GOOGLE APPOINTS THE MAN BEHIND THE KINDLE AS VP OF GOOGLE'S HARDWARE DIVISION

Ahead of Google’s Pixel smartphone launch tonight, it’s been revealed that Google has appointed Amazon’s David Foster, the man behind the Kindle Voyage and Paperwhite, as VP of their hardware division.

The Information reports that Foster joined Google last Monday (3 October) as the VP of its product engineering and hardware group and that he reports to Rick Osterloh, formerly of Motorola.

Foster has quite the CV, reportedly working as a senior rirector at Apple’s hardware division, CTO at Gibson Guitar, GM of Microsoft’s hardware division and till recently, VP of hardware engineering at Amazon.

While at Amazon, Foster claims that he was responsible for “all the hardware and technology development for the Kindle and Kindle Fire product lines.” That’s saying something. He also claims to have led the development of the Kindle Voyage, the Kindle Paperwhite and even the Amazon Dash.

Google is obviously very keen on building and developing its own hardware. Their only attempts at building their own hardware hasn’t been exceedingly successful, with only the Chromecast seeing widespread popularity and acceptance.

With tonight’s Pixel smartphone launch, Google is expected to change all of that and dive head first into the hardware business, and maybe even take on the likes of Apple and Samsung at their own game.

With that in mind, David Foster seems like an exceptional catch for the company.