Report: Google hires Apple exec to work on 'secret project'

Google appears to have scored another coup in its ongoing rivalry with Apple, having reportedly lured one of the company's senior directors to its Mountain View headquarters. Simon Prakash, pictured above, has worked at Apple for more than eight years, most recently serving as the firm's senior director of product integrity. According to VentureBeat, however, that tenure has come to a close, now that Google has hired Prakesh to work on a "secret project." The report speculates that this project could be helmed by co-founder Sergey Brin, and that it may be mobile-related, though declarative statements were few and far between. Prior to arriving at Apple, Prakash served as director of engineering design validation at Cielo Communications, and held managerial positions at 3Com. VentureBeat claims he'll be starting work at Google today, though the company has yet to issue any statement on the matter. Once finalized, though, the hiring could help dispel some of those "no poach" accusations flying around federal courts.