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Android for Touch, Chrome for Keyboard

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Engadget had asked Google CEO Eric Schmidt how Chrome OS would fit into the equation with the rising popularity of Android at the Web 2.0 Summit, and Schmidt’s response is that Android is geared for touch while Chrome will be targeted at devices with keyboards. Schmidt went on to say that because both operating systems are open-source by nature, anything can happen–Chrome can be used on a tablet as we have already seen Android smartbooks released in the past.

Schmidt says that Chrome OS will be out in the next few months running on ARM-based CPUs as well as Intel CPUs in smartbooks that are “designed around something with a keyboard.” Google’s Chrome OS will face competition from Nokia’s and Intel’s MeeGo OS and most notably from Windows when it is released.

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. GoodThings2Life

    11/16/2010 at 11:55 pm

    I have to think that Chrome OS is really redundant and unnecessarily so. Android already has such a huge following and application base and is clearly (look at the device market) capable of much more than just touch and hey surprise– it supports keyboards just fine! So I think Eric’s viewpoint is a bit absurd.

    Even Apple seems to realize that consolidation on the OS front is better than fragmenting themselves. The latest Mac OS X features lots of i-Esque adaptations and no doubt optimizations for mobile life (ie. battery power consumption), so continuing on that path only seems reasonable.

    In fact, I’d bet that Windows will follow suit, especially since one of the goals of Windows 8 has been unofficially announced as being a focus on virtualization capabilities which demands a much lower profile than we’re used to seeing. I think Windows and more and more applications will feature a Metro-style interface moving forward (though I admit I’m a bit sad that the Ribbon interface hasn’t taken off wildly as I’d expected).

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