Once an Apple engineer, Andy Rubin went on to co-found mobile computing outfits Danger Inc. and Android, Inc. He sold the former to Microsoft and the latter to Google (GOOG), where he now is now Vice President of Engineering and the guy quarterbacking the development of the company’s Android mobile OS and the Nexus One – the smartphone with which Google hopes to fundamentally change the way people buy cell phones.
In conversation with All Things Digital’s Walt Mossberg today, Rubin talked about the advent of a new breed of “superphones” and Google’s vision for the way phones should be bought and sold.
A first question: How involved was Google in the development of Nexus One?
Says Rubin, “We threw out crazy ideas to our partners at HTC and they were pretty good about plucking the good ones out of the air and building them into the device.”
Walt asks about the new business model that Google’s launched in concert with Nexus One. Was this something the company planned all along?
“This is the next phase of Android — taking the newest version of the product, placing them online and allowing consumers to purchase them directly,” says Rubin. “What we’ve learned is that there are more efficient ways of connecting consumers with the phones they’d like to purchase … easier ways.” Purchasing a Nexus One through Google, says Rubin, is a casual process. “No ones breathing down your neck,” he says. “No one’s trying to upsell you.”
Interesting. Rubin mentions that Google is working on an enterprise version of Nexus One. What’s an enterprise version of Nexus One like? Does it support exchange? Rubin says it might, but steers the conversation to Gmail and other Google services. He also notes that it might have a real keyboard.
Nexus One is aimed at consumers who love their Google services and live in the “Google World,” Walt notes. Yet, Google is encouraging developers to build new apps for Android and Nexus One. How do you reconcile that? Isn’t there something contradictory to saying ‘we’re an app platform,’ ‘we’re open’ and then turning around and saying we’re really a platform for people who love Google?”
Rubin obviously doesn’t think so. He stresses that an operating system can’t be a successful operating system, unless people are developing for it. “It reminds me of the accessory business,” he says. “The most successful phones have the most earbuds, car chargers, etc.”
Walt wonders if Rubin is at all surprised by scale of the apps revolution, by the fact that there are 100,000+ apps in the iTunes Apps store, right now.
“I’m not surprised by it at all. This is what happens when you drop the barriers to entry,” he says, recalling how difficult it once was for developers to distribute their apps and how easy it is today.
This new purchasing model Google’s created for the Nexus One, puts the company at the center of the experience. People who purchase the Nexus One, think of themselves as Google customers. Is Google trying to replace the operator? Rubin says no. “What we’ve done here is to offer a mobile platform where people don’t have to worry about the plumbing.”
Incidentally, for those of you wondering, Rubin says he does use an iPhone. “What do you expect, I’m a gadget guy.”
Andy Rubin Interview Photos
Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]