Buy a Google Pixel from Verizon and Verizon will be responsible for updates, not Google

The newly announced Pixel and Pixel XL caused great interest at the beginning of the week. Described by the company as being "the first phone made by Google inside and out" (even though we know that HTC is involved) you would expect that Android updates would be coming courtesy of Google itself.

If you thought that, you'd be wrong. Possibly. It depends where you buy your Pixel from. Buy it from Google, and Google will indeed be responsible for the update process. Buy it from Verizon -- Google's exclusive US partner -- and Verizon will be the one handling system updates, creating something of a two-tier system.

While Google will still be responsible for the monthly security updates that will be pushed to both the handsets it sells and those sold through Verizon, the company will only deliver system updates to the phone it sells. The decision to handle the update process differently for users depending on where they purchase their handset is something that Google has confirmed to 9to5Google.

A Google spokesperson said:

Monthly security updates will come from Google (for all models), and system updates will be managed by Verizon for Verizon models, and Google for unlocked models bought from Google Store.

Verizon customers may well have fears that this could mean that they are going to be left waiting longer for updates, or may even not receive them at all.

The question is, does this concern you?