All things considered, Google I/O 2015 was an entertaining showcase for one of the largest technology companies on the planet. Virtual reality Expeditions, Now on Tap and the unlimited cloud storage service Google Photos all made a splash during the keynote presentation on Thursday, but, even as predictable as its reveal was, Android M was the star of the show.
That said, even with all of Android M’s improvements, two former Googlers told the Financial Times that they’re still not sure if Google can beat Apple in the mobile arena in the long run.
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“You can have great visions, but change takes implementation, it takes small steps,” former Google X head Sebastian Thrun told the publication after the Google I/O keynote ended. “What I saw was Android playing out, Android getting into the mature phase.”
Sameer Iyengar, another ex-Googler and current co-founder of an app maker called Beautylish, was also finding it difficult to see the future of Android. “The thought leadership is maybe absent, compared to where it was in the past,” he said.
Iyengar was willing to concede that Google is moving in the right direction with machine learning, which we saw implemented most notably in Now on Tap. But despite Android’s worldwide success, he and Thrun both seem unconvinced that Android is being handled as effectively as it could be.
Read the entire piece over on the Financial Times website.
