Augmented reality can be achieved just by using GPS and accelerometer/gyroscope. Try Google SkyMap and you'll know what I mean.

With regards to barcodes, this might be a hint as to what medium Google wants to focus when it comes to passive info transfer, i.e. they want to pursue NFC rather than QR.

My 2 cents.

Nexus Q is OOT. But to answer the question about it being expensive, it is Made in USA, part of the effort in bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US, and being ethical in manufacturing (i.e, paying workers what they deserve).

I have a feeling the 8GB version is not intended to be a mainstream product? More like a development platform like the Galaxy Nexus. Though I must say even the 16GB version doesn't fit into the media consumption picture.

The 8GB one would make more people be interested in getting a tablet though, that's for sure.

For the record, the current Adobe Flash 11 from Play store works perfectly fine on Android 4.1, at least on my Galaxy Nexus. www.flash.com loads just fine on the stock browser.

One way is to grandfather Adobe Flash via Titanium Backup (as I did), or sideload the apk. Not a problem as I see it.