Google to get deeper into the Android ecosystem by developing its own SoCs?

Rumors are going around the web that Google is planning to build (or co-design) its own mobile processors because it wants to make sure that the right kind of chips exist for the future Android features it wants to roll out in the next few years. The search giant reportedly sees virtual reality and augmented reality as use cases for the new chips, and ARS Technica points out that by designing its own chips, Google can make sure the right amount of horsepower gets assigned to all the right places so these new features can run fluidly without bottlenecks.

The report specifically calls out "virtual and augmented reality" as use cases for the new chips. Publicly, only Google Cardboard has surfaced from Google's VR initiative, but internally, it seems like the company is gearing up for a huge VR push. Some of Google's biggest names have left their posts on flagship products to go work on the virtual reality team: Jon Wiley, the lead designer of Google Search, and Alex Faaborg, the former lead designer for Firefox, Google Now, and Android Wear. An earlier report from The Wall Street Journal claimed Google was building a version of Android that would become a virtual reality operating system.

Google reportedly hired a senior product executive from Qualcomm as well as a number of engineers from PA Semi to kickstart the projejt.