If this was April, i would have believed it's a fake. The news does not resonate right me. I don't see the fit between both corporation with such different cultures.

The only thing i can think of is that Google wanted to react to the fact they could not get the Nortel patents and that the hardware is less of an interest to them. 

But was that a good reason? What will be the price google pays now vs all other manufacturers using android? Android will remain open with a but lock on their door.