Alphabet chairman hints at merging Android and Chrome OS – update

CEO Eric Schmidt of Alphabet, the parent company of Google, hinted at the TechCrunch Beijing conference that there is “some truth” in the rumors about Android for laptops, namely that the differences will become “less obvious”.

“Technology can move forward and where possible you can package one after the other,” Schmidt said at the conference. Schmidt’s comment comes after rumors circulated last week that Google is in the process of making its Android operating system suitable for laptops.

Schmidt has not explicitly said that the PC software and the mobile software will merge, Cnet writes. He did say that the Android, Chrome OS and HTML5 environments will be better integrated with the technological improvements of “today”. The CEO did not comment further on how that should take shape.

In addition to vague words about the future of Chrome OS and Android, Schmidt noted that the company would like to do business with China again, although it partially left China in 2010. According to Schmidt, his company remains in talks with the Chinese government.

Update, 19:59: The company has since posted an unequivocal denial of the story on the ‘Google for work’ blog. “While we’re working on ways to bring together the best of both operating systems, there’s no plan to phase out Chrome OS,” said Hiroshi Lockheimer, senior vice president of Android, Chrome OS and Chromecast.