Google to debut Chrome for touchscreens

February 21, 2013 4:01 am
By Richard Waters in San Francisco


Google’s Chrome operating system is poised to make its debut on touchscreen machines, opening a new front in the company’s battle with Microsoft just four months after the launch of Windows 8.
The development is set to be announced at an event in San Francisco early on Thursday, according to one person familiar with the plans. Google declined to comment on the move, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The Chrome operating system was developed for stripped-down laptops known as Chromebooks, which are designed to run internet applications rapidly and securely but do not handle native applications. Since they first went on sale in mid-2011, Google has already been through three generations of the machines.

Putting Chrome on touchscreen devices could enable Google to make deeper inroads into Microsoft’s core operating system business at a critical time for the company. Sales of Windows 8, designed to work on both PCs and tablets, have got off to a slow start after mixed reviews of the software.

There have already been signs that Google has benefited from the lukewarm response. Taiwanese PC maker Acer last month reported strong sales of its Chromebooks in the US and said that the category is set to be significant in the long term.

The extension of Chrome to touchscreen machines could put the software on a collision course with Android, Google’s smartphone operating system, which is also used on tablets. Despite the potential overlap, Google has always said it would allow each operating system to evolve in whichever direction seemed best rather than restricting each to particular classes of devices.

ft.com