Over the past few months we've been hearing about the progress Google has made in developing their Chrome operating system. However Sundar Pichai who is Google Chrome's senior vice president has stated that for now, Google is only interested in pursuing the notebook form factor and won't be going further afield.
Earlier today at a news conference at the Computex PC show in Taipei, Pichai announced that Google has seen the amount of users using their Chrome browser double over the past year to a figure of around 160 million. This comes as specifically designed laptops created by Acer and Samsung are due to go on sale next month with the Chrome OS installed. Where these will be sold however is yet to be fully confirmed but at their Google developer I/O conference, announced they won't be launching them in New Zealand this year.
Some question though whether concentrating solely on notebooks is in fact limiting Chrome's reach. With Android Smartphones and Tablets already being sold around the world it is somewhat surprising that Google is not jumping at the chance to have further integration with their other projects. With the amount of manufacturers signed up to creating the Chromebooks still a small number, Google may be taking a cautious approach before making more inroads into the market.
How Google chooses to promote their operating system with the worldwide audience that has yet to have the 'cloud experience' is not really known, however they'll have to work hard to make sure it doesn't fall into cracks in the market given that most everyday consumers are only aware of Windows and Mac OSX.
13 Comments - Add comment