by John Paczkowski, AllThingsD
Once an Apple engineer, Andy Rubin went on to co-found mobile
computing outfits Danger and Android. He sold the former to Microsoft
and the latter to Google, where he is now vice president of
engineering. He's also the guy quarterbacking development of Google's
Android mobile operating system and the Nexus One--the smartphone with
which Google hopes to fundamentally change the way people buy cell
phones.
Walt Mossberg (left) interviews Andy Rubin at CES 2010.
(Credit: AllThingsD)
In conversation with All Things Digital's Walt Mossberg Friday, Rubin
talked about the mobile space, Google's plan for an enterprise version
of the Nexus One, and its vision for the way phones should be bought
and sold.
Walt starts off by asking Rubin about just how involved Google was in
the development of the Nexus One.
Rubin replies, "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 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 versions 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 one's 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.
The 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 OS can't be
successful 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 the size of the apps
revolution, by the fact that there are 100,000-plus apps in the iTunes
Apps Store.
"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 has 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. Rubin says, "What
we've done here is to offer a mobile platform where people don't have
to worry about the plumbing."
Walt notes reports about people unhappy the customer service Google is
providing for the Nexus One; there is only e-mail customer service,
and no phone support. Rubin concedes that there is no phone support
and that there is sometimes a three-day delay in response time. "We
have to get better at customer service," he says, adding that for
launch, they are doing great.
Moving on to the issue now of 3G network performance, which has been a
very real issue at CES, especially for AT&T. Rubin says Moore's Law
applies to bandwidth--4G is on its way, and after that 5G. Walt
suggests that the addition of new phones like the Nexus One and the
host of other superphones is going to exacerbate the problem. Rubin
says that doesn't have to happen; if carriers were more on point and
did what was necessary to maintain and upgrade their networks, dropped
calls, etc., would not be as much of an issue as they are for some
carriers today.
In his interview with Kara Swisher earlier, Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein--a
former Apple engineer--said, "I don't have an iPhone. I've never even
used one." In contrast, for those who may be wondering, Andy Rubin
says he does use an iPhone. "What do you expect? I'm a gadget guy."
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