Paul Krill
Editor at Large

Google: Chrome OS could someday duel with Android

news
May 11, 20112 mins

Company official acknowledges potential competition as both teams spread their technology around

While Google currently does not see any conflict between its Android vision for tablets and smartphones and its Chrome OS cloud-based laptop vision, a company official acknowledged today that there is potential for such a conflict in the future.

Sundar Pichai, Google senior vice president of Chrome, said such a potential exists for collision or competition, at least in the future. But not today: “We don’t think about it in that way currently at all,” he said. He noted Chrome OS, while currently focused on laptops, could work anywhere, and Google is providing choice to users.

The company today touted Chrome OS and “Chromebooks” from Acer and Samsung as offering a new model of computing with always-connected devices that are easier to manage and have quick startup times and link to the cloud. With its Chrome OS strategy, detailed at the Google I/O conference in San Francisco, Google clearly has Microsoft’s ubiquitous Windows PC platform in its sights.

But the day before at the conference, Google was equally fervent about its Android strategy for tablet and smartphones, noting the upcoming “Ice Cream Sandwich” release of the Android OS that would serve as a united platform for multiple smartphones and tablets. Google also is allowing developers to build Android applications for the Google TV platform, representing a further expansion of Android to a new realm.

This article, “Google: Chrome OS could someday duel with Android,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the latest developments in business technology news and get a digest of the key stories each day in the InfoWorld Daily newsletter. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.

Paul Krill

Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

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