andy rubin

SAN FRANCISCO--Andy Rubin, Google's senior vice president of mobile, continued to defend the Internet giant's argument that Android engineers had no knowledge of Sun Microsystems patents in the Oracle v. Google trial here this morning.

As the founder of Android and leader of the unit at Google, Rubin has played a prominent part in this trial at the U.S. District Court of Northern California over the last few weeks, making several appearances before the 12-person jury.

After recalling Rubin yesterday afternoon as part of the plaintiff's case in the patents phase of the trial, Oracle attorney … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO-- Google Senior Vice President Andy Rubin made yet another appearance at the Oracle v. Google trial at the U.S. District Court of Northern California here this afternoon.

Called by Oracle, the focus this time was to learn more about Rubin's knowledge related to patents belonging to Sun Microsystems.

Right from the beginning, the tension in the courtroom bumped up a notch as Oracle attorney Michael Jacobs began his questioning. Similar to his first few appearances on the stand in this case, Rubin responded by evading most of the questions throughout his testimony.

When Jacobs commenced by … Read more

It appears there will be no new BlackBerry phones coming out of Research In Motion's annual smartphone shindig, BlackBerry World, this week, but Google could be looking to pick up some of that slack very soon if a new patent filing is any indication.

The patent application, published late last week, gives top billing to Android chief Andy Rubin and details a design for a smartphone with a slide-out keyboard. A hard keyboard would be a first for Google's trademark line of Nexus phones, if that is what this application actually portends.

Google's manager of global communications and public affairs, Jim Prosser, told CNET in an email that the company files "patent applications on a variety of ideas that our employees come up with. Some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, some don't. Prospective product announcements should not necessarily be inferred from our patent applications."

But there's a few hints that the filing is serious business, namely that Rubin's name is on it and that it went from submission in January to being published this month -- much faster than the typical 18-month turn-around time.… Read more

During the Oracle v. Google trial, the value of the Android platform to the Internet giant has been a subject of inquiry. When Google CEO and co-founder Larry Page was asked last week by Oracle's attorney David Boies about the value of Android, he responded that Android is "important, but not critical." 

On Wednesday, Google's head of the Android platform, Andy Rubin, was asked by Boies what purpose Android serves for Google, He responded that it "makes it easier to access Google services." 

Boies queried Rubin on whether … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO -- Android chief Andy Rubin wrapped up his testimony this morning in the copyright portion of the Oracle-Google trial at the U.S. District Court here.

Google counsel Robert Van Nest picked up from where he left off on Tuesday afternoon, asking Rubin what happened after initial negotiations with Sun Microsystems ended in 2006. Rubin said that the Android team went forward to build the mobile operating system on its own.

"We wrote code ourselves, obviously," said Rubin. "In developing Android, we assembled it from various pieces."

Although it is constantly evolving, Rubin commented … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO -- After a brief encounter yesterday afternoon here at the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Oracle's lead attorney David Boies continued his carefully crafted interrogation of Google's Android chief Andy Rubin.

Boies placed about 40 documents in evidence to lay an intricate trail that he hopes will give the jury the impression that Rubin and Google knew that the company needed to license Java intellectual property.

To recap Monday's testimony, Boies walked Rubin through e-mails and documents from 2005 and 2006 to establish that early on in Android development, Google acknowledged the … Read more

Last updated: 9:30 PM PT 

As the second week of the Oracle-Google trial got underway Monday, Andy Rubin, the man behind the Android platform, took his turn on the witness stand. Oracle's lead lawyer, David Boies, quickly got to his main point in taking Rubin through a series of emails from 2005 and 2006. 

He established that Rubin knew that he didn't need a license for the Java programming language, but that the emails made clear during that period of Android's development he thought Google would need a partnership with Sun or a TCK … Read more

Andy Rubin dishes on Android tablets, we examine a bowl of jelly beans, and we discuss the exciting new devices coming out of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

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BARCELONA, Spain--Android is far behind Apple's iPad in total units sold, but Andy Rubin says 2012 could be the year where that changes.

Speaking today at Mobile World Congress in Barcleona, Google's Android chief said that users have activated 12 million Android-based tablets so far. According to The Verge, which first reported on his comments, Rubin said that the figure was "not insignificant, but less than I'd expect it to be if you really want to win" the tablet market.

That might be an understatement. During the fourth quarter of 2011 alone, Apple sold over … Read more