Android chief Andy Rubin steps aside

Google is making some major changes to the corporate structure around Android, as Andy Rubin will no longer be the head of its mobile operating system. 

Rubin will continue on at Google on other projects (perhaps Google Glass) and Sundar Pichai will be taking over. Pichai is also in charge of Chrome, which has some speculating that the platform could merge at some point down the line with other Google products. 

Rubin started on Android about a decade ago outside of Google and his work has been a tremendous success. 

"The pace of innovation has never been greater, and Android is the most used mobile operating system in the world: we have a global partnership of over 60 manufacturers; more than 750 million devices have been activated globally; and 25 billion apps have been downloaded from Google Play," Google CEO Larry Page wrote in a blog post. 

It's unclear what this move will mean for Android going forward or if it will have any major impact at all. This move should streamline Google's platforms by putting them all under one division and I wouldn't be surprised to see the Chrome Web App Store and Google Play eventually merging. 

Both Chrome OS and Android have Linux kernals, so I believe it's technically possible for those to merge down the road. Android also uses a Java virtual machine, so there are other complications if Google chooses to go down that path. More than likely, Chrome OS will remain the Google platform for traditional laptops and computers while Android will be used for phones, tablets and other devices. 

This is just the latest corporate restructuring in the mobile space, as Apple also recently pushed aside Scott Forstall as its iOS head. It looks like both Apple and Google are interested in making its mobile platforms more in line with its other platforms.  

[Via Google]