At some point in the future we expect to see Android and Chrome OS becoming a single platform. Or something similar, with docked Android smartphones connected to the big screen acting like today’s Chromebooks. Already you can run a select number of Android apps on Chrome OS-powered devices, and apparently that’s just a start.
To further explore how the two platforms could come closer together, the search giant has appointed Hiroshi Lockheimer, who currently serves as the Vice President of Engineering for Android, as the Vice President of Engineering for Chrome. In other words — according to the Wall Street Journal report — with this change Lockheimer is effectively the Vice President of Engineering for Android AND Chrome. And yes, we expect that this change affects the future development of the two platforms and the popular web browser.
Alternatively, we may just be looking at a specially skilled manager who can handle two platforms like it’s nobody’s business. Google does need to fill-in the position since the former Vice President of Engineering for Chrome, Linus Upson, is no longer there. We’re not sure whether he left the company or took a different position within Google, though.
We want to believe the former and that before you know it, we’ll have a single Android platform that can work across phones and laptops/desktops. To be fair, that’s already possible, but the end result isn’t something most users like, myself being one of them. In its current stage of development, Android “screams” mobile and still looks kinda weird on a laptop, let alone desktop computer.