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Android Co-Founder Andy Rubin Leaving Google

An anonymous reader writes: The Wall Street Journal reports that Andy Rubin is leaving Google. Rubin co-founded Android in 2003 and stayed on when the company was acquired by Google in 2005. Rubin led Android through the acquisition of over a billion users, until 2013 when he moved to Google's robotics division. He was replaced in the Android division by Sundar Pichai, who continues in charge of that, Chrome, Google+, and many other products. Rubin's robotics role will be filled by James Kuffner. "Mr. Rubin's departure is a blow to Google's robotics efforts. However, Mr. Kuffner is experienced in the sector, having worked on human-like robot technology for over two decades, including seven years at Carnegie Mellon University and five years on Google's self-driving car project."

82 comments

  1. So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... Is he the Android Jesus, like Steve was the Apple Messiah?

    1. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The real Andy Juden in a nutshell (like all judenoids) http://hardware.slashdot.org/c...

  2. Re:good riddance, asshole by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Might we suggest the same for you?

  3. Re:good riddance, asshole by krakelohm · · Score: 1

    Haha looks like someone forgot the Post Anonymously check box.

    --
    You are all a bunch of idots.
  4. Favoritism! by Kenja · · Score: 2

    How come when I update my monster.com profile it's not news?

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
    1. Re:Favoritism! by MetalliQaZ · · Score: 1

      How come when I update my monster.com profile it's not news?

      Because nobody uses your crappy software.

      --
      "Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
    2. Re: Favoritism! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also why is it news to tell the world that you chug dick? Maybe you should admit that and you'll be on slashdot too

    3. Re: Favoritism! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You seem like a stupid bigot. Good thing you're hiding your identity since stupid, terrible people like you tend to get marginalized outside the Republican party.

    4. Re:Favoritism! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But plenty of people use Andy Rubin's crappy software.

  5. Re:good riddance, asshole by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    slashdice, is that you?

  6. Re:good riddance, asshole by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have a feeling that's not the 'real' slashdice.

    Mainly because I'm slashdice.

  7. More money to be made working for yourself by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you can genuinely create good, patentable products, it's moronic to work for a large company and hand them the rights. Create and patent them yourself, and get all the financial windfall from doing so.

  8. Human-like robot technology?! by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    I'm sure sex bots will be popular category in the future. Is there really a need for human-like robot technology?

  9. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by MightyMartian · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When I can plug in an iOS device into the USB port of computer and navigate its directory structure then I'll consider iOS as advanced as Android.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  10. Re:good riddance, asshole by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Uhhhmmmm no. *I* am slashdice.

    And so is my wife.

  11. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What was the last version of Android that actually let you do that?

  12. Andy Rubin? Who? by fustakrakich · · Score: 0

    Is he a good witch, or a bad witch?

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    1. Re:Andy Rubin? Who? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Judenoids don't like truths about them told and try to hide it by minusmods. It's the judenoid way.

    2. Re:Andy Rubin? Who? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Judenoids don't like truths about them told and try to hide it by minusmods. It's the judenoid way!!!

    3. Re:Andy Rubin? Who? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      he's a tired witch, tired of bloated new google.

    4. Re:Andy Rubin? Who? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Once again, I am being blamed for the morons who follow

  13. Re:good riddance, asshole by bodog · · Score: 2

    Apparently he will NOT be missed by anyone in the robotics division...

  14. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I could do it on my HTC Evo and I can do it on both my Nexus and my Galaxy S4

  15. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Informative

    Given the fact that Android, despite its technical progress, is still playing catch up to mainstream iOS

    Wait, what?

    I have two Android devices, and an iOS device ... and I've only recently retired my iPad 1.

    In what way is Android playing catch up with iOS? Are they features people actually use or even know about?

    Because, I would say pound for pound, feature for feature, my Android devices do as much as my iOS devices.

    I don't pick up my Android phone or tablet and think "boy, if it only had this feature that iOS has, it would be a complete device".

    In fact, I'm not aware of a single feature I ever use or care about that iOS has which Android doesn't.

    For that matter, I'd be hard pressed to tell you a feature that either has that the other doesn't that I've ever wished was there.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  16. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ooooh, files and directory browsing. That's what I enjoy doing with my computer! Fun fun fun!

  17. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Informative

    What was the last version of Android that actually let you do that?

    What was the first version that didn't?

    No, seriously ... my up-to-date Nexus 7 allows this.

    So, either you know something I don't, or you're making an unfounded accusation.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  18. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by tom17 · · Score: 1

    He's probably thinking of when it switched to MTP. There were a few glitches when that happened, some linux boxes could not mount it without fiddling, but it's pretty universally supported now. Except on OSX, I think?

  19. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by 0123456 · · Score: 3, Informative

    In what way is Android playing catch up with iOS? Are they features people actually use or even know about?

    Well, let's see: how about not letting Facetwitterlinkbook have access to absolutely everything on your device because their app demands so many permissions and you can't deniy specific ones?

  20. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by gstoddart · · Score: 1

    OSX doesn't allow it as far as I can tell ... I think in no small part because of a concession Apple made to the music labels.

    I understand the point, just never found myself needing it ... in all honesty, I've never used it more than once or twice on my Android devices either.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  21. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by gstoddart · · Score: 0

    Hmmm ... can you tell me where on my iOS device I have granular control over permissions for individual apps? Because I've never found that. I've got it in my hand, and there is no granular control and the ability to enable/disable specific permissions. If I can, I want to know where thehell it is.

    In my opinion, both Android an iOS suck for that.

    Which is why my Nexus 7 tablet and my iPod touch both run in airplane mode most of the time.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  22. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So what do I need to install in Kubuntu to let me mount that stupid MTP thing?

  23. Re:good riddance, asshole by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hello. My name is slashdice. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

  24. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Next release of android will remove that feature by default because it will enable encryption by default. You will need special software on the computer and a key (which is buried in the phone somehow) to view the files.

  25. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by MightyMartian · · Score: 2

    What I enjoy is having folders like Documents, Videos and Music, and being able to copy documents, videos and music into them, rather than having everything stored in app-centric folders which are hidden from me. What I like is not having to use a horror story like iTunes to copy video files, ePubs and music.

    I bought a Nexus 5 and 7 last year, handed my iPhone to my daughter, and have never looked back. The Nexus 5, in particular, is just a little over half the price of a a comparable iPhone and is a helluva lot more usable. And if I really need something from the iTunes store, like the upcoming Pink Floyd record, I know I'll be able to play the music on my Android devices.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  26. Re: Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by BitZtream · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Settings->Privacy->AppName

    Your just stupid if you didn't know this already since its regularly brought up as a shitty thing that android lacks.

    And you've never used an iOS device either ... Since the OS asks you before allowing the app to do things. It's a system that requires you to opt in, and the app has to work if you opt-out or it gets rejected from the App Store unless the functionality is central to the app.

    A camera app will not get approved if it won't work when denied access to your contacts, as an example.

    Android is designed to pretend you have options when you don't. It's all or nothing and the permissions aren't even fine grained anymore, they are broken into large groups so updates can do all sorts of stuff that they didn't originally.

    Android is decidedly anti-owner in this respect where as iOS is the opposite, decidedly pro-owner

    --
    Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
  27. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    nexus 7... Android Ice Cold Project.. bit friendlier than CM.. amazing granular control

  28. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

    special software on the computer

    What, cryptsetup?

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  29. Re:good riddance, asshole by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I swear I didn't know she was married.

  30. Re: Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by gstoddart · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Your just stupid if you didn't know this already since its regularly brought up as a shitty thing that android lacks.

    So which are you then, an asshole, a douchebag, or just some useless sack of shit with a big mouth?

    Yes, there are the settings which Apple has placed under there for what they list as privacy. But what there isn't is a "show be a given app, show me all the permissions for that app, and let me selectively disable them". Android doesn't have that either.

    My problem, is I have no idea if there are other permissions Apple hasn't decided are privacy related or not. Like sending information to a 3rd party site when it's supposed to be a flashlight.

    So, why don't you stop acting like a dick, and try acting like an adult instead of the childish idiot you seem to prefer?

    I have both an Android device and iOS device sitting on the table in front of me ... so maybe instead of you just being a loud mouth asshole, you give me the benefit of not assuming I'm being a troll? Something which I'm afraid I can't extend to you.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  31. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by jeffmflanagan · · Score: 1

    There are now some limitations when browsing directories directly on an android phone, the SD card is read-only from the filesystem, but the limitation is NOT present when browsing directories from the PC, so AC seems confused.

  32. Robot Hell is real, rooms $79.99 a night by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, if you're Catholic, Jesus is God. And Man is made in God's image. So Android Jesus would be a tautology, wouldn't it?
    Who would win in a fight? Android Jesus or MechaSanta ?

  33. Re: Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by jeffmflanagan · · Score: 1

    >Your just stupid...

    Nice hostility and poor spelling you have going there. Are you drinking?

  34. Re: Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Merk42 · · Score: 2

    Those settings in iOS, while they might not be the level of control you are looking for, are more than what Android offers. So that answers your orignal question of "In what way is Android playing catch up with iOS? Are they features people actually use or even know about?"

  35. Re: Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    jmtpfs, then $jmtpfs ~/mount/point
    No need to be root

  36. Re: Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by RyuuzakiTetsuya · · Score: 1

    What permissions means to Android and iOS are different.

    On Android, permissions are more broadly defined. Access to if you're on WiFi, Access to the status bar, access to the current time zone, etc.

    Some of these things are taken for granted on iOS. Like detecting if you're on WiFi or not. I know Overcast does this to prevent downloading over mobile data by default. I don't think apps have permissions period to read the entire current wifi state.

    iOS doesn't allow some of these permissions too. Like sending SMSes. iOS will give you a remote view controller that you can pre-populate with SMS data, but will not automatically send SMS programatically. So writing SMSes just isn't a permission it needs to specify.

    So iOS doesn't need the fine granular controls that Android folks are looking for, but everything that wants to access personal data on the phone either does so through explicit user prompts or remote view controllers.

    --
    Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
  37. Re:good riddance, asshole by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  38. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by wiredlogic · · Score: 1

    I don't pick up my Android phone or tablet and think "boy, if it only had this feature that iOS has, it would be a complete device".

    Whenever I use an iOS app I always wonder how do I go back to the previous screen.

    --
    I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
  39. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by tangent3 · · Score: 3, Informative

    kio-mtp
    make sure usb debugging is disabled under developer options, that stumped me for a while

  40. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I plugged my iPhone into a linux computer last night and was suprised at all the directories it shows. You can navigate most of the file system just fine if the host OS chooses to let you

  41. Re:good riddance, asshole by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You are mistaken. YOU are Spartacus.

  42. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Its bullcrap anyway. The whole difference between android's "new" encryption and the 4.4.4 (and below) is that the encryption is enabled by default.

    My tablet is encrypted (mostly cos I felt like testing it) and frankly there's no difference regarding how it connects to pc after you entered the key on bootup.

    So yeah the guy above you is full of shit and fud

  43. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The physical storage of the filesystem on the media has no effect on being able to share it with a computer because Android uses MTP, not USB mass storage. MTP is more similar to a network share in that it presents a file system abstraction as opposed to USB mass storage where the computer has access to the blocks and handles the file system itself (one side effect being that Android can use ext3/4 and still share files with Windows computers). That said, even with USB mass storage, you could do the encryption at the block level, so the file system would not need to know about it anyway.

  44. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Double tap the home button, you dumb fuck.

  45. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Yeah well with Android you don't have to use a hacking tool like this "Lunix" thing, it just works with ALL platforms, including 7, XP, and 98.

  46. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by swillden · · Score: 1

    What was the last version of Android that actually let you do that?

    Lollipop.

    --
    Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
  47. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by swillden · · Score: 1

    Next release of android will remove that feature by default because it will enable encryption by default. You will need special software on the computer and a key (which is buried in the phone somehow) to view the files.

    This is incorrect.

    It would be correct if Android still supported USB Mass Storage, but thanks to the switch from UMS to MTP back in JellyBean days (IIRC), you're now relying on the operating system to read the file system, and it knows how to transparently decrypt things.

    --
    Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
  48. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Given the fact that Android, despite its technical progress, is still playing catch up to mainstream iOS, I wouldn't be surprised if he was invited to "pursue other interests."

    even the summary mentions that he was working on robotics, not android. why would he be judged on something he was no longer working on, rather than on something he was? is google a reality tv show now?

  49. resumes do say a lot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "human-like robot technology for over two decades, including seven years at Carnegie Mellon University and five years on Google's self-driving car project."

    So look like nothing's coming out of Google's robotic program aside from cool youtubes, techcrunch reports and publications.

    Andy was the type of person that could have push robotics into the mainstream, much like Android. Those are the people we need in robotics now, we have enough researchers.

  50. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

    Please tell me where I can prioritize between different wifi SSIDs in iOS. Also, please tell me where I can see which 802.11 standard a given network is running, which frequency it's on and which type of encryption it's using. And please tell me how to access a proper file system on an iOS device, so I can choose for myself which files I am "allowed" to download and where to put them.

    IOS is way too simplistic for any kind of serious usage.

    --
    Eat the rich.
  51. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's called the XPrivacy module for the XPosed framework. Yeah you need root for that, but getting root on Android is cake compared to jailbreaking an iPhone, and you can unroot your Android and keep your warranty. So yeah.... Android wins.

  52. Dr. Kuffner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's Dr. James Kuffner, not Mr. James Kuffner. He's a professor at CMU, and long ago I interviewed to be a graduate student working under him.

  53. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ooooh, little square icons on multiple screens that wiggle just right. THAT's what high end resolution was meant for! But they have rounded corners and one of them is shiny!

  54. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Back to a previous screen, not to a listing of apps that have been opened recently.

  55. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by monkeyhybrid · · Score: 1

    Yes, annoyingly, OSX doesn't support MTP. You'll have to use something like Android File Transfer.

  56. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by BasilBrush · · Score: 0

    What I enjoy is having folders like Documents, Videos and Music, and being able to copy documents, videos and music into them

    I bet the long winter evenings just fly by.

    Lets hope in 100 years time people aren't still using filing cabinet metaphors on communications devices.

  57. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Galaxy S5 with 4.4.4, and I can still do this.

  58. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Copy and paste. Copy and paste is utter pain in the arse to perform on Android. Try it. Works sporadically and only partially on apps. e.g. Try copying and pasting to/from Android Chrome browser for Google Translate.

  59. Re: Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by jblues · · Score: 1

    If you want this on OSX (or windows?) you could install ifuse: https://github.com/libimobiled... . . Not sure how to get it to mount a automatically when the device is plugged in though.

    --
    If it acquires resources on instantiation like a duck, then its a shared_ptr<Duck>
  60. cyanogenmod privacy guard by emil · · Score: 1

    These are the settings that you are looking for.

    Just buy a phone with this installed.

  61. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by mattack2 · · Score: 1

    That's ironic, since people totally made fun of how iOS didn't have copy/paste for a while.

  62. Re: good riddance, asshole by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Everyone knows slashdice is Michael Jackson AND Janet Jackson.

  63. Re: Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Solution: blackberry 10. And you can browse the SD, up to 128gb supported.

  64. Android *removed* this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It was in one of the earlier preview releases hidden, you could turn it on and set fine grained permissions per app. Google *removed* it saying it broke some apps.

    So yes, the Android world does have serious privacy issue brought about by the data mining of Google. Which is why I installed Cyanogenmod and froze a bunch of, what is basically mass surveillance software.

    It's also why I returned my Galaxy Tab, it had an app DSMLawMo on it that lets them remotely take control of the tablet, its files, cameras as a 'support' function and it cannot be disabled. It can even access your wifi and network and grab those files, and data.

    You don't agree to have it, you cannot turn it off when you disagree. The way to get rid of it, is to return the new shiny Galaxy Tab to the shop and look very angry till they give you a refund. In the same way the Microsoft tax can be refunded if you refuse the EULA, the Google EULA can be rejected and get a full *cash* refund with no restock fee.

    There's the Google location service, it is on by default. It tracks you when the phone is on standby even, it keeps wifi on by default when the screen is off for the wifi sniffing! If you turn on GPS for a satnav app, it says location is needed by Google Apps, agree/disagree as if you have to agree to let Google have the location in order to turn it on for Satnav, I 'disagreed' and GPS still worked.

    F**** you and your phone, you surveillance man advert pusher Google.

    Apple are not perfect in that respect, but I'm glad there is a competitor who isn't also trying to constantly spy on you.

  65. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If anything, iOS is still trying to catch up to Android. iOS didn't get copy/paste until v3, multitasking until v4, notifications until v5 and *just* got widgets with v8. Android had all of those basic OS features from the very beginning.

  66. Re:Did he leave or was he invited to leave? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's better than being forced to use slow, bloated, poorly made crap like iTunes to manage your devices. Since I can directly view and manipulate files and directories on my Android devices, I have complete control and ownership over it. When you use an iOS device, you're really just renting it from Apple and they tell how you can and can't use it.