According to 9to5Google, Google is looking at a broader partnership with manufacturers and has now given it a new tag, “Designed with our friends at Google”. This might be the Nexus brand’s de facto replacement, as Google aims to work with different manufacturers to produce android-powered products.
The new label was first spotted on a leaked retail packaging of the upcoming LG Android Wear smartwatch. The watch packaging has a label “Designed with our friends at Google” which sits right below the product name, hinting at Google’s plans. And with that label at the bottom, it is clear to say that Google helped co-develop the product in some way or another.
9to5Google also pointed out how Ivyrevel’s announcement of their joint project with Google’s Awareness API also uses the now familiar “friends” branding with the label reading, “Created with our friends at Google”. So it’s clear that Google is up to something and its’ not just hardware, but software as well.
Sources claim that Huawei is one manufacturer being solicited by Google to produce a phone for the second half of 2017. A mid-range device, suggesting maybe this phone won’t be a Pixel-branded phone.
This news really excites me, I was sad to see the end of the “Nexus” line of devices, but if the “Designed with our friends at Google” tag is a real thing, I can’t wait to see the plans Google has for us.
