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Razer's mobile head leaves company just as Razer Phone 2 launches
- Tom Moss announced he is departing his position as Razer’s mobile head, just as the Razer Phone 2 becomes available.
- Moss is a former early developer for Android and also started Nextbit, of which the Nextbit Robin is the blueprint for the Razer Phone.
- It appears Moss is leaving the smartphone industry entirely to work with the technology he thinks is the future: drones.
In a blog post on Medium yesterday, Razer’s senior vice president and general manager of its mobile division announced he is leaving both Razer and the smartphone industry in general. The announcement comes just on the heels of the release of the Razer Phone 2.
Tom Moss was a developer who worked on the early iterations of Android at Google. Later, he started Nextbit, which created the Nextbit Robin — a smartphone which is the basis for the Razer Phone and the Razer Phone 2.
Now, Moss will work on something different from smartphones and mobile software: drones. According to his blog post, Moss considers drone technology to still be in “the dumb stage,” and the company Skydio — of which Moss will be the new COO — is going to help usher in the smart age.
In his blog post, Moss describes his excitement using a Skydio drone for the first time when he took it along to film his weekly family bike ride. You see, unlike “normal” drones which you operate with a remote control of some kind, Skydio drones are autonomous, using artificial intelligence to perform flights and tasks. This is what Moss had to say about the experience:
We went home and I played the video of our day on our TV and I just knew this was going to be a big part of our lives going forward. Every weekend, I could have R1 capture a video of a family bike ride from the front, like a film crew, worry-free, hands-free, and with me actually in the scene having a good time with my family. This was as transformational for me as when I first used a mobile phone.
While it’s sad Moss is leaving smartphones behind since he has been a huge behind-the-scenes player for both Android and smartphones in general, it does seem like he’s very excited about his new career in the drone industry. You can’t fault him for going with his passions.
You can read Moss’ full blog post here.