YouTube videos accessed on mobile devices. But beyond the Nexus Q's cool TRON-like design, it doesn't do nearly enough to justify the cost - as Google recently discovered.

"The industrial design and hardware were met with great enthusiasm. We also heard initial feedback from users that they want Nexus Q to do even more than it does today," Google wrote in an e-mail to pre-order customers. "In response, we have decided to postpone the consumer launch of Nexus Q while we work on making it even better."

Some of the things that irked us about the Nexus Q was that it required an Android device running Jelly Bean to work - meaning you can't use the device on its own. The Nexus Q also didn't provide support for third-party media services (Hulu Plus, Netflix, Spotify) and video games. To top it off, the $300 price is triple that of rival media streamers, including Apple TV, Roku 2 XS, and even a few Google TV-powered boxes (Logitech Revue, Vizio Co-Star). These are things that developers undoubtedly conveyed to Google.

Despite the delay, pre-order customers still have something to be happy about. Google is reimbursing any charges for the device for now. When the Nexus Q is ready for consumer launch, pre-order customers will get one sent to them for free.

In related news, anyone who endured ridicule from friends for wasting their money pre-ordering a feature-limited Nexus Q now has permission to gloat."

"Night before last, I rented "Batman Begins" in glorious high-definition, to refresh my memory and complete recent watching "The Dark Night Rises". I didn't use Apple TV, Google TV, Roku or any other set-top box but the ultra-cool, pulsing blue-LED lit Nexus Q, using my Android phone as remote. Once again, the entertainment device hugely satisfied, and I hat tipped to invisible Nexus Q owners sharing similar experience.

Except they won't. Perhaps not anytime soon. For the second time in just two weeks, Google yanked a new product from the Play store. First the 16GB Nexus 7, which is available for sale again, and now the great black sphere -- the Nexus Q. If you preordered, Google won't disappoint. A free one, like the Q I got at Google I/O last month, is headed your way. For everyone else, the device is delayed, its status changed to "coming soon" at Google Play."

"As you've likely heard by now, Google has decided to postpone the release of its Android-based media streamer, the Nexus Q.

Citing a desire to "make it even better," Google promised to redesign the device in one capacity or another. As to whether it will be a hardware change or a simple software update remains unclear at this point, but the Nexus Q we know today will become a thing of the past. But what lies ahead? I've come up with a few ideas as to what Google must do if they ever want the Nexus Q to be taken seriously."

"We want to like Google's Nexus Q. It isn't shaped like a run-of-the-mill media box, it's got a ton of - dare we say? - hot wires snaking out of its rear Matrix-style, it's got several components built in the U.S.A. and it glows! That's about as nice as we can be to the orby Nexus Q, because when it comes right down to functionality there are really 0 reasons to spend $300 on Google's Magic 8-Ball.

But that's okay (for now), because where there's room for improvement, the eager developers and hackers always have you covered. Here are six "fixes" and proof-of-concepts that give us hope that the Nexus Q is more than just an expensive paperweight.

With the initial stock of the Nexus Q completely selling out on the Google Play Store, there's clearly demand for Google hardware (although the actual number of units Google sold is uncertain). Being hacks, this list covers some tech that's little more than a proof of concept, but they represent the Q's potential. In the Google world, potential is all you need to design the future"