Barely a month since he was flourishing Google's new Nexus 7 tablet, according to AllThingsD, Hugo Barra is apparently departing to join Xiaomi. Part of Google since March 2008, as the Vice President of product management for Android he's been a regular face to anyone that's watched Google I/O events and Nexus product launches over the past few years. Barra would follow Android creator Andy Rubin, who stepped away from the Android team three months earlier. If true, it'll be a huge score for Xiaomi, a company that goes from strength to strength in China, with smartphones that run on a heavily customized (and customizable) Android ROM. The company's also dabbled in smart TV boxes, which could make for a very familiar role for a former Googler. We've reached out to Google to confirm.
Update: We have received a statement from Google that confirms Hugo Barra's departure:
"We wish Hugo Barra the best. We'll miss him at Google and we're excited that he is staying within the Android ecosystem."
And there's a subtle hint there that Xiaomi (an "Android ecosystem" customer) is the one that's poached him away.
Update 2: Barra's taken to Google+ to announce that he will indeed be joining Xiaomi as VP Global in a few weeks. We've added his blog post after the break and have updated the post to reflect the confirmation. Xiaomi has also confirmed the appointment.
A new Android chapter
After nearly 5½ years at Google and almost 3 years as a member of the Android team - the most amazing group of people I've ever worked with in my life - I have decided to start a new career chapter.
In a few weeks, I'll be joining the Xiaomi team in China to help them expand their incredible product portfolio and business globally - as Vice President, Xiaomi Global. I'm really looking forward to this new challenge, and am particularly excited about the opportunity to continue to help drive the Android ecosystem.
It has been an amazing ride and true honor to be part of the Android team at Google, and I especially want to thank +Andy Rubin , +Hiroshi Lockheimer , +Sundar Pichai and +Vic Gundotra for their phenomenal support and mentorship over the years.
不到一個月前 Hugo Barra 手拿著 Google 最新 Nexus 7 站在台上展示的畫面還歷歷在目,想不到身為 Android 副總裁的他竟然已經有了別的動向。據 AllThingsD 的報道指出,自 2008 年 3 月便成為 Google 一員的 Hugo Barra 將辭去 Android 產品副總裁的職位,正式加入小米公司,而這個消息在剛剛也已經獲得官方的確認。Google 對 Barra 表示祝福與惋惜,亦對於其依然留在 Android 的生態系統感到興奮。
隨著三個月前從同部門離職的 Android 創辦人 Andy Rubin 腳步後離職的 Hugo Barra,則是在 Google+ 上發布了一個標題為「Android 新的一章(A new Android chapter)」的文章中,與共事五年半的團隊告別,並且正式宣布了他將加入小米擔任國際業務副總裁的決定,也很有默契的提到了還能繼續為 Android 移動系統努力的興奮之情。
至於新東家的董事長雷軍更是確認了 Barra 將在十月初加盟小米的消息,該公司總裁則是在微博上表示,未來 Hugo 除了負責國際業務拓展之外,還會負責與 Google 的戰略合作部分。整個消息來得非常快(至少對我們而言啦),但相信這是深思熟慮後的決定,我們也相信小米應該可以因為他而推出更多更令人期待的新產品。另外,小米台灣則是在 Facebook 上確認 Hugo Barra 將會出席 9 月 5 日的發表會,看來當天會相當熱鬧啊。
論壇通告:
個人空間:
論壇轉跳:
贊 
花籃 
投訴
踩 
分享
