How Google Is Finally Fixing Android's Deepest Flaw

The biggest news out of this year's I/O Googlepalooza didn't have anything to do with Jelly Bean or Google Glass. It wasn't a killer app or a self-driving car. It was, in fact, the Galaxy S4, a two-month old phone with one minor modification: You could buy it with a pure, clean Android install.

Today, the HTC One followed suit; the Google Edition of the phone will come loaded with stock Android instead of HTC Sense. And with those two low-key announcements, Google has signaled a future for its mobile operating system that can finally live up to its glorious potential.

To this point it's been remarkably easy to count the number of phones released each year that combined top-flight hardware and an ironclad promise of future Android updates: One. Google's Nexus line, which comprises only four devices, has been the only safe harbor for Android purists who don't want to fuss with rooting their phones.