In 2008, Google joined the mobile world with T-Mobile's G1 handset. Originally branded as the HTC Dream, the first-ever Google Android phone served as a predecessor of sorts to a line of bloat-free devices that would receive timely software updates, almost all of which are sold under Google's Nexus banner.
The Nexus lineup has since expanded to include tablets and handsets of varying sizes, and once or twice a year Google teams up with one of its partners to introduce new devices and to showcase new versions of Android. Each phone can be seen as an interesting look at the evolution of Android over the years as the company's mobile division has grown and the hardware Android runs on has changed and improved. All of the Nexus devices have played a pivotal role in Android's history by introducing new software iterations and hardware standards across the board, and they keep the rumor mill churning for months on end in between developer conferences and surprise Google announcements.
In the spirit of this week's Google I/O developer's conference, let's take a step back in time and go through some of those devices to see how they helped increase Google's reach among smartphone users and application developers. We'll look at the devices that have been launched throughout the past few years and briefly touch on those slated for the future, too.