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Andy Rubin: over 300,000 Android phones activated daily
Cast your mind back to the ancient time that was this August and you'll recall Eric Schmidt telling you, with no lack of pride, that 200,000 Android phones were being sold each and every day. Skip past Steve Jobs' snide remarks about what's included in that tally, and fast-forward to today, where Andy Rubin is blowing minds with the latest, very nicely rounded, total: 300,000 daily activations. Yes, in spite of being the most fragmented thing this side of our 10-year old hard drives, the Android OS just keeps growing at an exponential rate. So Steve, any comment on today's data? Were they counting it wrong? [Thanks, Dell]
Google exec calls Android acquisition its 'best deal ever'
It's easy to forget at this point, but Android wasn't a Google creation. Google bought the company in 2005 for an undisclosed sum (estimated to be around $50 million) and, well, let's just say things worked out pretty well for them. How well? Google's vice president of corporate development, David Lawee, told attendees at the Stanford Accel Symposium this week that the acquisition was quite simply Google's "best deal ever." Lawee further went on to note that he did have some initial skepticism about the deal, and recalls saying "I hope this guy does something" after seeing Andy Rubin around the building for two years. The fact that Rubin actually stayed after the acquisition eventually did inspire some confidence, however, with Lawee adding that it's obvious when a deal doesn't work out "because the people leave."
Google's Eric Schmidt says Android is profitable, could eventually be a $10 billion business
It may not exactly be a huge surprise given the recent market share numbers, but Google CEO Eric Schmidt has recently confirmed that Android is, in fact, profitable for the company. Of course, it doesn't make all that money from Android directly, but Schmidt says that Android-based phones are already generating enough advertising revenue to cover the cost of development. What's more, while he doesn't provide any current specific numbers, Schmidt did say that he expects there to someday be one billion Android phones in the world, and that if each one generated just $10 per user per year it would be a $10 billion business -- or, as Newsweek notes, about half of Google's total revenue for this year. That's just a tidbit from the full Newsweek piece, though -- hit up the source link below to read the whole thing, which also includes a bit of perspective from Google's Andy Rubin.
Google's Andy Rubin talks Android and Apple, promises Flash support in Froyo
Gather 'round, Android fans, because Google's Android boss Andy Rubin has done a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, and we're guessing you're going to want to hear what he has to say. The biggest news to come out of it is word that Android 2.2, a.k.a. Froyo, will come complete with full support for Flash, which is far and away the most official confirmation we've had to date, and slightly contradicts earlier talk that Flash support wouldn't necessarily be built into the OS. Why the change? Rubin says that sometimes being open "means not being militant about the things consumers are actually enjoying." On a similar note, Rubin also said that while he doesn't know when the number of Android phones sold would exceed the number of iPhones and BlackBerrys sold, he's "confident it will happen," adding that "open usually wins." And the hits just keep on coming from there, with Rubin not so subtly working in a mention of North Korea after a discussion about Apple and closed computing platforms, before closing things out with the line: "with openness comes less secrets." Hit up the source link below for the complete interview, in which Rubin also address the issue of Android fragmentation, and reveals that he does indeed own an iPad, but naturally has a few things to say about it.
Andy Rubin on multitouch in Android: 'I personally don't like two-handed operations'
In a very special CES edition of All Things D today, our own Joshua Topolsky had an opportunity to directly confront Google's Andy Rubin on the nagging multitouch issue -- not necessarily multitouch itself, but the growing disparity in support between American and European devices (the Droid / Milestone being the most famous example): "You call this a superphone -- 3.7-inch capacitive display, but no keyboard and no multitouch. Yet it has multitouch outside the US. Why not America?" Andy's reply: "It's not an America versus outside America kind of thing. It's a decision that is a result of the OEM model. I personally don't like two-handed operations... there is no conspiracy." That doesn't explain the fact that the European Nexus One seems to have some in-built multitouch enabled -- nor does it explain why any manufacturer would ever opt to exclude it under any circumstances unless there's some outside pressure involved. Surely Rubin's personal preferences don't play into this... right? Right, Google?
Rubin: Android getting more social features; Donut, Eclair, and Flan all in the oven
You don't have to look far past Palm's Synergy tech for webOS and smaller-scale operations like INQ to understand that social internetworking -- an intelligent aggregation of every corner of your life -- is the wave of the mobile future, and Google's going on record saying that it understands. At a T-Mobile- and Google-sponsored event in San Francisco earlier today, Andy Rubin (you know, the Android dude) discussed upcoming releases in Android's pipeline starting with Donut, which we've already heard mentioned, but then progressing to "Eclair" and "Flan" without mentioning specific timelines. He didn't bust out any comprehensive roadmaps, but he waxed poetic about some of the social-centric possibilities -- for example, being kept abreast of a contact's Facebook photo and latest update every time they call -- and mentioned that developers will soon have additional options for charging for apps (presently, Google Checkout is the only way to handle it, but carrier billing is coming soon).He also reiterated that the hardware pipeline for Android is staggeringly massive, with 15 to 20 phones coming this year alone. One manufacturer actually had the stones to show him eighteen Android-powered devices in a recent meeting -- sounds like a very Samsung-esque thing to do, but whether it's Samsung, HTC, or someone else, we're happy to hear once again that the Magic, Hero, Dream, and Galaxy won't be the only games in town for long.[Via Phone Scoop]
Switched On: Dashing through the slow
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment: Last week's Switched On explained how Dash Navigation's use of wireless technology intends to teach the GPS bloodhound some new tricks, but the company plans to primarily use its new design to tackle two of the hottest trends in portable navigation. Many GPS units now offer real-time traffic information based only on incident reporting, and the devices are not very intelligent about weighing the traffic in alternative routes to determine the fastest path. As a result, you could drive off of the freeway and into the fire. In contrast, Dash's traffic esimates are based on traffic flow. It begins with a historical database of what traffic speeds are like for sections of highways at specific times of the day. Beyond that, Dash GPS units act as probes, reporting back on actual speed of cars on those segments. This clues in those who come after them about construction and other aberrations from traffic patterns. To do this effectively, though, Dash must take advantage of a network effect; the company estimates that a few thousand Dash units should provide good coverage of major roadways within large cities. While the Dash unit includes a point of interest database, it can use its connectivity to query a local search engine such as those offered by Yahoo! and Google, leveraging the efficient if fallible semantic categorizations that these Web-based local search engines offer. Typing in practically any word will return listings, even if they are not in the title of the business. For example, typing "burrito" might return local Mexican restaurants that have them on the menu. Dash is also exploring RSS feeds -- a natural fit for this kind of device -- as well as enhanced business listings that might include, for example, hours of operation.
Switched On: Dash puts wireless in the driver's seat
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment: No one would ever accuse the Dash team of low self-esteem. "What the TV did for entertainment and the cell phone did for communication, Dash will do for driving." the company's Web site crows, A more accurate analogy for Dash, though, would be what TiVo did for television, that is, give consumers a greater degree of control over the media or information they're trying to manage in a contextually relevant way. Dash plans to achieve its five-star impact rating via a portable GPS device. The portable GPS market shifted into high gear a few years ago when Magellan offered a hard disk inside of its Roadmate 700 units. Consumers no longer had to deal with cumbersome PC downloads; street-level maps of the whole country could be pre-loaded. A year later, a gigabyte or two of flash memory is enough to include street-level maps for the United States. Magellan representatives recently noted that it plans to switch completely from hard drives to flash in the next generation. The TomTom Go 910 can even hold maps of the U.S. and Europe for those leisurely drives across the Atlantic Ocean.
Switched On: Why XM should nab Napster
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment:
