Android Co-Founder Andy Rubin Details Playground Global Plans

Ever since Andy Rubin, one of the architects of Android, moved out of Google, several reports suggested that he was working on his next venture. Details about Rubin's tech startup incubator named Playground Global were limited until now, however, in a blog post last week, Rubin detailed what Playground Global has been up to.

"Playground's studio is large enough to host 30 startups," he said, and is complete with "thermoplastic and multi-material printers, laser cutters, CNC machines, Metal sintering 3D printers, spectrum analysers, network test equipment, RF chambers, Optics labs and pretty much any piece of equipment a company making stuff could need." The company will also provide software help, including AI tools such as neural networks, which typically require billions of dollars worth of research.

Rubin's new firm is trying its hands on providing tools for a company that wants to build future gadgets but doesn't have enough ready-made software or hardware help. Playground Global is supported by a $300 million fund, and is now looking to invest in hardware-focused startups. Speaking to The Wired, Rubin said the fundamental idea is to create "an idea amplifier - a system that quickly turns concepts into products with maximum impact."

He also gave an example of Danger, a company started by Rubin fifteen years ago. He said that $240 million were spent to develop a production-ready smartphone. Now, however a similar effort would require just over $3 million.

"It's one of the reasons the pendulum of innovation is shifting from software back to hardware or, more specifically, hardware that uses software to do interesting things," notes Rubin.

He also said that his company plans to sell every product "developed at Playground" on their online store. For now, the company will just be limited to T-shirts and coffee mugs but there are plans to expand the products.

"We have award winning in-house industrial designers who work with Playground companies for free, sitting a couple of desks away from your team. We find that this close proximity and collaboration makes design iteration a lot faster, with better results. We also have electrical and mechanical engineers, optics designers, program managers, product designers, software developers, and other specialists whose only job is to apply their expertise to your products," added Rubin.

While talking to The Wired, Rubin explained how the aim is to provide startups with both "modular" hardware and software, and adds "a couple of years from now, you could roll in here with an idea, and we could just rearrange these modules."

A report last year had claimed that Rubin was considering starting a smartphone company. Rubin refused to comment on any phone plans to Wired but detailed what he's currently working on - dashcams.

Without going into details, Rubin tells Wired that he has plans to give away dashcams for free in exchange for its "data-potentially allowing Playground to build a real-time visual map of the world."