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"no plan to phase out Chrome OS" does not explicitly refute "speculation that Chrome OS will be folded into Android" Especially since the original story stat

"no plan to phase out Chrome OS" does not explicitly refute "speculation that Chrome OS will be folded into Android" Especially since the original story stated that google was going to "combine the operating systems": http://www.wsj.com/articles/alphabets-google-to-fold-chrome-operating-system-into-android-1446151134 http://www.wsj.com/articles/alphabets-google-to-fold-chrome-... Google could easily market the combined OS as "Chrome OS" rather than Android. In fact that might be a good idea if they're going to make the experience/distribution model more Google-led like it is with Chrome OS.

x5n1 11y ago
I for one enjoy my Chinese phone and like the Android model, I would hate to see the model go the way of Chrome.
digi_owl 11y ago
Or it could be that some willfully ignorant "journalist" heard about how they were to share development resources and interpreted it as combining.
- eli 11y ago
  "willfully ignorant" seems rather uncharitable
  - JoshTriplett 11y ago
    True; ignorance suggests that they weren't well aware of what would sell a story. Notice, reading the original WSJ article, exactly which (and how few) statements are attributed to unnamed Google sources or statements, and which are speculation or third-party commentary.
derefr 11y ago
It could also mean that the two operating systems are going to be merged at a base level but keep distinct userlands, like iOS and OSX. The point this article was trying to make, is that Chrome OS is under LTS constraints at the UX and userland-API level for its present enterprise users (schools, mostly, but also some corporations.) Under these constraints, the kernel, display-server stack, etc. might get switched out in some future version, but educators who are dependent on their present workflows using specific apps+extensions will be able to continue to use them with no change. Any "merger" with Android will be at a level that is transparent both to the user, and to the Chrome app/extension developer.
- edvinbesic 11y ago
  This would be very interesting. Imagine plugging your android phone into a dock and getting the ChromeOS GUI instead of Android but having access to all the same data and services. Now imagine we could run crouton and get full access. You could really turn your phone into your main device/dev machine (at least for light workloads). Kind-of-sort-of like what Microsoft demonstrated with the new windows 10 phones, but a souped up version.
  - Navarr 11y ago
    Doesn't the Ubuntu phone do this as well?
    - edvinbesic 11y ago
      I think that was the general idea, but as I recall the phones did not review very well which is a bummer since you can't just pick a device you want and install ubuntu phone on it.
      - zanny 11y ago
        They do support several of the most popular Nexus devices, though.
      - deleted 11y ago
        [deleted]
    - sciurus 11y ago
      No. Canonical held a crowdfunding campaign to produce one but did not meet their goals. As I understand it, Ubuntu's desktop environment, Unity 8, isn't ready yet either.
  - outside1234 11y ago
    Souped up? That would be totally inferior to what Microsoft just demoed.
Touche 11y ago
Maybe read the article and assume honesty rather than dishonesty. With such skepticism what could they have same that would have satisfied you?
mkozlows 11y ago
I think it's very clear from this post that they do plan to combine them -- but that the goal is to make a combined technical base featuring the best of ChromeOS and Android (which makes sense), not to kill ChromeOS and replace it with Android (which doesn't).
baldfat 11y ago
I still think Android will be Virtual Machine and Chrome OS will be the OS for both phones and Chromebooks 5 years from now. I also think we will see a move away from Java so what do I know?
fiatjaf 11y ago
They said "faster, simpler and more secure". This means 100% Chrome OS, 0% Android.

x5n1 11y ago

I for one enjoy my Chinese phone and like the Android model, I would hate to see the model go the way of Chrome.

digi_owl 11y ago

Or it could be that some willfully ignorant "journalist" heard about how they were to share development resources and interpreted it as combining.

eli 11y ago
"willfully ignorant" seems rather uncharitable
- JoshTriplett 11y ago
  True; ignorance suggests that they weren't well aware of what would sell a story. Notice, reading the original WSJ article, exactly which (and how few) statements are attributed to unnamed Google sources or statements, and which are speculation or third-party commentary.

derefr 11y ago

It could also mean that the two operating systems are going to be merged at a base level but keep distinct userlands, like iOS and OSX. The point this article was trying to make, is that Chrome OS is under LTS constraints at the UX and userland-API level for its present enterprise users (schools, mostly, but also some corporations.) Under these constraints, the kernel, display-server stack, etc. might get switched out in some future version, but educators who are dependent on their present workflows using specific apps+extensions will be able to continue to use them with no change. Any "merger" with Android will be at a level that is transparent both to the user, and to the Chrome app/extension developer.

edvinbesic 11y ago
This would be very interesting. Imagine plugging your android phone into a dock and getting the ChromeOS GUI instead of Android but having access to all the same data and services. Now imagine we could run crouton and get full access. You could really turn your phone into your main device/dev machine (at least for light workloads). Kind-of-sort-of like what Microsoft demonstrated with the new windows 10 phones, but a souped up version.
- Navarr 11y ago
  Doesn't the Ubuntu phone do this as well?
  - edvinbesic 11y ago
    I think that was the general idea, but as I recall the phones did not review very well which is a bummer since you can't just pick a device you want and install ubuntu phone on it.
    - zanny 11y ago
      They do support several of the most popular Nexus devices, though.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
  - sciurus 11y ago
    No. Canonical held a crowdfunding campaign to produce one but did not meet their goals. As I understand it, Ubuntu's desktop environment, Unity 8, isn't ready yet either.
- outside1234 11y ago
  Souped up? That would be totally inferior to what Microsoft just demoed.

Touche 11y ago

Maybe read the article and assume honesty rather than dishonesty. With such skepticism what could they have same that would have satisfied you?

mkozlows 11y ago

I think it's very clear from this post that they do plan to combine them -- but that the goal is to make a combined technical base featuring the best of ChromeOS and Android (which makes sense), not to kill ChromeOS and replace it with Android (which doesn't).

baldfat 11y ago

I still think Android will be Virtual Machine and Chrome OS will be the OS for both phones and Chromebooks 5 years from now. I also think we will see a move away from Java so what do I know?

fiatjaf 11y ago

They said "faster, simpler and more secure". This means 100% Chrome OS, 0% Android.