The disappointing results lend weight to Michael Dell’s
effort. The man who started Dell from a college dorm room wants
to take the world’s No.3 PC maker private for $24.4 billion,
arguing that its transformation into a provider of enterprise
computing services, from mainly a computer maker in a shrinking
market, is best done away from public scrutiny.

Reflecting that shift in focus, Dell said on Thursday that
revenue from enterprise solutions, services and software jumped
12 percent to $5.5 billion, while overall revenue slipped 2
percent. Its “end-user computing division,” linked to PC sales,
slid 9 percent.

To augment its enterprise business and go head-to-head with
more established players like International Business Machines
Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co, Dell is investing
heavily on research and sales to retain customers.

Icahn and major stakeholder Southeastern Asset Management,
however, dismiss Michael Dell’s go-private deal as too cheap for
a company trying to become a major provider of enterprise
computing. They are proposing new leadership and additional cash
or stock for shareholders.

“Hardware margins were pretty abysmal, which should
generally support (Michael) Dell’s bid,” said Morningstar
analyst Carr Lanphier. “But Michael Dell’s strategy is also to
be aggressive in pricing, to win key contracts.”

“It doesn’t seal the case one way or the other.”

A FUTURE

Icahn’s and Michael Dell’s battle over what direction to
take the company underscores the uncertainty in the PC industry,
which enjoyed more than a decade of roaring growth until the
advent of smartphones and tablets ended that era.

Now, the company that had been upheld as a model of
innovation as recently as the early 2000s is steadily ceding
ground to lower-cost Asian rivals and mobile hardware makers
like Apple Inc.

“We made progress in building our enterprise solutions
capabilities in the first quarter,” Chief Financial Officer
Brian Gladden said. “We have taken actions to improve our
competitive position in key areas of the business, especially in
end-user computing, and it has affected profitability.”

Margins on a GAAP basis slid to 19.5 percent from 21.3
percent a year earlier, as total operating expenses climbed 12
percent.

Net income fell to $130 million from $635 million a year
earlier. Excluding certain items, income was down 51 percent to
$372 million, or 21 cents a share, from $761 million, or 43
cents a share, a year earlier.

That lagged by far the 35 cents Wall Street had expected.

Revenue in its fiscal first quarter ended May 3 fell to
$14.1 billion, higher than the average analyst estimate of $13.5
billion according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company said it could not provide a financial outlook
because it was in the midst of Michael Dell’s go-private deal.

Shares in Dell slid 3 cents to $13.40 in after-hours trade,
after closing at $13.43 on Nasdaq.

With its new service, announced at its annual developers’ conference in San Francisco, Google has adopted the streaming music business model ahead of rival Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research), which pioneered online music purchases with iTunes.

Google’s “All Access” service lets users customize song selections from 22 genres, ranging from Jazz to Indie music, stream individual playlists, or listen to a curated, radio-like stream that can be tweaked. It will be launched for U.S. users first, before being rolled out to several other countries.

At the conference, Google also unveiled improvements to other services, including new mapping features and a voice-activated search. The focus was on giving more options to users of mobile devices using its Android operating system.

Google’s shares jumped more than 3 percent while Pandora Media Inc shares were down more than 1 percent on Wednesday afternoon.

The entry of the world’s largest Internet company amps up the competition in the nascent market for subscription-based, streaming music. Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Apple are among the Silicon Valley powerhouses sounding out top recording industry executives, according to sources with knowledge of talks.

Pandora is spending freely and racking up losses to expand globally. Even social media stalwarts Facebook (FB.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Twitter are jumping onto the streaming-music bandwagon.

All these companies see a viable music streaming and subscription service as crucial to growing their presence in an exploding mobile environment. For Google and Apple, it is critical in ensuring users remain loyal to their mobile products.

Music has been integral to the mobile experience since the early days of iTunes, which upended the old models with its 99-cent-per-song buying approach.

Now, as smartphones and tablets supplant PCs and virtual storage replaces songs on devices, mobile players from handset makers to social networks realize they must stake out a place or risk ceding control of one of the largest components of mobile device usage.

At $9.99 a month, Google’s service is costlier than the $3.99 required for Pandora, but on par with Spotify.

Google executives said their new service takes the work out of managing massive music libraries, noting the streaming model can be endlessly customized. The company will also have a hand in music selection, acting as a curator of personalized content.

It was unclear how large the library will be for streaming. The Verge, a tech blog, reported on Tuesday that Google had signed deals with Universal Music and Sony Entertainment Group, two of the world’s largest record labels.

“You don’t dismiss Apple, you don’t dismiss anyone. But that is not the point,” said Rich Tullo, an analyst at Albert Fried & Co. “Pandora is the market share leader in the space and their platform is so disruptive — it’s very hard to disrupt them. When you have 70 million people use it – they are the disruptors.”

TWEAKS BIG AND SMALL

A procession of Google executives described and showed off a litany of new features and software updates at the annual “I/O” developers’ conference, from picture touch-ups on Google+ and re-designed Maps that spot when a user is walking or driving, to Star Trek-like voice-activated search that understands a users’ sentences and figures out what he or she is looking for.

“We haven’t seen this rate of change in computing for a long time — probably not since the birth of personal computing,” said CEO Larry Page, who began his address reflecting upon a significant moment in his life, when his father got him into a robotic science fair.

“We’re really only at 1 percent of what’s possible,” he said.

Google’s popular mapping service, a mainstay of Android devices, features tighter integration with reviews off Zagat, the popular dining-reviews brand that Google bought last year. It also sports more pictures from inside important buildings, sourced from user-uploaded photos. It can now even display the earth realistically as viewed from outer space, something Page said he personally requested.

Shares in Yelp Inc (YELP.N: Quote, Profile, Research), which like Zagat is built off users’ personal reviews, slid 3.8 percent to $29.80 in the afternoon.

Many of Wednesday’s updates are designed to enable Google’s products to work better on Android and other mobile platforms, and help its crucial community of developers craft the applications that are the mobile operating system’s lifeblood.

Executives said Wednesday that some 900 million smartphones and tablets running Google Android software had been activated since the platform’s inception in 2010.

(Editing by David Gregorio and Bernadette Baum)

With its new service, announced at its annual developers’ conference in San Francisco, Google has adopted the streaming music business model ahead of rival Apple Inc, which pioneered online music purchases with iTunes.

Google’s “All Access” service lets users customize song selections from 22 genres, ranging from Jazz to Indie music, stream individual playlists, or listen to a curated, radio-like stream that can be tweaked. It will be launched for U.S. users first, before being rolled out to several other countries.

Google shares jumped $18.90, or more than 2 percent, to $906. Pandora shares slipped 0.4 percent to $16.68 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The entry of the world’s largest Internet company amps up the competition as major technology giants jostle for position in the nascent market for subscription-based, streaming music.

Amazon.com Inc and Apple are among the Silicon Valley powerhouses sounding out top recording industry executives, according to sources with knowledge of talks and media reports.

Pandora is spending freely and racking up losses to expand globally. Even social media stalwarts Facebook and Twitter are jumping onto the streaming-music bandwagon.

All these companies see a viable music streaming and subscription service as crucial to growing their presence in an exploding mobile environment. For Google and Apple, it is critical in ensuring users remain loyal to their mobile products.

Music has been integral to the mobile experience since the early days of iTunes, which upended the old models with its 99-cent-per-song buying approach.

Now, as smartphones and tablets supplant PCs and virtual storage replaces songs on devices, mobile players from handset makers to social networks realize they must stake out a place or risk ceding control of one of the largest components of mobile device usage.

At $9.99 a month, the service is costlier than the $3.99 required for Pandora, but on par with Spotify.

Google executives argued their new service takes the work out of managing massive music libraries, in part because the streaming-model can be endlessly customized. The company will also have a hand in music selection, acting as a curator of personalized content.

It’s unclear how large the library will be for streaming. Tech blog, The Verge, reported Tuesday that Google had signed deals with Universal Music and Sony Entertainment Group, two of the world’s largest record labels.

TWEAKS BIG AND SMALL

The new music service was among the highlights of the company’s annual developers’ conference, a venue in the past for major hardware unveilings as well as important updates to Google’s family of software. On Wednesday, various executives described updates to everything from Google+, the company’s fledgling social network, to its gaming development platform.

Many of those updates are designed to enable Google’s products to work better on Android and other mobile platforms, and help its crucial community of developers craft the applications that are the mobile operating system’s lifeblood.

New features described on Wednesday ran the gamut from a new Google “Hangouts” video conferencing and messaging app, to better support for pictures and a redesign of the core “stream” that users first see on Google+.

Executives said Wednesday that some 900 million smartphones and tablets running Google Android software had been activated since the platform’s inception in 2010.

Revenue from Android, the software used by Samsung and other mobile device makers that competes with Apple, is also gaining momentum. Google executives said revenue per user for Android applications developers is now 2-1/2 times its year-earlier level.

Roughly 5,500 software developers are attending this year’s “Google I/O” convention at San Francisco’s Moscone Center from Wednesday through Friday.

(Editing by David Gregorio and Bernadette Baum)

With its new service, announced at its annual developers’ conference in San Francisco, Google has adopted the streaming music business model ahead of rival Apple Inc, which pioneered online music purchases with iTunes.

Google’s “All Access” service lets users customize song selections from 22 genres, ranging from Jazz to Indie music, stream individual playlists, or listen to a curated, radio-like stream that can be tweaked. It will be launched for U.S. users first, before being rolled out to several other countries.

Google shares jumped $18.90, or more than 2 percent, to $906. Pandora shares slipped 0.4 percent to $16.68 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The entry of the world’s largest Internet company amps up the competition as major technology giants jostle for position in the nascent market for subscription-based, streaming music.

Amazon.com Inc and Apple are among the Silicon Valley powerhouses sounding out top recording industry executives, according to sources with knowledge of talks and media reports.

Pandora is spending freely and racking up losses to expand globally. Even social media stalwarts Facebook and Twitter are jumping onto the streaming-music bandwagon.

All these companies see a viable music streaming and subscription service as crucial to growing their presence in an exploding mobile environment. For Google and Apple, it is critical in ensuring users remain loyal to their mobile products.

Music has been integral to the mobile experience since the early days of iTunes, which upended the old models with its 99-cent-per-song buying approach.

Now, as smartphones and tablets supplant PCs and virtual storage replaces songs on devices, mobile players from handset makers to social networks realize they must stake out a place or risk ceding control of one of the largest components of mobile device usage.

At $9.99 a month, the service is costlier than the $3.99 required for Pandora, but on par with Spotify.

Google executives argued their new service takes the work out of managing massive music libraries, in part because the streaming-model can be endlessly customized. The company will also have a hand in music selection, acting as a curator of personalized content.

It’s unclear how large the library will be for streaming. Tech blog, The Verge, reported Tuesday that Google had signed deals with Universal Music and Sony Entertainment Group, two of the world’s largest record labels.

TWEAKS BIG AND SMALL

The new music service was among the highlights of the company’s annual developers’ conference, a venue in the past for major hardware unveilings as well as important updates to Google’s family of software. On Wednesday, various executives described updates to everything from Google+, the company’s fledgling social network, to its gaming development platform.

Many of those updates are designed to enable Google’s products to work better on Android and other mobile platforms, and help its crucial community of developers craft the applications that are the mobile operating system’s lifeblood.

New features described on Wednesday ran the gamut from a new Google “Hangouts” video conferencing and messaging app, to better support for pictures and a redesign of the core “stream” that users first see on Google+.

Executives said Wednesday that some 900 million smartphones and tablets running Google Android software had been activated since the platform’s inception in 2010.

Revenue from Android, the software used by Samsung and other mobile device makers that competes with Apple, is also gaining momentum. Google executives said revenue per user for Android applications developers is now 2-1/2 times its year-earlier level.

Roughly 5,500 software developers are attending this year’s “Google I/O” convention at San Francisco’s Moscone Center from Wednesday through Friday.

(Editing by David Gregorio and Bernadette Baum)

With its new service, announced at its annual developers’
conference in San Francisco, Google has adopted the streaming
music business model ahead of rival Apple Inc, which
pioneered online music purchases with iTunes.

Google’s “All Access” service lets users customize song
selections from 22 genres, ranging from Jazz to Indie music,
stream individual playlists, or listen to a curated, radio-like
stream that can be tweaked. It will be launched for U.S. users
first, before being rolled out to several other countries.

Google shares jumped $18.90, or more than 2 percent, to
$906. Pandora shares slipped 0.4 percent to $16.68 on the New
York Stock Exchange.

The entry of the world’s largest Internet company amps up
the competition as major technology giants jostle for position
in the nascent market for subscription-based, streaming music.

Amazon.com Inc and Apple are among the Silicon
Valley powerhouses sounding out top recording industry
executives, according to sources with knowledge of talks and
media reports.

Pandora is spending freely and racking up losses to expand
globally. Even social media stalwarts Facebook and
Twitter are jumping onto the streaming-music bandwagon.

All these companies see a viable music streaming and
subscription service as crucial to growing their presence in an
exploding mobile environment. For Google and Apple, it is
critical in ensuring users remain loyal to their mobile
products.

Music has been integral to the mobile experience since the
early days of iTunes, which upended the old models with its
99-cent-per-song buying approach.

Now, as smartphones and tablets supplant PCs and virtual
storage replaces songs on devices, mobile players from handset
makers to social networks realize they must stake out a place or
risk ceding control of one of the largest components of mobile
device usage.

At $9.99 a month, the service is costlier than the $3.99
required for Pandora, but on par with Spotify.

Google executives argued their new service takes the work
out of managing massive music libraries, in part because the
streaming-model can be endlessly customized. The company will
also have a hand in music selection, acting as a curator of
personalized content.

It’s unclear how large the library will be for streaming.
Tech blog, The Verge, reported Tuesday that Google had signed
deals with Universal Music and Sony Entertainment Group, two of
the world’s largest record labels.

TWEAKS BIG AND SMALL

The new music service was among the highlights of the
company’s annual developers’ conference, a venue in the past for
major hardware unveilings as well as important updates to
Google’s family of software. On Wednesday, various executives
described updates to everything from Google+, the company’s
fledgling social network, to its gaming development platform.

Many of those updates are designed to enable Google’s
products to work better on Android and other mobile platforms,
and help its crucial community of developers craft the
applications that are the mobile operating system’s lifeblood.

New features described on Wednesday ran the gamut from a new
Google “Hangouts” video conferencing and messaging app, to
better support for pictures and a redesign of the core “stream”
that users first see on Google+.

Executives said Wednesday that some 900 million smartphones
and tablets running Google Android software had been activated
since the platform’s inception in 2010.

Revenue from Android, the software used by Samsung
and other mobile device makers that competes with
Apple, is also gaining momentum. Google executives said revenue
per user for Android applications developers is now 2-1/2 times
its year-earlier level.

Roughly 5,500 software developers are attending this year’s
“Google I/O” convention at San Francisco’s Moscone Center from
Wednesday through Friday.

With its new service, announced at its annual developers’ conference in San Francisco, Google has adopted the streaming music business model ahead of rival Apple Inc, which pioneered online music purchases with iTunes.

Google’s “All Access” service lets users customize song selections from 22 genres, ranging from Jazz to Indie music, stream individual playlists, or listen to a curated, radio-like stream that can be tweaked. It will be launched for U.S. users first, before being rolled out to several other countries.

Google shares jumped $18.90, or more than 2 percent, to $906. Pandora shares slipped 0.4 percent to $16.68 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The entry of the world’s largest Internet company amps up the competition as major technology giants jostle for position in the nascent market for subscription-based, streaming music.

Amazon.com Inc and Apple are among the Silicon Valley powerhouses sounding out top recording industry executives, according to sources with knowledge of talks and media reports.

Pandora is spending freely and racking up losses to expand globally. Even social media stalwarts Facebook and Twitter are jumping onto the streaming-music bandwagon.

All these companies see a viable music streaming and subscription service as crucial to growing their presence in an exploding mobile environment. For Google and Apple, it is critical in ensuring users remain loyal to their mobile products.

Music has been integral to the mobile experience since the early days of iTunes, which upended the old models with its 99-cent-per-song buying approach.

Now, as smartphones and tablets supplant PCs and virtual storage replaces songs on devices, mobile players from handset makers to social networks realize they must stake out a place or risk ceding control of one of the largest components of mobile device usage.

At $9.99 a month, the service is costlier than the $3.99 required for Pandora, but on par with Spotify.

Google executives argued their new service takes the work out of managing massive music libraries, in part because the streaming-model can be endlessly customized. The company will also have a hand in music selection, acting as a curator of personalized content.

It’s unclear how large the library will be for streaming. Tech blog, The Verge, reported Tuesday that Google had signed deals with Universal Music and Sony Entertainment Group, two of the world’s largest record labels.

TWEAKS BIG AND SMALL

The new music service was among the highlights of the company’s annual developers’ conference, a venue in the past for major hardware unveilings as well as important updates to Google’s family of software. On Wednesday, various executives described updates to everything from Google+, the company’s fledgling social network, to its gaming development platform.

Many of those updates are designed to enable Google’s products to work better on Android and other mobile platforms, and help its crucial community of developers craft the applications that are the mobile operating system’s lifeblood.

New features described on Wednesday ran the gamut from a new Google “Hangouts” video conferencing and messaging app, to better support for pictures and a redesign of the core “stream” that users first see on Google+.

Executives said Wednesday that some 900 million smartphones and tablets running Google Android software had been activated since the platform’s inception in 2010.

Revenue from Android, the software used by Samsung and other mobile device makers that competes with Apple, is also gaining momentum. Google executives said revenue per user for Android applications developers is now 2-1/2 times its year-earlier level.

Roughly 5,500 software developers are attending this year’s “Google I/O” convention at San Francisco’s Moscone Center from Wednesday through Friday.

(Editing by David Gregorio and Bernadette Baum)

The bullish outlook lifted its shares over 6 percent in Tuesday morning trading, despite the group posting a sixth straight quarterly loss due to its mobile chip joint venture with Sweden’s Ericsson, which is being closed.

“We see a good trend in bookings this year so far,” said Chief Executive Carlo Bozotti on a conference call. “It is pretty broad across regions including Europe, and also across industrial sectors.”

“The challenge will be to see if this trend is sustainable or not given the ongoing macroeconomic issues globally. But we expect to see strong sales in the second half largely because of new product launches.”

STMicro, the eighth-biggest semiconductor maker by sales and a competitor of Intel and Texas Instruments, predicted second-quarter revenue would rise 3 percent sequentially, plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

The maker of chips for cars, computers and mobile phones also said it was starting to see the benefits of winding down the ST-Ericsson venture, as its research and development costs were $57 million lower in the quarter.

Bozotti said the sales of ST-Ericsson would go down to zero by roughly the middle of next year and that lower costs would leave the parent company structurally more profitable.

The parent companies of ST-Ericsson decided in March to end venture after failing to find a buyer and are splitting some of its businesses between them, while closing the rest.

A Paris-based trader said STMicro had done well to give better visibility to investors on the rest of the year.

“The gross margin was strong and the group gave an encouraging outlook … but the group still needs to find new growth engines” after the exit from mobile chips, he said.

STMicro is seeking to grow its sales in motion sensor chips that go in video game consoles and smartphones like Apple’s iPhone, as well as chips to connect cars with mobile phone networks and location systems.

Without giving details, Bozotti promised new product launches would boost growth this year.

STMicro on Monday reported first-quarter revenue of $2.01 billion, down slightly from $2.02 billion a year ago, and broadly in line with analysts’ expectations.

Analysts had on average expected first-quarter revenue of $2.02 billion and June-quarter revenue of $2.13 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The group had a first-quarter net loss of $171 million, compared with a net loss of $176 million the same quarter a year earlier.

STMicro also said it would decide and distribute quarterly dividends semi-annually, rather than just once a year, as was previously the case. It plans to pay a 10 cent-a-share dividend in this year’s second and third quarters.

(Additional reporting by Alexandre Boksenbaum-Granier in Paris; Editing by Diane Craft and Mark Potter)

Kaspersky Lab warned on Thursday that an organization it christened “Winnti” had infiltrated the servers of at least 35 game developers and publishers, mostly in East Asia including South Korea, but also in Germany, the United States, Japan, China, Russia, Brazil, Peru, and Belarus.

The cybersecurity firm said it found evidence that the hackers attempted to steal proprietary software code, possibly to develop pirated versions of online games, or to steal in-game currency that can be converted into real money.

The campaign, which began in 2009 and is still active today, had an unusually wide reach because it targeted so-called “massively multiplayer games,” which can involve millions of users across different countries, according to Kaspersky.

The victims include South Korea’s Neowiz, Mgame Corp, Nexon Corp and privately held U.S.-based Trion Worlds, Kaspersky said.

Neowiz did not respond to requests for comment, while Trion and Nexon declined to comment. Mgame said it had no immediate comment.

Kaspersky said it was unclear how much damage the hackers caused in the campaign. Kaspersky was not given full access to all the infected servers, but some gaming companies reported malicious software in certain processes that suggested the hackers manipulated virtual currencies — such as the “gold” that games typically accumulate in online role-playing games.

“We could not verify, but one obvious possibility would be to manipulate (the) internal state of the game to the advantage of the attackers,” said Kaspersky Lab’s senior security researcher, Kurt Baumgartner.

He said the hackers stole digital certificates, which can be used to authenticate software and gain access to computers. There was evidence that some of the digital certificates that Winnti stole were used by other groups with different agendas. For example, the certificates were used to spy on the computers of Tibetan and Uyghur activists, Baumgartner said.

“We believe that the source of all these stolen certificates could be the same Winnti group. Either this group has close contacts with other Chinese hacker gangs, or it sells the certificates on the black market in China,” Kaspersky Lab said.

Major corporations around the world have lost data to hackers in China and elsewhere for years. But the number of companies publicly admitting such breaches has been growing. Apple, Microsoft, Twitter, and Facebook confirmed attacks in a recent campaign.

Kaspersky is still investigating Winnti. The Moscow-based security firm has discovered significant malicious software campaigns in the past, including one known as “Flame” that spied on industrial facilities in Iran.

The security firm was first called in to investigate in 2011 when malware was discovered on the computers of users across the globe, all of whom were players of a popular online game that it did not specify.

The malware was traced to a downloaded update from the unidentified game publisher’s servers.

Kaspersky found that the attackers had managed to install a trojan — malware granting surreptitious access to compromised machines — on the company’s servers. Closer scrutiny showed the group employed similar tactics against other game publishers.

(Editing by Tiffany Wu and Leslie Gevirtz)

Google appointed Sundar Pichai, the executive overseeing its Chrome web browser and applications like Google Drive and Gmail, to take over Rubin’s responsibilities, hinting at how the company with the dominant Internet search engine intends to address the rise of mobile devices.

In a blog post, Larry Page, Google’s chief executive and co-founder, credited Rubin for evangelizing Android several years ago and building it into a free, open-source platform that runs on nearly three-quarters of the world’s smartphones and is used by the world’s largest handset manufacturers, from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) to HTC Corp (2498.TW: Quote, Profile, Research).

“Having exceeded even the crazy ambitious goals we dreamed of for Android – and with a really strong leadership team in place – Andy’s decided it’s time to hand over the reins and start a new chapter at Google,” Page wrote. “Andy, more moonshots please!

The merger of the Chrome and Android divisions helps resolve a longstanding tension in the Mountain View, California-based company’s corporate strategy, and reflects a convergence of mobile and desktop software.

When Google poured resources into launching the Chrome web browser five years ago, the company laid out a vision of the Internet and an ecosystem of Google apps based on the Web. But the Android operating system, acquired by Google in 2005, has also been a runaway success, enabling third-party handset makers like Samsung to overtake Apple Inc APPL.O while also spawning a massive economy of third-party apps that are only loosely affiliated with Google.

Under Pichai’s direction, Google has released several netbook computers using the Chrome operating system. Last month, when Pichai unveiled the Chromebook Pixel, the first Chrome-based laptop with a touch-screen interface, analysts noted that Chrome and Android appeared to be on converging paths.

“You had this Chrome OS and this Android Group that were building in many overlapping products,” said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Gartner.

Gartenberg argued that despite Android’s overwhelming popularity, it is Chrome that remains at the core of Google’s strategy.

“For Google, it’s not about the platform, but the ecosystem,” Gartenberg said. “They’re more concerned long-term about Google Docs, Google Voice, Google Books, and less about helping Samsung sell more phones.”

Chrome, Gartenberg added, “is the purest expression of Google’s philosophy.”

FUTURE ROLE

Page was mum on Rubin’s future role. Some analysts speculated that Rubin, an executive with a knack for developing products, could take on one of the company’s many budding projects such as its Glass eyewear or the self-driving car.

“If he really has the magic touch perhaps he can create something else within Google,” said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Partners, who added that it was better for Google to have a more “cohesive” mobile brand.

Still, it remains unclear how Pichai would seek to merge Chrome and Android, if at all. Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research), for example, recently introduced its Windows 8 operating system that was designed for both touch-screen desktop devices and Windows smartphones like the Nokia Lumia, while its Surface tablet further blurred the distinctions between form factors.

In his blog post, Page said Pichai would “double down” on Android.

“Sundar has a talent for creating products that are technically excellent yet easy to use – and he loves a big bet,” Page wrote. “So while Andy’s a really hard act to follow, I know Sundar will do a tremendous job doubling down on Android as we work to push the ecosystem forward.”

Android is now installed on roughly two-thirds of the world’s smartphones, supplanting Apple Inc (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) at the pinnacle of the fast-moving mobile arena.

Android tablets are also expected to overtake Apple’s iPad in terms of shipments in 2013, IT research house IDC predicted on Tuesday.

But Android’s explosive growth – and the companies it has boosted – have also concerned Google’s leadership. Rubin himself has warned other Google executives that Samsung could use its heft to renegotiate its ad revenue-sharing deals with Google, the Wall Street Journal reported last month.

LEADING VOICE

The re-shuffle reinforces Pichai, a senior vice president, as one of the leading voices within Google.

Trained as an engineer in India before moving to the United States, Pichai holds degrees from Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He joined Google in 2004.

In 2008, Pichai aggressively pushed Google’s Chrome browser, when Microsoft Corp’s Explorer lorded over the market. Chrome now commands a roughly 35 percent market share according to Web traffic analyzers StatCounter.

He is also credited with the development of some of the company’s most successful cloud-based apps, such as Calendar and Gmail, and has also steered Google Drive.

“Today we’re living in a new computing environment,” Page wrote. “People are really excited about technology and spending a lot of money on devices.”

Google shares closed down 0.3 percent at $825.31. (Reporting by Edwin Chan and Gerry Shih; Additional reporting by Alistair Barr; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Leslie Adler, Andrew Hay and Bernard Orr)

Google appointed Sundar Pichai, the executive overseeing its Chrome web browser and applications like Google Drive and Gmail, to take over Rubin’s responsibilities, hinting at how the company with the dominant Internet search engine intends to address the rise of mobile devices.

In a blog post, Larry Page, Google’s chief executive and co-founder, credited Rubin for evangelizing Android several years ago and building it into a free, open-source platform that runs on nearly three-quarters of the world’s smartphones and is used by the world’s largest handset manufacturers, from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to HTC Corp.

“Having exceeded even the crazy ambitious goals we dreamed of for Android — and with a really strong leadership team in place — Andy’s decided it’s time to hand over the reins and start a new chapter at Google,” Page wrote. “Andy, more moonshots please!

The merger of the Chrome and Android divisions helps resolve a longstanding tension in the Mountain View, California-based company’s corporate strategy, and reflects a convergence of mobile and desktop software.

When Google poured resources into launching the Chrome web browser five years ago, the company laid out a vision of the Internet and an ecosystem of Google apps based on the Web. But the Android operating system, acquired by Google in 2005, has also been a runaway success, enabling third-party handset makers like Samsung to overtake Apple Inc while also spawning a massive economy of third-party apps that are only loosely affiliated with Google.

Under Pichai’s direction, Google has released several netbook computers using the Chrome operating system. Last month, when Pichai unveiled the Chromebook Pixel, the first Chrome-based laptop with a touch-screen interface, analysts noted that Chrome and Android appeared to be on converging paths.

“You had this Chrome OS and this Android Group that were building in many overlapping products,” said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Gartner.

Gartenberg argued that despite Android’s overwhelming popularity, it is Chrome that remains at the core of Google’s strategy.

“For Google, it’s not about the platform, but the ecosystem,” Gartenberg said. “They’re more concerned long-term about Google Docs, Google Voice, Google Books, and less about helping Samsung sell more phones.”

Chrome, Gartenberg added, “is the purest expression of Google’s philosophy.”

FUTURE ROLE

Page was mum on Rubin’s future role. Some analysts speculated that Rubin, an executive with a knack for developing products, could take on one of the company’s many budding projects such as its Glass eyewear or the self-driving car.

“If he really has the magic touch perhaps he can create something else within Google,” said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Partners, who added that it was better for Google to have a more “cohesive” mobile brand.

Still, it remains unclear how Pichai would seek to merge Chrome and Android, if at all. Microsoft Corp, for example, recently introduced its Windows 8 operating system that was designed for both touch-screen desktop devices and Windows smartphones like the Nokia Lumia, while its Surface tablet further blurred the distinctions between form factors.

In his blog post, Page said Pichai would “double down” on Android.

“Sundar has a talent for creating products that are technically excellent yet easy to use — and he loves a big bet,” Page wrote. “So while Andy’s a really hard act to follow, I know Sundar will do a tremendous job doubling down on Android as we work to push the ecosystem forward.”

Android is now installed on roughly two-thirds of the world’s smartphones, supplanting Apple Inc at the pinnacle of the fast-moving mobile arena.

Android tablets are also expected to overtake Apple’s iPad in terms of shipments in 2013, IT research house IDC predicted on Tuesday.

But Android’s explosive growth – and the companies it has boosted – have also concerned Google’s leadership. Rubin himself has warned other Google executives that Samsung could use its heft to renegotiate its ad revenue-sharing deals with Google, the Wall Street Journal reported last month.

LEADING VOICE

The re-shuffle reinforces Pichai, a senior vice president, as one of the leading voices within Google.

Trained as an engineer in India before moving to the United States, Pichai holds degrees from Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He joined Google in 2004.

In 2008, Pichai aggressively pushed Google’s Chrome browser, when Microsoft Corp’s Explorer lorded over the market. Chrome now commands a roughly 35 percent market share according to Web traffic analyzers StatCounter.

He is also credited with the development of some of the company’s most successful cloud-based apps, such as Calendar and Gmail, and has also steered Google Drive.

“Today we’re living in a new computing environment,” Page wrote. “People are really excited about technology and spending a lot of money on devices.”

Google shares closed down 0.3 percent at $825.31.

(Reporting by Edwin Chan and Gerry Shih; Additional reporting by Alistair Barr; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Leslie Adler, Andrew Hay and Bernard Orr)