Google Chrome OS for tablet PCs?
Google’s Chrome OS is perhaps one one of the most talked about but least known operating systems around. The lightweight, web-based operating system has been in the Google pipeline for a number of years and in December last year was finally pushed into testing.
The CR-48 laptops running Chrome OS and distributed to test users were generally well-received and it looked likely that a range of Chrome OS-based laptops would be heading consumers’ way early this year. But now, in typical Google form, it looks like the plans have changed. It now seems likely that Google is not only targeting lightweight laptops but also tablet PCs. CNET’s Stephen Shankland earlier this week dug into the source code for Chrome OS and came up with some pretty convincing indicators that tablet PCs are very much on Google’s radar.
The question most people are asking is “Why?”
Android 3.0, or Honeycomb, another Google mobile OS, is very clearly aimed at the tablet PC market. So much so that it doesn’t run on most current smartphones. By releasing a version of Chrome OS for tablet PCs surely Google would risk at the least fragmenting the mobile OS market even further, and at worst cannibalising its own growing Android dominance?
Some theories
One possible reason Google is doing this is that Android was never really meant for tablet PCs and that Android 3.0 was (or is) merely a stopgap until Chrome OS was ready to roll – which makes sense. Android was always designed as a smartphone OS and scaling it up to a much larger tablet size doesn’t really make sense. Chrome OS on a tablet-sized screen would be ideal because users want to do more on a tablet than they expect to do on a mobile phone.
There is also, potentially, a cost motivation for building a Chrome OS tablet. Because Chrome OS is primarily a cloud based OS in which everything is stored online, there is the potential to build lower-specification tablet PCs that still put in a good performance. You don’t really need much in the way of storage and hard drive space which can make for some big savings. The only problem with this theory is that the cost has to be significantly cheaper than an Android Honeycomb-based device to make it appealing to users.
The third possibility is that Google doesn’t actually like Android and would rather have Chrome OS as its tablet PC OS of choice. Android, with all its apps, removes a lot of the power from Google. Chrome OS on the other hand keeps users signed into Google Docs, GMail, Google Talk and every other web-based application that Google has created over the years. Applications that all contribute to Google’s enormous traffic and the resulting income.
Pitfalls
If Google does opt for a dual-OS tablet strategy then consumers are in for even more decisions. Already there is concern in the market that there is too much fragmentation in the Android space, but add Chrome to the mix and it becomes significantly more confusing.
You want a tablet PC? Do you want it to run Chrome, Android, Blackberry or Web OS? And which hardware do you prefer?
Then there’s the iPad: do you want it in black or white? Suddenly choosing an iPad looks a lot simpler.
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