Waymo had been testing a number of prototype Pacificas, but these vehicles appear to have
much tighter integration of Waymo's self - driving hardware than those prototypes.
With Google designing the hardware and software, the Pixel phones offer
much tighter integration between the two, similar to Apple's work with iOS and the iPhone.
It also points to
much tighter integration between the Google Home and Google Assistant apps.
And that puts Amazon at a disadvantage: the Windows / Nook and iOS / iBook teams will naturally have
much tighter integration between bookstore and operating system than anything Amazon can offer.
Not exact matches
The answer lies in the benefits of
tight, Apple - like
integration: Google can iterate Pixel designs
much faster with an in - house crew, and it can do synergistic things with its hardware and software that it wouldn't be able to when contracting the work out (even the former Google + VP Vic Gundotra has stated a preference for this approach).
The company is still very
much of the mentality that its hardware and software work in tandem, selling one another based on the
tight integration of the two.