Larry Page's first day as Google chief executive on Monday was marked with the resignation of the executive in charge of search, Android and other major products at the Internet powerhouse.

Google confirmed that Jonathan Rosenberg, the company's chief of product development, announced his resignation internally after being unable to assure Page that he was committed to his role for the long haul.

"We tried to hire Jonathan multiple times because he was the only person we could imagine doing the job," Page said in a statement released by Google.

"It's lucky we were so persistent because he's built an amazing team -- hiring great people, who've created amazing products that have benefited over a billion users around the world."

Rosenberg, 49, has been open about his plan to remain at Google only until his daughter is ready to attend college in about two years.

Page met with top executives on Monday, his first day on the job as chief executive at the Mountain View, California-based company he launched in 1998 with then Stanford University classmate Sergey Brin.

Page wanted to make sure top executives planned to be at Google as he executes his plan for the firm.

Rosenberg decided to step down after being unable to make a long-term commitment, according to Google.

Rosenberg will leave his position about mid-year and return to Google as a consultant after taking off an unspecified amount of time.

Rosenberg also planned to collaborate with recently-departed chief executive Eric Schmidt on a book about Google's management culture.

"Jonathan is phenomenal -- hugely energetic, strategic, a man of real principle who always puts the user first," Schmidt said in a release.

"He's been crucial to our success over the last nine years and I cannot thank him enough for everything he's done."

Page, an engineer with a keen interest in Google products and an inclination to be hands-on, had yet to decide what will become of Rosenberg's position.

earlier related report
Google bids $900 million for Nortel patents
Washington (AFP) April 4, 2011 - Internet giant Google said Monday it is bidding $900 million to buy the patent portfolio of Canadian technology company Nortel at a bankruptcy auction.

The Mountain View, California-based Google said the move is aimed at protecting the company from potential frivolous patent litigation.

The bid came on Google co-founder Larry Page's first day as chief executive of the Internet search titan. Page, 38, replaced Eric Schmidt as CEO on Monday.

Nortel said the portfolio includes approximately 6,000 patents and patent applications for wired, wireless and digital communication technologies.

Google's $900 million dollar bid for Nortel's portfolio will be the starting bid for the auction, which is expected to take place in June 2011 pending the approval of courts in Canada and the United States.

"The tech world has recently seen an explosion in patent litigation, often involving low-quality software patents, which threatens to stifle innovation," Google general counsel Kent Walker said in a blog post.

"Some of these lawsuits have been filed by people or companies that have never actually created anything; others are motivated by a desire to block competing products or profit from the success of a rival's new technology," Walker said.

"One of a company's best defenses against this kind of litigation is (ironically) to have a formidable patent portfolio, as this helps maintain your freedom to develop new products and services," he said.

"Google is a relatively young company, and although we have a growing number of patents, many of our competitors have larger portfolios given their longer histories," Walker said. "So after a lot of thought, we've decided to bid for Nortel's patent portfolio in the company's bankruptcy auction."

He said obtaining the portfolio would "create a disincentive for others to sue Google" and also help open source software projects such as Android and Chrome.