[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] adrynalyne:
I am tired and weary of combating all of these claims, when they simply are not true.

What makes a Nexus device? Overall, the Google marketing? team responsible for it names the device. They decide what falls under the Nexus moniker. It is a name, and nothing more. I know a lot of people think it means it is a developer phone. No, it does not mean that. The Nexus Q has the Nexus name, but I really doubt you will be seeing AOSP support for it. Time will tell.

Is the Nexus a developer phone? Sure. Is it marketed or expected to be a phone specifically for developers? No.

In the past, Google has released an ADP, short for Android Developer Phone. There was the ADP1, ADP2, ADP3 (which turned out to be the Nexus One). These phones were not sold at carrier locations, not subsidized, and specifically meant for developers. It was before my time with Android, but I believe the ADP1 (basically an unlocked G1) required you to register with Google as a developer. The ADP2 came out later, and once again Google made it clear it was not meant for non-developers.

The Nexus devices were when Google decided to meld developer and end user devices. The Nexus One was provided unsubsidized from Google for a time, and subsidized through Tmobile. Verizon took a shot at it, but canceled the phone early on in testing. These phones did not require registration as a developer, and were sold in carrier stores.

The Nexus S expanded upon this. It was available to multiple carriers subsidized. Sprint received a model called the Nexus S 4G. It had full AOSP support with the exception of WIMAX (I think). Google had resdistribution licenses for Gingerbread and all was right in the world. Yes, the 4G received updates slower than the plain Nexus S, but it still received them. It was a Nexus device.

Fast forward to today. The Galaxy Nexus has been released as GSM, and CDMA/LTE. Verizon gets updated directly from Google, but does not authorize them for OTA until they meet their 'quality standard'. Then Google throws the switch. Google builds them, through and through. The Verizon model has been the center of controversy for some time because Google was unable to obtain redistrubtion licenses for the proprietary blobs. It still had all of the code needed to build from AOSP though, but without CDMA or LTE. This was because Google could not give us the proprietary files needed to make such things work. Their hands were tied, because it is closed source. So, Google threw their hands up in the air and told the world after they tried to obtain the rights for a while when 4.0.3 came out. Did it change anything? A little. It was made clear that because the licenses could not be obtained, that AOSP would include what it always has for CDMA/LTE, but not the proprietaries for download. In addition, it meant that Google would no longer pay someone to test the CDMA/LTE code in AOSP because they cannot even support a full build due to the licensing issues. This ruling extended to all CDMA devices, even the Nexus S 4G. This has never been an issue with GSM, because Google has a license to redistribute the blobs.

What does this change? Well for one, it is up to us to find our own CDMA/LTE blobs from a rom or phone. By the way, we aren't allowed to do this if you follow the license. We do anyway ;)

It also means if/when we find a bug in the CDMA/LTE AOSP code, we cannot expect Google to fix it. I don't really foresee this becoming an issue, but it could.

Now, back to the original subject. Does it mean the Verizon phone isn't a Nexus? I mean, it has BLOAT (apks and libs for Verizon apps to work as well as Backup Assistant for those coming from feature phones).

No! It is a Nexus. Every device has proprietary blobs. The Verizon model has a couple more. The Sprint model has a few more than that. However, who cares? Do you guys think the yakjuxx variants are not Nexus devices? They get updates even slower than Verizon or Sprint. Nexus devices can exist, even if Google cancels AOSP tomorrow. AOSP does not make a Nexus device. A design and vision that Google oversees makes a Nexus. Thats it.

All devices have open and closed sourced items.

All devices have proprietary blobs.

It doesn't matter that Verizon includes a couple extra items, or decides to test updates longer than Google. As I mentioned before, not everything on ANY Nexus device is open source.

GSM requires proprietary blobs.

CDMA requires proprietary blobs.

A licensing issue does not undo a device from being a Nexus. Neither do delayed carrier updates. If you live in the US and have a subsidized or network locked device, you should expect that the carrier has control over your hardware. There is no other way to put it, but it does not change the overall nature of the device. Not all Nexus updates are coming from Google anymore as well. Yakjuxx variants as well as Sprint's Toroplus model get updates built from Samsung.

Ok, I want to say a lot more, but I will stop here.