Google is reportedly looking to follow in Apple’s footsteps and start co-developing Android components based on its own designs in order to give it more control and stability for the platform. A report from The Information claims that the company has recently been in discussions with various microchip manufacturers about getting involved in the creation of processors used in Android smartphones.
The discussions, which The Information says took place this fall, came about after Google planned to produce an entirely in-house product aimed at businesses (thought to be the Pixel C laptop/tablet hybrid) and started thinking about designing its own smartphone hardware as well.
It’s thought that by working directly with chip partners, Google wants to create hardware that works seamlessly with Android - as Apple products do with iOS. It's also thought that Google is taking this step because it can't find mobile processors that could push Android devices into the areas of virtual and augmented reality. This could all end up being good news for the consumer, as Google adding its own chip designs to smartphones may result in an improvement in their processing power, according to The Information.
The reports adds that in its talks with chipmakers, Google has been asking them to improve the computational power of camera sensors to weed out the milliseconds between taking photos, creating a video-like stream of pictures.
It’s not known exactly which suppliers Google has been talking to, and there’s no indication of when we might start seeing Google-designed chips in Android devices, but the company may start with the Nexus line of phones first.
So far, Google hasn’t made any comments on the reports.
