Co-creator of Android mobile software leaves Google

Google on Thursday confirmed that an executive behind leading mobile device software Android is leaving the company to create an incubator for hardware startups.

Andy Rubin became a Google executive in 2005 when the Internet titan bought Android Inc., which was then a small startup that Rubin co-founded two years earlier.

Rubin led the Android team at Google until last year, by which time Android was the most widely used smartphone operating system in the world.

Rubin switched to managing the robotics team at Google.

"I want to wish Andy all the best with what's next," Google chief executive Larry Page said in a statement emailed to AFP.

"With Android he created something truly remarkable-with a billion plus happy users. Thank you."