It seems to me that this must have been the intention all along. When Google purchased them, Motorola was about to start suing other members of the Android ecosystem because they were that desperate. So the deal was always defensive. I think the value of Motorola's IP was always overstated and Google knew that but it made for a good story for shareholders along with Google signalling they were serious about hardware. And maybe they are, but the whole "American made" angle they took and all the tax incentives they got, and for what...to sell the company 7 months after launching a flagship phone??? It's a great phone, but it looks to me like this whole thing was set-up to sell out from the start. If so, it was a brilliant unwinding of something that could have been very bad for Android at a critical time. As others have pointed out, they didn't take as bad a bath financially as it seems either.

The alternative narrative is that they suddenly had a change of heart because of Nest, but why not just integrate or put that team in charge of Motorola if it's about talent?

In any case, the Moto X is a really nice phone. I feel bad for the employees of Motorola and find this maneuvering very "corporate" and un-Googley.