Important Notice: What a Nexus device is, and is not.

[anon(512898)]

Because the Nexus One was !

The nexus one was nothing that hadn't been done before, it was a hd2 with android

 

[chazglenn3]

What does Google look at it as then?

Its the only phone released with an unlockable bootloader, that unlocks via a single command.

The only purpose for that (in Google's eyes) is for development. If google didn't see it as a phone tailored for developers, then they wouldn't have included this functionality.

The Xoom is the same way, in terms of tablets.

The bootloader isn't locked on my Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch (phew)...Odin mode is available out of the box.