When Google first mentioned ChromeOS, we figured it was their reaction to launching Android, then seeing Palm come out with webOS, and smacking their heads — they could have done that with V8! (What, too nerdy?)
Lame JavaScript rendering engine jokes aside, the very traditional Android never really seemed like the OS Google should, or even wanted, to give to the world. ChromeOS does. (For those unfamiliar, when I guessed what it would be before the unveiling yesterday — Brin and Page booting Linux which then auto-started the WebKit-based Chrome browser — that wasn’t a joke. It’s really what I — and many others — thought they’d do, and pretty much what they did. Casey at Android Central has a bigger write up on it if you want the details).
When he’s not borrowing CrackBerry Kevin’s personal handset to snap quick pics and give Android Cassey conniptions, Google CEO Eric Schmidt is responding to reporters about his role as a member of Apple’s Board of Directors in light of Google entering the operating system space — again:
“I’ll talk to the Apple people. At the moment, there’s no issue,”
Since Google Chrome OS is little more than announce-ware at this point (or, “darn, we should have made webOS instead of Android?), that may be true, but it’s hardly a tenable situation going forward. What this will mean to Apple/Google relations is unknown. Though right now the iPhone clearly benefits from Google data pipes, especially in the Maps app, how much do they benefit from Schmidt being on the board?
Our guess? Schmidt was using that BlackBerry camera to zoom on the unlicensed Mercedes — and glaring Steve Jobs — that’s been shadowing him since Tuesday, and carefully penning his resignation letter…
