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High ranking Android exec Hugo Barra departs Google for China's Xiaomi

Hugo Barra, one of the top executives at Google's Android, has left the company he's been at since 2008 for undisclosed reasons. News of the departure was first reported by AllThingsD, who says Barra is leaving for China phone-maker Xiaomi, a fast-growing high-end manufacturer.

Barra served as vice-president of product management for Android and was often seen onstage at events like Google I/O making product announcements, indicating he was one of the key minds inside the walls of Google's Android. Just recently, he unveiled the second-generation Nexus 7 at the device's launch event in San Francisco.

It's not immediately clear why Barra left the company. AllThingsD's sources say his resignation has nothing to do with a personal romantic situation inside of Google that recently ended. In an odd turn, Barra's former partner is now seeing Google co-founder Sergey Brin, after Brin split with his wife recently.

Nonetheless, Barra's moving on comes at a weird time, as the state of the Android team has been questioned in recent months. In March, Android creator Andy Rubin stepped down from leading the team to take on experimental projects within another part of Google.

“We wish Hugo Barra the best,” Google said in a statement. “We’ll miss him at Google and we’re excited that he is staying within the Android ecosystem.”

Rubin's move was confusing to many outsiders. Maybe just as confusing as Barra's.