Android co-founder Andy Rubin is bidding a good bye to Google to form a hardware-focused startup incubator.
Rubin has resigned from the internet giant to build an incubator that will support startups interested in building technology-hardware products.
Rubin joined Google in the year 2005 when the search engine giant acquired his mobile operating system startup. Rubin has been credited with turning Android as a major iOS competitor and as the most popular mobile operating system, currently running on more than 80 percent of the smart phones across the world. It has been less than a year that Rubin was made to step down as the Android division head to lead Google’s growing robotics team.
“I want to wish Andy all the best with what’s next,” Google CEO Larry Page said in the emailed statement.
“With Android he created something truly remarkable – with a billion plus happy users. Thank you.”
James Kuffner, a research scientist at Google and a member of the robotics group, will replace Rubin to as head of the Robotics division, Google confirmed.
However it still remains undisclosed as whether Rubin would be departing immediately or if he would be staying on for a transition period.
Rubin himself could not be reached for comment.
Rubin’s departure adds to the list of several high-profile departures Google faced this year, including the company’s social-networking head Vic Gundotra and chief business officer Nikesh Arora.