Google has dampened rumours that it is planning on folding parts of the Chrome operating system into Android.
Android and Chrome OS SVP Hiroshi Lockheimer, the man in charge of Android and Chrome OS has said that Google remains committed to the latter, despite multiple reports that the company plans to merge the two operating systems later this year.
“There’s a ton of momentum for Chromebooks and we are very committed to Chrome OS,” “I just bought two for my kids for schoolwork!”
The Wall Street Journal first reported on Google’s plans for Chrome OS and Android yesterday, calling the move a “long-awaited recognition that the different computing approaches embodied by Android and Chrome are no longer relevant to Google.”
The story was later corroborated by The Verge and fellow Vox Media site Recode, which reported that Google would work with partners to produce Android devices in traditional PC form factors.
A Google spokesperson told The Verge that Chrome OS was not being “killed,” and together with Lockheimer’s statement this would suggest that we can expect to see Chromebooks for the foreseeable future.
A tweet from the Google exec in charge of Chrome and Android, SVP Hiroshi Lockheimer, seemed to back up the Forbes source: “There’s a ton of momentum for Chromebooks and we are very committed to Chrome OS. I just bought two for my kids for schoolwork!” Lockheimer wrote.
There’s a ton of momentum for Chromebooks and we are very committed to Chrome OS. I just bought two for my kids for schoolwork!
— Hiroshi Lockheimer (@lockheimer) October 30, 2015
Chrome OS was designed around Google’s popular Web browser, Chrome, and was tailor-made a new class of machines called Chromebooks, which do all their computing in the cloud. The concept gained traction, especially in the education market, where the low cost and easy maintenance of Chromebooks was seen as a major advantage.
In the meantime, however, Android’s popularity surged, outshining the success of Chrome OS. Android is now the world’s most popular operating system and powers some 85% of smartphones sold globally.