The focus of today's announcement might have been the new Pixel phones, but Google also had a nice little surprise that accompanied all the hardware-related news. At the bottom of the blog post for the new Pixel phones, Google revealed that it has a new program called "made for Google" which certifies that accessories like cases, cables, and headphones from different manufacturers meet the company's stringent requirements. 

Details are sparse, so we don't know exactly what these requirements are, but it sounds like Google will be individually testing accessories to ensure compatibility and safety with the company's devices. Things like faulty USB-C cables probably aren't likely to get the "made for Google" badge on their packaging, as all of us who praise Benson can appreciate. Devices which do meet the (as yet, undefined) compatibility standards presumably will get the badge.

The full list of companies which have already jumped aboard the program, according to a slide from Google's presentation today, is just below.

  • Incipio
  • Moshi
  • Belkin
  • Tech21
  • Anker
  • Libratone
  • Casemate
  • Bellroy
  • Power Support
  • Kate Spade
  • dbrand
  • LifeProof
  • Oh Joy!
  • Zouind Industries
  • Monster
  • TheMintGardener
  • Panzer Glass
  • Under Armor
  • Urbanears
  • Speck
  • Aiaiai
  • OtterBox
  • Griffin
  • Moment
  • Stuffcool
  • Invisible Shield

All of the current Live Cases meet these requirements according to the blog post, and Google says that it has over 25 partners in the program. Unfortunately, the badge and "made for Google" text don't actually seem to appear on any of the products currently being sold by Google, so we aren't quite sure what the associated badge might look like, or precisely which items being sold in Google's store bear this seal of approval. We'll have to wait and see if the badge actually starts showing up on any items in the store.

Source: Google