Unlike chairman Eric Schmidt, Google CEO Larry Page tends to keep himself out of the spotlight. As the leader of a burgeoning tech giant, he likely feels his time is better spent on his work rather than stepping into a three-ring media circus. It’s a treat, then, to read excerpts from a recent interview with Fortune in which he discusses everything from search to driverless cars, with some interesting Android tidbits sprinkled throughout.

Page spends most of the interview skirting any direct answers to tougher questions. When asked about a lack of Motorola involvement in the Nexus program, the leader of Google first pointed out a simple lack of time the two would have had in developing such, saying “we haven’t owned the company long enough.”

When pushed to elaborate on how a Motorola Nexus device might affect relationships with other Android partners, Page said, “there’s a lot of complexity in that question.” He then fell back to a more generic dialog on delivering “an amazing device” that highlights the best aspects of the Android ecosystem while keeping the likes of Samsung, LG, and others happy.

Page was hesitant to play up any competition or bad blood between his company and Apple, instead insisting that he encourages employees to look beyond what others are doing and focus on solving problems in an effort to “stay two or three steps ahead.” He did admit that while the two still rely on each other in many ways, that “it would be nice if everybody would get along better and the users didn’t suffer as a result of other people’s activities.”

To read more of Page’s comments, including his thoughts on driverless cars that can pick you up from the mall based on your phone’s location, head over to the source link below. It’s definitely worth a read for anyone interested in the evolving tech landscape.

[via Forutne]