Originally Posted By: hybrid8
Google really needs to stop running with the knock-off crowd that release a new handset every 15 minutes. Though maybe they don't care and having a commodity OS with little to no brand value is what they're interested in.

I'd go a step farther. Google appears to want to be the OS of choice for the knock-off crowd. Google is served when every cheap phone, everywhere, is running Android. That means that Google can ensure they have a non-stupid web browser, they play nicely with Gmail, they work with Google's App Store, and so forth.