The Nexus Q was given away at no cost to attendees of Google I/O, but the product’s consumer launch was indefinitely postponed the following month, purportedly to collect additional feedback. Those who had pre-ordered the Nexus Q following its unveiling received the device at no cost.
So again, Google decided not to launch something, and people got it for free.
Google may be wishy washy for many things, but I’d argue their hardware support is mostly pretty good.