Andy Rubin leaves position as Head of Android at Google

In a posting on Google's official blog, CEO Larry Page announced that Andy Rubin, the co-founder of Android, would be stepping down as the Head of Android at Google. Page also revealed that Sundar Pichai will be taking over the position, while retaining his role as the senior VP of Chrome and apps.

While Pichai should prove a capable successor, his promotion raises questions about Google's direction, due to his heavy involvement with Chrome and Chrome OS. For the time being, Chrome OS is happily occupying the Chromebook spectrum, but it has been long speculated that Google would love to have one OS unifying all their products, and a future merger would not be astonishing.

Andy Rubin was one of the original founders of Android, back in 2003 when it started off as a smartphone OS. After reaching an agreement with Google in 2005, Rubin remained with the company and oversaw the growth of Android as an operating system. Now, just 7 years later, Android has 750 million devices activated globally and over 25 billion app downloads. No official reason was given for Rubin vacating the position, but he is expected to remain at Google in some other capacity. 

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