AndyRubin -- Engadget Mobile

AndyRubin posts

Google refutes USA Today report on blocked Skype application

by Joshua Topolsky posted Aug 21st 2009 @ 6:03PM

While Apple was busy batting away the FCC with its litany of reasons why its app approval process is totally hunky-dory, Google was apparently having it's own VoIP-related firefight. It seems that an article in the USA Today which hit newsstands this morning alleges that the internet giant sought to block (dare we say reject) a full Skype application from making its way into the Android Market. The story claims that the application was neutered to become "a watered-down version of the original that routes calls over traditional phone networks" -- which would obviously cast a decidedly malevolent slant to the benevolent company's policies.

The story is surely fine fodder for a FUD enthusiast up to that point, but it appears (gasp) that USA Today may have gotten one minor fact wrong. Namely, that Google had any unsavory aim to clip the wings of the Skype app. According to company man Andy Rubin (on Google's Public Policy Blog), the "lite" moniker was only attached due to technical limitations of the Android platform. In his words:

Here are the facts, clear and simple: While the first generation of our Android software did not support full-featured VoIP applications due to technology limitations, we have worked through those limitations in subsequent versions of Android, and developers are now able to build and upload VoIP services.

As we told USA Today earlier in the week Google did not reject an application from Skype or from any other company that provides VoIP services. To suggest otherwise is false. At this point no software developer -- including Skype -- has implemented a complete VoIP application for Android. But we're excited to see -- and use -- these applications when they're submitted, because they often provide more choice and options for users. We also look forward to the day when consumers can access any application, including VoIP apps, from any device, on any network.

Note the jab there at the end? Okay, swell. Of course, even if Google had rejected the app outright, users still could have installed the software through other avenues, as the Android Market is only a suggestion -- not a mandate -- for how consumers should acquire apps on Google's platform.

[Via TechCrunch; Image courtesy eBoy]

Read - Google-AT&T-Apple fight over Net calls draws FCC interest
Read - Android and VoIP applications

Rubin: Android getting more social features; Donut, Eclair, and Flan all in the oven

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 10th 2009 @ 7:07PM

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]

Google: 18 Android phones coming this year, possibly more

by Thomas Ricker posted May 28th 2009 @ 5:50AM

18 Android phones, possibly 20 on the market this year according to Andy Rubin, speaking at Google I/O. Even higher if you count all the rogue, Google App-free Android deployments that Google's not aware of. Seeing as how we're already nearly half-way through the year with just a pair of Android handsets on the market (the T-Mobile G1, HTC Magic) and just another -- the Samsung i7500 Galaxy -- officially in the chute, we're going to see a flood of product before year's end. In fact, Rubin claims the releases will come from 8 or 9 manufacturers with faster adoption seen in Europe as US carriers try to "create highly distinctive versions of the Android phone to give themselves an edge." Sure, edge, if that's what you want to call the US cartel of hoops and handcuffs then go right ahead. Interestingly, Rubin also further clarified the three flavors of Android which break down as follows:

Google-free: Free to download version of Android without Google applications like Gmail or Google Calendar. Access to Android applications is at the whimsical fancy of the manufacturer.
Strings attached: Same as above but manufacturers sign a distribution agreement with Google and pre-install the Google applications. Of Rubin's possible 20 phones, 12 to 14 fall into this category
The Google Experience: Phones featuring the Google logo with all Google apps installed and includes unrestricted access (neither the carrier nor handset maker can block applications they find objectionable) to the Android market. 5 or 6 of the 20, Android phone mentioned by Rubin will deliver the full Google Experience as god and Sergey designed it.

Go ahead, blow it out Google, we're ready for it.

Android Market will offer free trials, but not free bandwidth

by Tim Stevens posted Oct 2nd 2008 @ 1:53PM

Apple's App Store, with its millions of downloads, is clearly a hit with consumers. But with developers? Not so much. Like a dashing hero to a scorned mistress, Google's Andy Rubin is pledging a different, more loving and respectful relationship with those who would fill his company's Android Market with selections -- and his pockets with royalties. He indicates that the Market will enable free downloadable trials, something that Apple is stubbornly refusing to add, and that those downloads would not be subject to any arbitrary bandwidth caps. Meanwhile, T-Mobile at least will be levying a $2/month fee on developers of free apps expected to use more than the (somewhat arbitrary) amount of 15MB of data per user per month, though how they'll be keeping track of that data outside of their own content stack is unclear -- our guess is that they can't.

Google's Andy Rubin talks Android, demos apps

by Nilay Patel posted Jun 18th 2008 @ 5:04AM

We've already seen plenty of screenshots and videos of Android in action, but it's not every day Andy Rubin, Google's Senior Director of Mobile Platforms, is behind the controls, and he recently demoed the open-source phone OS to a group of reporters. Rubin specifically demonstrated non-touchscreen versions of the platform, showing off a browser designed entirely for button-based navigation, and also hit upon Android's ability to multitask, using Google Maps seamlessly with a media player and a photo app running in the background. Take that, iPhone. Of course, the hardware itself was kept super-secret, but since Android is designed to work on any phone with at least a 200MHz processor, it's understandable that Google isn't interested in distracting us with specific phone models when the focus is clearly on the OS. We'll just have to wait until later in the year to get our hands on an actual device -- hopefully the screenshots at the read links will tide you over.

[Thanks, Tarek]

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