The Pixel and Pixel XL are not the first phones from Google. The very first Android phone — the T-Mobile G1 was a Google phone. The Nexus One started a run of phones from Google that lasted up until the Pixel launch, where we found out that the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X were the last Nexuses. The idea of Google having phones built for one reason or another just isn't new. But the Pixel is an entirely different strategy.

Previous phones like that G1 or Nexus 5X were sold to be the reference device so people knew what worked and what didn't with the latest version of Android. Developers needed a phone they could test the different ways to do the things that make their apps great. When we say the Nexus phones were developer phones (which has been debatable for a while) what we mean is they are a bare-bones conduit for application developers to make their stuff work best with Android. You need things to work with the operating system before you try and make things work with the ways other companies have changed it. But the Pixel is not a reference phone. Verizon is offering the Pixel 4a for just $10/mo on new Unlimited lines I'm not entirely sure what Google expects developers to do when they need a platform reference to test new platform APIs and features. Maybe the Pixel brand will always incorporate them with no changes and can be used as such. That makes sense, but it's not why the Pixel exists. The Pixel is Google trying to be a phone manufacturer. They worked with HTC (and no, we don't know the exact details) but the phones themselves are Google's product and design. The software is no longer that bare-bones reference flavor and has a number of features that aren't part of Android for anyone else to use as they see fit. The Pixel is Google's baby, for good or bad. That means they have complete control, and that can be an important thing. Let's look at why. Support

Supporting a thing you sell — especially a $1,000 thing — is important. When a part goes bad or something gets broken, someone needs to be able to get it fixed and back in working order. If you break the screen on your Nexus 5X, LG will be happy to quote you a price to get it fixed. Same goes for Huawei and the Nexus 6P. But the Pixel will have Google taking care of hardware support themselves. Support matters more when you're making phones for the mainstream. I doubt they will be fixing phones at desks or Fruit Smoothie stands at the Mountain View campus. They'll probably ship it back to HTC if it needs any hardware issues taken care of. But the important part is that it's all done on their terms instead of another company deciding when to offer support or how much to charge. This isn't automatically a good thing. Google doesn't have a lot of experience fielding hardware warranty issues on a large scale. But it's theirs to do well with or screw things up. The same goes for software support. The Pixel has a built-in support client in the settings where you can ask for help from Google if you have questions or issues. With Nexus models, they had a support channel that started with a Python script questionnaire and weaved through mailing lists and Google Groups. That doesn't work when the phones you're selling are designed for the mainstream. Once you go full retail, you'll have plenty of questions to answer and bugs to look into. Especially if you sell a lot of phones. Google needs to have complete control over the process if they hope to handle it well. Having someone else build your phone and sticking their name on the back, then selling them alongside you makes it tough to do it your way. Controlling everything about the Pixel lets Google decide what they think is best when it comes to supporting them. Security

Security on your phone might not be important to you but's it's very important to Google. Every time there is a high-profile incident surrounding Android phones, Google takes one on the chin. Android is their product, and if some company gets lax and malware or hacking hits the news cycle, Google doesn't have to be at fault to take the brunt of the outrage. Google was never shy about "owning" the software on the Nexus line. Good or bad, no matter what came up they addressed it and provided a solution. Even when it took multiple solutions, we knew it was being addressed. They'll do the same with the Pixel and Pixel XL. The phones will be kept up to date (even Verizon has promised as much, though we've heard that before) and get monthly patches to address exploits both current and future. Nothing changes there. Google takes security very seriously. More control means they can do a little more. As a hardware partner — yes Google Hardware is a client and partner of Google Android as a separate entity — which builds their own phones they also have some say into support contracts with the people who made the components. Huawei was involved in getting security issues with the Qualcomm processor in the Nexus 6P resolved. Now there is no middleman and Google has to make sure they made the right contract and work with Qualcomm in a greater and different capacity to get things sorted if it were to happen again. The same goes for any and all software that is needed to support the hardware — if it gets exploited, Google can work directly as a licensee to help sort it out. Like supporting customers, we have no guarantee that these changes will make things better. We assume Google has a plan and has thought long and hard about becoming a company that makes Android phones and will be able to offer the same, or a better, level of security for our private data. Experience