Andy Rubin, the co-creator of Android and head-of-robotics at Google, has left the company today, following a move to create an incubator for hardware startups.

In an email statement from CEO Larry Page, he thanked Rubin for all his contributions to Google and for bringing Android into the world. Rubin has been working with the robotics team since mid-2013, but this has come to an abrupt end.

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Android has ballooned into the most successful mobile operating system in the world, with more than 70 percent of all smartphone users globally using the platform. Rubin originally created the OS in 2005, but changed it in 2007, when Apple revealed the first iPhone with iOS.

It took Google a few years before Android went full swing, thanks in part to the immense amount of commercialization Samsung added to the platform. This has pushed Android into developing markets and it continues to be dominant on high-end sales.

Andy Rubin was a well known face when Android first became available, but since 2011 he has stepped back from the public eye and was rarely seen at Google meetings. He did not go on stage at Google I/O and questions arose as to what Rubin was doing at Google.

When the move from Android to robotics happened, many claimed this was Rubin creating new software to make robots more advanced, but it looks like the project was uninteresting for Rubin, or some internal conflict pushed him to start his own company.

Even though Rubin was one of the most important people when Android was growing, he has become less important at Google, with Sundar Pichai replacing him as head of Android (and now head of almost all Google services) and plenty of other talented minds in the robotics team.

The incubator for hardware startups might be a way for Rubin to offer his in-depth experience on hardware to push forward new startups, who may not get the chance to flourish otherwise. It might also bring Rubin back into the public eye.

TagsAndy Rubin, Robotics, hardware startups