Andy Rubin “Confident” Android Will Outsell iPhone, Android 2.2 Will Include Full Flash Support
In a recent conversation with The New York Times, Andy Rubin,vice president of engineering at Google, waxed philosophical on the open nature of Android, its position in the smartphone market, and Steve Jobs’ recent digs at the platform. He also name-dropped Froyo and confirmed that Flash 10.1 would be fully supported in the upcoming update to Android OS.
Of Jobs’ statement that “folks who want porn can buy an Android phone,” Rubin said, “I don’t really have a rationale for that. It’s a different style of interacting with the public and the media.” Of course, he was quick to liken the closed nature of Android’s competitors (naming none specifically) to the tight-lipped and totalitarian regime of North Korea. He also chided that if someone were to lose an Android prototype at the bar, he would welcome the leak with open arms. “With openness comes less secrets.”
Rubin went so far as to state that he is “confident” that Android phones will outsell the likes of Apple and RIM…eventually. He didn’t have an exact timeframe in mind.
Concerning the future of Android and its state of fragmentation, Rubin compared the process to the desktop computer market, saying that it is just part of a devices lifespan to eventually become outdated, with many devices on the market constantly pushing the upper limits of what an OS can do.
Speaking of updates, Rubin confirmed what was already obvious by stating that Android 2.2 will implement full Flash support. If you like deductive reasoning, Adobe says Flash will be available before the end of the first half of the year, Google says Android 2.2 will have full Flash, we can jump to the conclusion, then, that we may see Android 2.2 very soon. Of course, I’m not the biggest fan of jumping to conclusions.
Andy Rubin had much more to say, so I highly recommend heading over to the NYT website and reading the full story.
[via New York Times Blog]