was founded in Palo Alto, California in October 2003 by Andy Rubin (co-founder of Danger),[29] Rich Miner (co-founder of Wildfire Communications, Inc.),[30] Nick Sears (once VP at T-Mobile),[31] and Chris White (headed design and interface development at WebTV[17]) to develop, in Rubin’s words, “smarter mobile devices that are more aware of its owner’s location and preferences”.[17] The early intentions of the company were to develop an advanced operating system for digital cameras. Though, when it was realized that the market for the devices was not large enough, the company diverted its efforts toward producing a smartphone operating system that would rival Symbian and Microsoft Windows Mobile.[32] Despite the past accomplishments of the founders and early employees, Android Inc. operated secretly, revealing only that it was working on software for mobile phones.[17] That same year, Rubin ran out of money. Steve Perlman, a close friend of Rubin, brought him $10,000 in cash in an envelope and refused a stake in the company.[33]
In July 2005, Google acquired Android Inc. for at least $50 million, whose key employees, including Rubin, Miner and White, stayed at the company after the acquisition.[15][17] Not much was known about Android Inc. at the time, but many assumed that