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A preliminary report from the Competition Commission of India (CCI), a quasi-judicial regulatory body, found fault with Google's handling of its online advertising services and search results, said the people.
Google, which just last month appointed India-born Sundar Pichai as its new CEO, is already facing a billion-euro fine from the European Union after accusations the company cheated competitors by distorting internet search results in favour of its shopping service. Google has rejected those charges.
The Indian regulator first began investigating Google in 2012, and a preliminary report was submitted to the top CCI officials about six months ago. The findings of that report have been mentioned in the local media in the last few days.
The CCI is expected to make a final ruling after a hearing on September 17, where Google will present itself before a seven-person CCI panel, the people said.
CCI chairperson Ashok Chawla was not immediately reachable over the phone for comments.
"We're currently reviewing this report from the CCI's ongoing investigation," a Google spokesman said in a statement. "We continue to work closely with the CCI and remain confident that we comply fully with India's competition laws."
The initial complaints of Google abusing its position in online search in India were filed by matchmaking website Bharat Matrimony and a not-for-profit organization, Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS).
Udai Mehta, assistant director at CUTS, said if the final ruling too finds Google guilty, the CCI can either order the company to halt what it deems unfair practices or fine it even as much as 10% of its revenues. If found guilty, Google could challenge the decision in court, he said.
Google posted annual revenues of $66 billion for 2014.
A guilty verdict could impact Google's growth in India, where it dominates Internet searches among the country's 300 million online users and is increasingly launching its Android phones and other initiatives to get more people on its operating system.
Adobe Flash, the world’s most hated software, is finally dying. Technically, it’s been on its way out for years, but today it received one of its final blows which will go down in history.
Google officially killed Flash advertising in its browser. As of September 1, any advertising that uses the technology requires the user to click it to play — it’ll otherwise remain frozen.
A new setting, enabled by default in Chrome automatically optimizes plugins to save battery power and CPU cycles and specifically targeting autoplaying advertising.
The change comes as Google AdWords now makes it possible to automatically convert advertisements created using Flash into HTML5, a friendlier and safer format for playback.
In recent times, browser support for modern formats, such as HTML5 video, have finally become widespread enough to make such a move.
The majority of users are able to ditch Flash already, although time of death can’t truly be called until streaming providers drop it entirely — but that’s already on the horizon for many.
The hated software has been plagued by problems over the years ranging from poor performance to massive, recurring security holes. It’s time for it to die. Today’s move feels like lowering the lid on its coffin.
You’ll be automatically updated to Chrome 42 today, which changes the default Flash setting to “detect and run important plugin content.”
The rupee fell back sharply by 27 paise to end at a new two-year low of 65.54 against the US dollar following renewed demand for the American currency from banks and importers. Sharp sell-off in global currency and financial markets predominantly pressurised the rupee to retreat after a brief rebound, but the greenback's weakness against other currencies overseas restricted the fall, forex dealers said.
The dollar remained broadly lower against a basket of other major currencies mainly in response to the highly anticipated minutes from the US Federal Reserve meet in July amid dovish comments which left uncertainty over the timing of an interest rate hike.
The rupee opened firmly higher at 65.17 from overnight closing level of 65.27 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market and gained further strength to touch a high of 65.12 on fresh bouts of dollar selling by banks and exporters amid lower dollar overseas.
However, the local unit turned highly volatile in late afternoon trade and took a sudden reversal trend to hit fresh intra-day low of 65.56 before ending at 65.54, revealing a loss of 27 paise, or 0.41 per cent.
The rupee had gained four paise in the previous session.
The US dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, was lower by 0.27 per cent at 96.17.
Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex plunged sharply by a whopping 323.82 points, 1.16 per cent, to end at 27,607.82.
"Well if you look at Google a lot of senior people have been Indians, and so the life has not changed much," Menon told reporters here while responding to a query if there was a change in the mood of the company after India-born Pichai was elevated to chief executive officer's post.
Menon who participated in the Google event showcasing latest product innovations said Indians have always been there working for the company.
"We have Indians such as Amit Singhal as Search chief and Sridhar Ramaswamy as ads senior vice president. Sundar Pichai has always been senior. Forty percent engineer based employees would be Indians. So, it is not that there is any dearth of Indians. They have always been there," he said.
Asked when Pichai is expected to visit the country, Menon said, "I cannot say when."
To a query, Menon said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be meeting Pichai on his visit to the Silicon Valley in the US. "They have tweeted to each other and I am hoping they will meet."
On the possibility of Google India sharing details about the investments and budget earmarked in the context of Modi-Pichai meeting, Menon said, "Too early to say anything. We have been eleven years, it is not that we haven't invested."
Asked about the fallout from Modi-Pichai meeting, Menon said, "Let the big guys meet and decide ...within a month's time we will know what comes out of the meeting."
Looking for a new smartphone? Then your search is over, as we bring to you the 10 hottest
smartphones launched in the country in the past couple of months.
Whether you want to spend less than Rs 6,000 or more than Rs 40,000 on your next smartphone, we have enough options to cover all price points. And we have you covered on features too, giving you sufficient options on criteria like best screen quality, camera features, battery life, etc.
So, take a look at our pick of the 10 best smartphones launched recently…
OnePlus 2 – Rs 24,999
Whether you want to spend less than Rs 6,000 or more than Rs 40,000 on your next smartphone, we have enough options to cover all price points. And we have you covered on features too, giving you sufficient options on criteria like best screen quality, camera features, battery life, etc.
So, take a look at our pick of the 10 best smartphones launched recently…
OnePlus 2 – Rs 24,999
OnePlus 2, which has been priced at Rs 24,999 for the 64GB variant, recently went on sale. The smartphone has a 5.5-inch Full HD screen and runs on the company’s Android 5.1 (Lollipop)-based OxygenOS software. Powered by a 1.8GHz octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor with 4GB RAM, the new smartphone has an integrated fingerprint sensor and metallic frame.
On the back of OnePlus 2 is a 13MP rear camera with laser autofocus and dual-tone dual-LED flash, while the front camera has 5MP resolution. The connectivity suite of this dual-sim smartphone consists of 2G, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and USB Type C. It has a 3,300mAh battery and currently comes only in sandstone finish, though the company will soon release four more back panels.
On the back of OnePlus 2 is a 13MP rear camera with laser autofocus and dual-tone dual-LED flash, while the front camera has 5MP resolution. The connectivity suite of this dual-sim smartphone consists of 2G, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and USB Type C. It has a 3,300mAh battery and currently comes only in sandstone finish, though the company will soon release four more back panels.
Asus Zenfone Selfie – Rs 15,999
Asus Zenfone Selfie is the company’s new affordable handset for those who love to take self-portraits. The smartphone has a 5.5-inch Full HD screen, Android 5.0 (Lollipop)-based ZenUI, 1.7GHz octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor with 2GB and 3GB RAM options, and 32GB of internal storage and microSD card support.
The new Asus Zenfone Selfie has a 13MP camera with f/2.2 aperture and dual-tine, dual-LED flash on the front, while a 13MP camera with f/2.0 aperture, laser autofocus and dual-tone dual-LED flash is on the back. Connectivity suite of the smartphone is pretty standard: 2G, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and microUSB 2.0. Its battery capacity is rated at 3,000mAh and prices start at Rs 15,999.
The new Asus Zenfone Selfie has a 13MP camera with f/2.2 aperture and dual-tine, dual-LED flash on the front, while a 13MP camera with f/2.0 aperture, laser autofocus and dual-tone dual-LED flash is on the back. Connectivity suite of the smartphone is pretty standard: 2G, 3G, 4G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and microUSB 2.0. Its battery capacity is rated at 3,000mAh and prices start at Rs 15,999.
Lenovo K3 Note – Rs 9,999
Lenovo K3 Note sports a 5.5-inch Full HD IPS display and is powered by a 1.7GHz 64-bit MediaTek octa-core processor and 2GB RAM. the phone comes with 16GB internal storage and a microSD card slot for expansion (up to 32GB).
The K3 Note runs Android 5.0 Lollipop and features Lenovo's Vibe UI skin on top. The phablet sports a 13MP rear camera with dual-LED flash and a 5MP front-facing camera.
In terms of connectivity options, the K3 Note supports both FDD 1800MHz (Band 3) & TDD 2300MHz (Band 40) 4G LTE bands in addition to 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. The phone is a dual-sim device with the second sim card slot offering support for 2G. It comes with a replaceable 3000mAh battery.
The K3 Note runs Android 5.0 Lollipop and features Lenovo's Vibe UI skin on top. The phablet sports a 13MP rear camera with dual-LED flash and a 5MP front-facing camera.
In terms of connectivity options, the K3 Note supports both FDD 1800MHz (Band 3) & TDD 2300MHz (Band 40) 4G LTE bands in addition to 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. The phone is a dual-sim device with the second sim card slot offering support for 2G. It comes with a replaceable 3000mAh battery.
Moto G (Gen 3) – Rs 11,999
The new Moto G smartphone comes in two variants: one featuring 8GB internal storage, 1GB RAM and priced at Rs 11,999, and the other with 16GB in-built storage, 2GB RAM and Rs 12,999 price tag. Both models are IPx7 certified, meaning they are resistant to water damage up to 30 minutes (maximum depth of 1 metre).
Moto G (Gen 3) comes with a 5-inch IPS screen with 720x1280p resolution and Gorilla Glass 3 protection and runs on the 64-bit quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor with 2GB RAM. The smartphone supports 4G network on both sim slots and microSD cards for storage expansion and is powered by Android 5.1 (Lollipop).
For imaging, the latest iteration of Moto G smartphone comes with 13MP rear camera with colour-balancing, dual-LED flash and wide-angle 5MP front camera for selfies. The battery capacity of the smartphone is 2,470mAh, which lasts 20% more than the second-generation Moto G's 2,070mAh battery.
Moto G (Gen 3) comes with a 5-inch IPS screen with 720x1280p resolution and Gorilla Glass 3 protection and runs on the 64-bit quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor with 2GB RAM. The smartphone supports 4G network on both sim slots and microSD cards for storage expansion and is powered by Android 5.1 (Lollipop).
For imaging, the latest iteration of Moto G smartphone comes with 13MP rear camera with colour-balancing, dual-LED flash and wide-angle 5MP front camera for selfies. The battery capacity of the smartphone is 2,470mAh, which lasts 20% more than the second-generation Moto G's 2,070mAh battery.
Asus Zenfone 2 Laser – Rs 9,999
Zenfone 2 Laser is the only smartphone under Rs 10,000 that comes with a laser autofocus camera. This dual-sim smartphone has a 5.5-inch HD (720p) screen with Gorilla Glass 4 and is powered by Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor with 2GB and 3GB RAM options. It has 16GB internal storage, and can support up to 128GB via microSD card; Asus is also offering 100GB of free Google Drive space for 2 years. It runs Android 5.0 (Lollipop) with a new version of Asus ZenUI.
Asus Zenfone 2 Laser sports a 13MP rear camera with laser Auto Focus for 0.3 second focus time and dual-LED flash, along with a 5MP front-facing camera for selfies. The phone, which has a 3000mAh battery, supports 3G, Wi-Fi (including 802.11ac), Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and A-GPS.
The company also plans to release a 6-inch display version of this smartphone.
Asus Zenfone 2 Laser sports a 13MP rear camera with laser Auto Focus for 0.3 second focus time and dual-LED flash, along with a 5MP front-facing camera for selfies. The phone, which has a 3000mAh battery, supports 3G, Wi-Fi (including 802.11ac), Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and A-GPS.
The company also plans to release a 6-inch display version of this smartphone.
LG G4 – Rs 40,000
LG’s flagship smartphone, G4 was unveiled globally in April and sports a 5.5-inch QHD (2560x1440p) IPS display and comes in leather-finish back cover in three colour options. Powered by a 1.8GHz Snapdragon 808 64-bit hexa-core processor and 3GB RAM, the smartphone has 32GB storage and is compatible with microSD cards for expansion.
The phone comes with a 16MP rear camera with f1.8 aperture and OIS 2.0, and an 8MP front-facing camera. It has a 3000mAh removable battery. The phone supports 4G LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac and GPS connectivity options.
LG recently gave the handset a price cut. Post the price drop, LG G4 is available at Rs 40,000, while leather back version of the phone at Rs 45,000.
The phone comes with a 16MP rear camera with f1.8 aperture and OIS 2.0, and an 8MP front-facing camera. It has a 3000mAh removable battery. The phone supports 4G LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac and GPS connectivity options.
LG recently gave the handset a price cut. Post the price drop, LG G4 is available at Rs 40,000, while leather back version of the phone at Rs 45,000.
Samsung Galaxy A8 – Rs 32,500
Samsung’s thinnest smartphone yet, Galaxy A8 measures 5.9mm in thickness and has been priced at Rs 32,500.
The new Galaxy A8 sports a 5.7-inch Full HD (1080x1920p) Super AMOLED display and runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop)-based TouchWiz UI. Powered by a 1.5GHz 64-bit Snapdragon octa-core processor and 2GB RAM, the phone comes in 16 and 32GB storage options, with a microSD card slot for expansion.
Samsung Galaxy A8 features a 16MP ISOCELL rear camera and a 5MP front-facing camera similar to the one in Galaxy S6. The phone comes with a 3,050mAh battery and sports a fingerprint scanner integrated in the Home button. In terms of connectivity, the phone supports 3G, 4G (both FDD LTE and TDD LTE), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, microUSB 2.0 and GPS.
The new Galaxy A8 sports a 5.7-inch Full HD (1080x1920p) Super AMOLED display and runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop)-based TouchWiz UI. Powered by a 1.5GHz 64-bit Snapdragon octa-core processor and 2GB RAM, the phone comes in 16 and 32GB storage options, with a microSD card slot for expansion.
Samsung Galaxy A8 features a 16MP ISOCELL rear camera and a 5MP front-facing camera similar to the one in Galaxy S6. The phone comes with a 3,050mAh battery and sports a fingerprint scanner integrated in the Home button. In terms of connectivity, the phone supports 3G, 4G (both FDD LTE and TDD LTE), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1, microUSB 2.0 and GPS.
YU Yureka Plus – Rs 8,999
YU’s new Yureka Plus is essentially the same as the slightly older Yureka model, but has two key differences: the screen resolution and Android version. It was launched in mid July at Rs 9,999, but a fortnight later Amazon (which is YU’s exclusive sales partner) is now crediting users’ accounts with Rs 1,000 for every model purchased. Thus, this brought the effect price of the smartphone to Rs 8,999.
Compared to Yureka’s HD (720x1920p) screen, Yureka Plus has a Full HD (1080x1920p) display resolution, which means it packs more pixels on the same screen size. Moreover, it comes with Android 5.0 (Lollipop)-based CM12 (Cyanogen) software, whereas the software skin in Yureka is based on Android 4.4 (KitKat); however, Yureka is upgradeable to Android 5.0 as well.
Other key features of Yureka Plus include: 64 bit 1.5GHz Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, up to 128GB storage expansion, 13MP rear camera (f2.2 aperture), 5MP front camera, 4G support, and 2,500mAh battery.
Compared to Yureka’s HD (720x1920p) screen, Yureka Plus has a Full HD (1080x1920p) display resolution, which means it packs more pixels on the same screen size. Moreover, it comes with Android 5.0 (Lollipop)-based CM12 (Cyanogen) software, whereas the software skin in Yureka is based on Android 4.4 (KitKat); however, Yureka is upgradeable to Android 5.0 as well.
Other key features of Yureka Plus include: 64 bit 1.5GHz Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, up to 128GB storage expansion, 13MP rear camera (f2.2 aperture), 5MP front camera, 4G support, and 2,500mAh battery.
Xolo Black – Rs 12,999
Indian brand Xolo has a launched a new model named Black under a new eponymous smartphone range at Rs 12,999, available exclusively on Flipkart. The smartphone’s USPs are the dual rear cameras and LED flash for the selfie camera.
Xolo Black sports a 5.5-inch Full HD (1080p) IPS display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection and runs on HIVE UI, Xolo's custom UI based on Android 5.0 (Lollipop). Powered by the 64-bit Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor and 2GB RAM, the smartphone comes with 16GB internal storage, and has provision for microSD cards of up to 32GB via microSD cards.
The 13M+2MP rear camera setup of the new Black smartphone is to deliver the Depth of Field effect to photos. Its front camera has 5MP resolution and is backed by a soft LED flash. The new Xolo smartphone comes with a 3,200mAh battery and supports Quick Charge 1.0 for faster charging and supports 4G LTE, 3G, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS.
Xolo Black sports a 5.5-inch Full HD (1080p) IPS display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection and runs on HIVE UI, Xolo's custom UI based on Android 5.0 (Lollipop). Powered by the 64-bit Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor and 2GB RAM, the smartphone comes with 16GB internal storage, and has provision for microSD cards of up to 32GB via microSD cards.
The 13M+2MP rear camera setup of the new Black smartphone is to deliver the Depth of Field effect to photos. Its front camera has 5MP resolution and is backed by a soft LED flash. The new Xolo smartphone comes with a 3,200mAh battery and supports Quick Charge 1.0 for faster charging and supports 4G LTE, 3G, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS.
The tech industry has seen its share of strange corporate maneuvers, but Google’s realignment this week has to be among the strangest. The company pulled off a sort of upside-down merger with itself, in effect creating a holding company called Alphabet that runs a mega-profitable company called Google on the one hand and a dozen other money-losers and long-odds bets that Google has called “moonshots” on the other.
“This new structure will allow us to keep tremendous focus on the extraordinary opportunities we have inside of Google,” Larry Page wrote in a blogpost that surprised the entire industry. “A key part of this is Sundar Pichai.”
Married with two children, Pichai projects the image of a passionate nerd, but without any of the sociopathic egotism that plagues Silicon Valley executives (and their underlings). It’s a skill set that has made him one of tech’s most eligible executives.
“He certainly has close friends but he is not political,” said Christopher Sacca, founder and chairman of Lowercase Capital and formerly Google’s head of special initiatives.
“That’s one of the keys to his success. Everyone knows where they stand with Sundar and they aren’t worried about watching behind their backs.”
Sacca describes Pichai as “lighthearted” and “almost always smiling”, but also fascinated by how to make big things work.
“He likes scale,” said Sacca. “Huge scale. I was in the room when Sundar convinced Eric Schmidt that it would be possible to unseat Internet Explorer as the world’s most popular browser.”
The appointment was a slick move on Google’s part, according to Colin Gillis, technology analyst at BGC Partners in New York. “He’s been a rising leader at Google for some time,” Gillis said. Twitter and a host of other tech companies are looking for top talent, he added. Pichai is “someone in high demand. In one fell swoop they have kept a key manager.”
Now, as head of a more slender and restructured Google, the executive and scientist is being celebrated by his alma mater. “I had seen this coming,” one of his professors at IIT, Sanat Roy, told the Times of India. “Three years ago when the boy became Google’s vice-president, didn’t I tell you: this is the beginning, he’ll make it straight to the top?”
The chess-loving 43-year-old hails from the port city of Chennai, capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, which is just across the Palk Strait from Sri Lanka. Engineering is in his blood. His father, Regunatha Pichai, worked as an electrical engineer for Britain’s General Electric Company (not to be confused with the American GE) and during Sundar’s childhoold would talk freely about his work with his son.
“Even at a young age, he was curious about my work,” Reguntha Pichai told Bloomberg last year. “I think it really attracted to him to technology.” The family didn’t have a car, opting instead to take the bus or load up – all four of them – on to a blue Lambretta scooter. When Sundar graduated from college in 1993, he decamped to Stanford on a plane ticket that cost more than his father’s annual salary.
At Stanford, he earned a master’s degree in materials science and engineering. He is trained to deal with the building blocks of computers – density, molecular mechanics, semiconductors, and, crucially, materials that might make good semiconductors. It’s the kind of knowledge Google would go on to make groundbreaking use of. Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page both have degrees in computer science, which tends toward software; Pichai understands hardware.
Pichai has said that he’s attracted to computing because of its ability to do cheaply things that are useful to everyone, irrespective of class or background. “The thing which attracted me to Google and to the internet in general is that it’s a great equalizer,” he said in a video interview last year. “I’ve always been struck by the fact that Google search worked the same, as long as you had access to a computer with connectivity, if you’re a rural kid anywhere or a professor at Stanford or Harvard.”
That has led Pichai to push forward some of the unconventional, even silly, projects like one that falls under Alphabet’s Willy Wonka-like subdivision X Labs – which are no longer a part of Google – called Project Loon. It’s semi-philanthropic effort, announced in 2013 after two years in the works, to provide the internet to those rural users by way of weather balloons that stay aloft for six months at a time with LTE network receivers hanging from them. “When you think about it, it sounds a bit crazy,” Pichai admitted to the Verge in March.
Pichai has said that it’s important “not to just build technology for a certain segment”. Now that he’s in the driver’s seat at Google, he has the authority to put that ambition to the test.
There’s the business side of things to be considered, of course. After earning an MBA at Wharton (where, as at IIT and Stanford, he earned top academic honors), Pichai worked at McKinsey and Company and a firm called Applied Materials that provides supplies to semiconductor manufacturers. And when he moved to Google in 2004, Pichai distinguished himself as the architect of one of the most valuable products in Google’s vast repository: its ubiquitous, lightning-fast information sponge of a web browser, Chrome.
It started out as the Google Toolbar, the now-standard little box that let Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox users use the company’s search engine, and then, under Pichai, the concept broadened into a full-blown web browser. Above the surface, Chrome loads up web pages quickly, it manages multiple logins and passwords (and Google products) across several different computers, and it’s so easy to use that it now has a more than 25% market share. It’s also the basis of the Chromebook, a computer that simply stores all the user’s information in the cloud rather than on a bulky internal hard drive. The computers run cheap and fast, and now comprise about 2.1% of the PC market.
Google’s display advertising business – which includes ads served directly into Gmail accounts, as well as its AdSense networks – is worth about $5bn annually, according to estimates by Pivotal Research analyst Brian Wieser. Chrome helps generate some of the data that allows the company to serve those ads effectively; its speed is a function of its memory. If you visit a web page regularly, Google will grab the parts that don’t change and put them where it can find them quickly the next time you go there.
That, in turn, is useful information for the company’s ads; it can tell what you like to look at on the internet and suggest other things for you to buy. It follows you around the internet, but it gives you speed in exchange for targeting, and speed is the most important thing in a browser. With Pichai’s aid, Google has insinuated itself into the computer browsing experience very quickly indeed. In 2013, the company put him in charge of the mobile business, too.
“Sundar has a talent for creating products that are technically excellent yet easy to use – and he loves a big bet,” Page wrote when he promoted Pichai and moved Andy Rubin, the company’s former head of Android, into the robot-and-drone-filled netherworld that now comprises Alphabet’s non-Google divisions.
It wasn’t the smoothest transition. Rubin’s management style had caused tension throughout Google (the running joke was that it was easier to work with Apple than the company’s own operating system) and Pichai’s task was in part to merge the difficult division with the rest of the company – something Rubin had reportedly refused to do. Johanna Wright, the product manager who runs Google Now, told Bloomberg that Pichai “helped me formalize a relationship”, a difficult task the incoming executive had made easier.
The year after he was appointed, the company shipped over a billion phones – many to China (where Android has an 80% market share) and, of course, India (where its market share is falling but still a majority).
The tech industry’s current obsession with the Indian subcontinent and China is one Pichai shares, and to great effect. Pichai has made sure the company’s Project Svelte, a slimmed-down version of Android for cheaper phones, has plenty of resources, making adoption even easier.
In India, Pichai said, most people had never had landlines. “It took us probably a seven-year wait to get a landline and then cell phones came. I think only 10 million people in India have ever seen a landline.”
“With something like [Indian taxi app] Ola,” he wondered, “can you bypass car ownership?”
But he also has a sense for the counterintuitive. In an interview in June, Pichai mused on how effective a shopping app called Wish, which connects shoppers in the US or Europe direct to Chinese suppliers, apparently was. “They ship the slowest way possible to make it as cheap as possible,” he said. “People can buy it at 1/10 the price direct from China to here just mediated by the phone.”
Pichai, with his knack for spotting inefficiencies in economies not just in the US but globally, has shown a talent for carefully marshalling the company’s vast resources into limited bets that pay serious dividends. Those talents paid off this week with Google’s founders giving him the ultimate compliment: control of their profit generator so they can get on with their moonshots.
Potted profile
Born 12 July 1972
Age 43
Career The son of an engineer born in India’s Tamil Nadu state, Pichai graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology in 1993, left Stanford a few years later with a master’s degree – he’d planned to get a PhD but dropped out to work for semiconductor firm Applied Materials – and graduated from the Wharton School of Business in 2002. He arrived at Google on April Fools’ Day 2004 and set to work on what would turn into Google’s web browser, Chrome. In 2013 he was given control of the company’s mobile operating system, Android, over Andy Rubin, the system’s founder, who was shuffled aside.
High point A year after being put in charge of Android – a situation that could have been disastrous both for the division and for Pichai – Google shipped 1bn devices.
Low point Negotiating the intricacies of Android was delicate – Rubin’s management style was a source of conflict and Pichai was promoted into a political minefield.
What he says “At a high level, I think of what we’re doing in terms of two core things. I really want to work on big problems that solve big problems in users’ lives. The second is our core mission statement, which is to organize our users’ information.”
What they say “I would challenge you to find anyone at Google who doesn’t like Sundar or who thinks Sundar is a jerk,” Caesar Sangupta, a longtime colleague, told Bloomberg.
