Google Android and Chrome OS chief Sundar Pichai announced Google will be taking another step to ensure it gets to sell phones that define the Android software as it sees fit, AllThingsD reported.
Pichai announced during his conference, that the HTC One smartphone would be getting a Google Edition. The new device makeup will take the current HTC One model and add Google's optimized version of the Android operating system.
Despite Google pushing for their edition of both the Galaxy S4 and the HTC, Pichai said that the company has no plans to phase out the openness of Android and start making it so that other phone makers can't tweak the operating system.
"These are the beginning steps about us thinking about how we can get the right user experience," he said.
The HTC One currently ships with its own software that has little tweaks and amendments to Android's 4.1.2 version. The new HTC One will come with a Google version of the Android system that has been seen in the widely successful Samsung Galaxy 4S.
The S4 has reportedly sold 10 million units in less than a month since its release. While the HTC One will not come with the Samsung features that help make the Galaxy S4 so popular, Google hopes the main appeal of the phone is its special version of the Android OS.
The phone will only be sold through Google's Play Store for $599 on June 26. This is a much higher price tag than the phone's original $199 price that can be purchased through AT&T.
The new version of the phone is unlocked, meaning that users don't have to sign a contract with a cellular carrier. ABC News reports that it will work with AT&T and T-Mobile and will otherwise carry the phone's original hardware including a 4.7-inch 1080p screen, an ultrapixel camera and a quad-core processor.
