Android architect and division head Andy Rubin is to be replaced by Chrome overseer Sundar Pichai in a move by Google Inc to consolidate its mobile software units, the company has announced. Rubin is said to have voluntarily cleared the way for Pichai, whose former brief also included Google Drive and Gmail. Now Android will be folded into his brief as the world’s number-one search company formulates its approach to the explosion in demand for consumer mobility devices. Android has built up an almost 75 percent share of the global smartphone OS market and is used in several handsets including those of smartphone market leader Samsung Electronics. In a blog post, Google chief executive Larry Page hailed Rubin’s success for “having exceeded even the crazy ambitious goals we dreamed of for Android” and asked the departing division head for “more moonshots please”. MGoogle acquired Android in 2005 and its success changed even the Internet titan’s view of its own stomping ground.
