Goodbye Chrome OS? Google to Create a New Android Platform?

There are rumors that Google may be closing its web-based Chrome OS with plans to create a new mobile Android platform. As a result, there will be a single operating system that will be introduced in 2017.

Wall Street Journal’s Alistair Barr reported that Google’s plans to come up with a new platform may be triggered by the wide use of Android on phones, compared to the current role that Chrome OS is taking as a niche player. The upcoming OS will allegedly run PCs, as well to provide access to users to the Google Play Store which features over 1 million apps. Google plans to bring its several services to as many devices as possible and establish solid relationships with independent developers, whose apps will work on more products with fewer modifications.

Apple Insider stated that Chrome OS was first announced by Google in the summer of 2010 with plans to power new ARM and Intel-based netbooks. However, the netbook market and generally all Windows PCs struggled with the popularity of the Apple iPad. Google wants to keep the Chrome brand for its browser taken from WebKit, while the new strategy will be called Android without further explanations on how Google will arrive at a single platform.

The merging of Chrome OS and Android may happen as early as in 2016. Tech Crunch revealed that neither operating system is being eliminated. Chrome OS currently lacks native apps and relies much on Google’s browser. Android and Chrome OS both run on a Linux kernel. Android apps, however, use a Virtual Machine structure taken from Java. Chrome OS is basically a Chrome browser operating on Linux, and its apps are powered up web pages. Combining the two will entail either putting more emphasis on Android’s Java VM model, which is an architecture that is still at risk for being the subject of an infringement lawsuit, or transferring Android to a web-based model such as Chrome OS or a completely new successor to be developed in the next two years, Apple Insider reported.

Google did not earn much from its Android platform and also failed to sell its Android hardware well even after releasing several mobile devices. In October 2015, only 23.5 percent of active Google Play users are using Android 5 Lollipop, while Apple’s iOS 9 has a 61 percent adoption.

Hopefully, the merge will improve its status in the mobile market. More updates and details on the new Android platform and the merging of Chrome OS are expected to surface in the following months.