Android co-founder Andy Rubin may start his own smartphone company

Andy Rubin, the co-founder of Android that dominates the phone scene in emerging markets like India, is all set to get back to smartphones after a gap of two years. According to a report by TheInformation, Andy Rubin is planning to recruit people for a new phone venture. However, it is believed that he plans to build a phone developing company, rather than working on phone software. It is doing so through Playground Fund. After Google acquired Android, Rubin followed it into Google and led it for some years. In 2013, he stepped down to look at other things and finally exited from the company in 2014. He then created Playground Fund, an incubator for funding startups. “Playground has raised around $300 million thus far, and Rubin has been active in the venture capital community since becoming a partner at Redpoint Ventures in April. He’s put money toward artificial intelligence and smart home initiatives, but reportedly still sees the Android phone market as a ripe area for new business,” points out TheVerge report. Now, there is no dearth of handset makers, rather many small companies have started taking advantage of Chinese OEMs in the US and other regions. However, a high-end phone that competes with Apple’s iPhone is something being highly speculated. After all, Google is still looking for a device that could give the evolving iPhone a run of its money.