Vamien McKalin
During the D11 conference, Android's new boss, Sundar Pichai, had a lot to say about the competition and of course, what's in store for Android. During the interview, Pichai touched on the reason why Google hasn't created an official YouTube app for Windows Phone, which all has to do with the platform's small but growing user base.
When it came to Android, Sundar Pichai mentioned a few things that should get Android fans very excited, especially if they own an Android-based tablet device. According to Pichai, who is also the head of the Chrome team, "guest mode" for Android is on the horizon, though he did not specify when users would get the chance to give the new feature a spin.
"When we did Chrome, we did a full incognito mode," he said. "That's one example. But we do want more things like that. There's a lot of things from a security standpoint, from a perspective of children and parents. There's no reason we can't do something like guest accounts on Android."
Microsoft was first to bring "guest mode" to its mobile operating system in the form of "Kids Corner." So it's about time the top mobile operating systems on the market followed suit with a similar feature.
During the interview, D11 host Walt Mossberg, asked Pichai what if Google is seen as trying to assert control over OEMs by offering devices like the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 with core vanilla Android. Pichai replied saying Google only wants users to feel right at home when they switch phones, instead of having to learn how to use an all new user interface.
Furthermore, Pichai said Google wants to work closely with Amazon so that Android users will have a similar experience across devices.
"We actually owe a lot of success in Android to what [partners like Samsung and HTC] have done," Pichai said. "A vast majority of their phones are based on Android, so I see a pretty symbiotic relationship, and we intend to keep it that way. Look at Intel and Microsoft, they collaborated for many years."
With that said, it seems as if Google is interested in working closely with OEMs for the foreseeable future, but with Google's work with Motorola on the Moto X making headways, some OEMs might not feel too comfortable.
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