Just days after a report claimed that Google is interested in designing processors for Android phones, a new rumor says that Google actually wants to go even further than that.
A report from The Information says that Google executives are debating whether or not the company should make its own Android smartphone. The goal, according to the rumor, would be that Google designs and sells its own Android smartphone that it could get updates to even quicker than Nexus devices and also gives Google more control over the Android platform.
“But wait,” you say, ”What about Nexus devices?” With Nexus hardware, Google collaborates on a new device with an established manufacturer. If Google were to create a phone all on its own, it could have a phone that is totally designed by Google, distributed by Google, and updated by Google, without having to work with another company and potentially delay things like updates, even slightly.
There’s no doubt that a “Pure Google” smartphone would sound good to a lot of folks, and with the recent announcement of the Android-powered Pixel C tablet that’s all Google, a Google smartphone becomes more plausible. Given that Google already has the established Nexus program, though, a Google smartphone also seems kind of strange. Google has shown that it prefers offering its smartphones unlocked and direct to consumers, which it’s currently doing with the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, so a stronger push with carriers wouldn’t matter. Perhaps Google thinks that advertising a straight up “Google phone” would interest consumers more than a “Nexus phone”?
