Matt Hershenson and Joe Britt, two of the three brains behind the Sidekick and, less illustriously, the Microsoft Kin at Danger have reunited with their former party, Android boss Andy Rubin. The pair are now working within a new Google group called Android Hardware.
They pair have been at Google for the past 12 months, reunited with Rubin who left Danger in 2003 to create Android, 5 years before Microsoft acquired Danger, killed off the Sidekick and then, in turn, the Kin. After its failure, Brit and Hershenson left Microsoft on the same day. So what are they working on now?
Fortune reports that the pair spend most of their time holed up in Google labs developing new reference designs for Android devices. That task encompasses not just new Android phones but devices for the Android@Home project and wilder uses like exercise gaming gadgets and Android robotics.
Google has no immediate plans to build Google-branded Android hardware accessories but Brit says he’d love to see Google introduce its own Android peripherals in the future.
The report reveals that Brit and Hershenson both carry Google Nexus S phones and it’s likely they’ll have a hand in deciding what the Android Ice Cream Sandwich Nexus phone looks like. They’ve also shown some loyalty to their roots by trying and reportedly liking the Android Sidekick.
While Danger went doddery and demented under Microsoft, Hershenson and Brit have good pedigree in producing interesting hardware and with the sheer grunt of Google behind them, their Android Hardware lab could be a source of some seriously interesting innovations. We’re itching to see what the pair are cooking up.
Tell us: what Android hardware would you set Brit and Hershenson working on if you were in command of the Android Hardware division?
Out now | £NA | Android (via Fortune)
