The Prodigal Son Returns: Xiaomi pioneer Hugo Barra shares cryptic post of a rainbow Android. Here’s what it could mean!

The man, the myth, the legend! Hugo Barra has resurfaced after a sabbatical of nearly 10 years from the world of Android.

Technically speaking Barra hadn’t disappeared but digressed from what he did best: make revolutionary Android phones. For those who are unfamiliar with the name, Barra is the guy who made China-based Xiaomi an international name.

It’s been 10 years since he left Google to join Xiaomi and now he has shared a post on X, formerly Twitter, that has sparked speculations.

In the post, we can see the Android mascot painted in rainbow colors, which could hint at a number of things, the first and foremost is that he is joining Android at a senior position.

The other possibility is that he is joining Android and coming out with something spectacular as per his tradition.

Here we should not forget that Google will soon launch its Pixel 8 lineup, could it be a hint at a new version of Android to come out on October 4? It could be.

There is another possibility that Google might launch some features to show its support for the LGBTQ+ community, we are on the fence about it. Because if it does, it would put Google in a league of its own but it would also be a risky choice to make as it might lose some orthodox consumers.

To give some more context to who Barra is, the Brazilian computer scientist held a number of important roles at Google in London and then California, including Vice President and product spokesperson of Google’s Android division, from 2008 to 2013.

From 2013 to 2017, he worked with Xiaomi as its global vice president. It was under him that Xiaomi stepped out of China and expanded into the international market, especially with budget smartphones like the Redmi series.

It is an understatement to say that Barra achieved the status of a legend in tech circles with revolutionary ideas like making Android smartphones super affordable to budget-conscious markets like India.

He left Xiaomi and joined Facebook as vice president of virtual reality and headed the Oculus division from 2017 to 2021. In May 2021, he left Facebook and started his own health technology company named Detect, where he is still active as per his X bio.

It’s been nearly a day since he made the post, it could be days, hours, or minutes before he shares something worth making sense of. We are waiting!