Google’s Sundar Pichai introduced a Google edition of the HTC One at the ATD D11 conference yesterday which we’d reported on earlier. But the announcement was just the first of many interesting tid bits dropped by the Chief of Android and Chrome during his keynote session. While two top end phones by Samsung and HTC might signal the end of the Nexus device program, Pichai was quick to point out that, “The goal with Nexus was to push forward hardware as well. That will continue.”
This lends further credence to the rumors that the next generation Nexus device will be here soon and will presumably be manufactured by LG again. Sundar addressed concerns and claimed that while hardware partners were completely open to customizing the operating system as they pleased, the Android Team is aiming to provide a consistent user experience. Google plans to work closely with partners like HTC and Samsung in this endeavor. The handset like the Galaxy S4 NUE remains US only for the moment where it is not expected to make much of a dent due to the high price point and the market being geared towards a contract based model. We believe that the move might aim to placate the relatively small audience that clammers for a stock experience on top of the line hardware. Offering such a handset will serve as a statement by Google and provide an option to that audience.