Alphabet

Tony Fadell steps down as Nest CEO

Tony Fadell is stepping down as CEO of Nest, he announced in a blog post on Friday. The former Apple engineer and founder of the smart thermostat/device company, which was purchased by Google in 2014 for $3 billion, says he's moving into an "advisor" role to Alphabet and CEO Larry Page.

Despite recent reports of turmoil within the company, Fadell insists that the move is amicable and the transition has been in progress since late last year. He says he's leaving the company to new CEO Marwan Fawaz, who was previously CTO of cable company Charter, with a two-year roadmap in place.

Eric Schmidt trolls Apple users (again): Galaxy S7 has better battery and camera than iPhone 6s

It's an established fact that Alphabet Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt owns an iPhone because, you know, it pays to experience what the competition is doing firsthand. In a fireside chat at the Startup Fest Europe in Amsterdam, Netherlands, today with CNBC journalist Julia Chatterley, he publicly admitted for the first time to using both an iPhone 6s and Galaxy S7, teasing the mostly iPhone-totting audience that Samsung's device is better.