Android and Chrome OS to Merge

According to new reports, Google plans to roll
Chrome OS into its Android platform, forming a
single combined OS.
Citing people familiar with the matter, The Wall
Street Journal on Thursday reported that
Google, now a subsidiary of Alphabet, is
planning to merge its mobile and PC operating
systems - Android and Chrome OS. According to
two sources, Google engineers have been
working on the merge for nearly two years and
are making progress. One source claimed that
the new operating system will make its debut as
early as next year, with a consumer release in
2017. The company is expected to "fold its
Chrome operating system" into Android and the
resulting operating system is likely to stick with
the Android name. The Journal also claimed
that Chromebooks will get a new name with the
new OS, but the Chrome browser will not be
affected by the change. According to The
Verge, the combined OS is expected to be
demonstrated at Google I/O 2016.

A mobile-PC merger for Google would be
significant, particularly on the heels of
Microsoft's major "One Windows" push with
Windows 10. With the newest Windows OS,
Microsoft has been pushing to gather all of its
devices under one operating system. Despite
this, the company has yet to release Windows
10 for its mobile devices. Google's newly
appointed senior vice president for Android and
Chrome, Hiroshi Lockheimer, responded to the
Journal's report on Twitter, saying, "We are very
committed to Chrome OS." Despite this, many
still believe a merger is in the works for the
Google operating systems. As for one of its
largest competitors, however, Apple currently
has no known plans to merge iOS and OS X.