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.
不到一个月前 Hugo Barra 手拿着 Google 最新 Nexus 7 站在台上展示的画面还历历在目,想不到身为 Android 副总裁的他竟然已经有了别的动向。据 AllThingsD 的报道指出,自 2008 年 3 月便成为 Google 一员的 Hugo Barra 将辞去 Android 产品副总裁的职位,正式加入小米公司,而这个消息在刚刚也已经获得官方的确认。Google 对 Barra 表示祝福与惋惜,亦对于其依然留在 Android 的生态系统感到兴奋。
随着三个月前从同部门离职的 Android 创办人 Andy Rubin 脚步后离职的 Hugo Barra,则是在 Google+ 上发布了一个标题为「Android 新的一章(A new Android chapter)」的文章中,与共事五年半的团队告别,并且正式宣布了他将加入小米担任国际业务副总裁的决定,也很有默契的提到了还能继续为 Android 移动系统努力的兴奋之情。
至于新东家的董事长雷军更是确认了 Barra 将在十月初加盟小米的消息,该公司总裁则是在微博上表示,未来 Hugo 除了负责国际业务拓展之外,还会负责与 Google 的战略合作部分。整个消息来得非常快(至少对我们而言啦),但相信这是深思熟虑后的决定,我们也相信小米应该可以因为他而推出更多更令人期待的新产品。另外,小米台湾则是在 Facebook 上确认 Hugo Barra 将会出席 9 月 5 日的发表会,看来当天会相当热闹啊。