t is now time for smart cameras to show up, although the outgoing Android head Andy Rubin says that they could have been around for many years. During a tech event in Tokyo, he revealed that Android was initially developed as an operating system for cameras, not smartphones. He confirmed that the exact same platform and operating system the company developed for cameras became Android for smartphones. Rubin demonstrated slides from an investor pitch created 9 years ago, which was focused on wired and wireless cameras linked to a so-called “Android Datacenter”. So Android was destined to be used with smart cameras, but Google stepped in and made the operating system what it is today. According to Andy Rubin, his team of developers eventually decided that the market of digital cameras wasn’t big enough. In addition, Rubin said that he was mistakenly worried about Microsoft and Symbian, not Apple – this, as you can see, turned out to be wrong.

Android boss also talked about the decision to make the OS completely free for cellphone makers – the company wanted as many smartphones to use Android as possible. This is why instead of charging any sum of money – whether it is $99, or $59 – to Android, the company was simply giving it away for free, as they realized the industry was price sensitive. As you can see, this approach proved to be quite successful and in result, Android quickly occupied a huge share of the market, which grew up to 70%, as for 2012. In the meanwhile, the devices that the OS was initially intended for – Android cameras – are still few and far between. Well, at least they are finally hitting the market – it would be interesting to try a smart camera running a familiar Android.