Second, it's also true that Google has been signalling that it wants to exert more control over the Android world. Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said in June that the company would be "more opinionated" over the design of Nexus phones. Google's strength with Android has always been because it is open, and therefore available for lots of smartphone manufacturers to use. That's also been a weakness, however, since a lack of central control can make it hard for Google to effectively compete with the iPhone when it comes to high-end buyers.

That lack of control illustrates itself most clearly when it comes to updating to the latest smartphone system — and giving consumers a chance to use Android's cool new features. In this case, Google has essentially no control over when most customers get an update. It's up to manufacturers and carriers for all phones except the Nexus. That fragmentation can therefore cause problems when advertising Android features or, more seriously, patching security vulnerabilities.

To succeed with its own phone, Google will definitely have to offer something novel and interesting — Samsung's Galaxy line has the high-end of Android pretty covered right now. So how can Google stand out?

Honestly, I'm hoping that this means that smartphones are going to get a little weird again. Because they've gotten a little boring of late — and I'm not the only one thinking this, surveys and sales numbers support me. The smartphone in its current form is pretty optimised for the way we use it, but that also means it's a bit predictable. Selfishly speaking, I miss the not-so-old days when companies threw spaghetti at the wall — A dedicated Facebook button! A stylus! PlayStation controls! A 3D camera! — to see what would stick.

Google has a couple of exciting ideas it's announced already. The first is Project Tango, which the firm has been working on for years but recently began talking about again, which lets you scan and map the inside of the room. Researchers hope this will one day let you do cool things like letting your phone scan a room to find your keys. Right now, a Tango-enabled phone from Lenovo promises to let you, for example, measure the length of space to see if a couch can fit there. It's something that would be welcome and useful in a Google-branded phone as well. The second project that piques interest is Project Ara, which aims to make smartphones modular — meaning you could easily snap in a new camera, a better audio recorder or a GPS unit only when you wanted.