Ex-Android VP at Google Hugo Barra debuts the Nexus 7 tablet at Google's I/O developers' conference in San Francisco, California, in June 2012. Image via Stephen Shankland's Flickr page
Hugo Barra, who had been vice-president for Android product management at Google, has left the company to lend his Android knowledge to the smartphone maker Xiaomi and help it grow its product portfolio globally.
AllThingsD reported that Barra had handed in his resignation at Google.
Barra has since confirmed the move on his Google+ profile.
He said that, after almost five-and-a-half years at Google and nearly three years as a member of the Android team, he has opted to open up a new chapter in his career.
“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,” Barra wrote.
He said he is “really looking forward” to the new challenge and is particularly excited about the “opportunity to continue to help drive the Android ecosystem”.
That wasn’t before he described his Google and Android work colleagues as “the most amazing group of people I’ve ever worked with in my life”.
The photo that Hugo Barra posted alongside his Google+ status today
Based in San Francisco, California, Barra, who has worked at Google since 2008, was educated at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he studied computer science.
Prior to his move to Google, he worked in Nuance Communications (formerly Scansoft) between 2003 and 2008. And, before that, he worked at LOBBY7 from 2000 to 2003.
Google issued a statement when AllThingsD asked the company about Barra’s departure.
“We wish Hugo Barra the best,” Google’s statement read. “We’ll miss him at Google and we’re excited that he is staying within the Android ecosystem.”
