When two platforms emerge from one company, they will always be similar and people will question the relevance of one against the other, this has happened with Android and Chrome.
Many believed Google would start pushing Chrome into Android, with Android becoming the top level platform everything runs on. Chrome OS would make way for Android web-based OS and would offer a seamless experience between phone, tablet and web.
However, at Google I/O yesterday, it seems Google wants to make sure both platforms are kept separate. With Sundar Pichai leading both the Chrome and Android team, the merger between the two platform will become more integrated, but both platforms will become unique in a different way.
Voice Search on the Web
One of the newest features is voice search on Chrome, with Google Now, the company was able to implement this feature very easily onto the web.
The voice commands work similar to Google Glass, the user says “Ok Google” and then asks a question or opens a reminder/message, like Google Now, there is lots of different commands to discover.
What is really exciting is the new integration between the two platforms, when a user plans out their day, they can start on the web, then take it to mobile when they are out and about: reminders, settings, notes and notifications work on both Android and Chrome.
Google has also put in some work to make voice search better than before, with more Cards to get information, more commands to better develop the question and answer and better algorithms for detecting vague topics and sentences, Google Now is really becoming a powerful assistant.
Google recently announced more cloud storage would be added for Google account users, but the integration would not just be with Drive, with Gmail and Google+ getting a slice of the 15GB free. We expect this is part of the initiative to integrate both products and platforms.
Even with all this work to enhance Chrome, it was a small amount compared to the amount of developer tools added to Android and new features like a music streaming service, cloud gaming and cross device notifications.
Raw mobile power
Google is trying to make sure HTML5 on mobile is adopted in a similar way as it is on the web, even though Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks have moved back to native languages.
At Google I/O, they tried to show some of the best websites functioning on mobile, this included a map overview of Middle Earth for the movie The Hobbit and a game about fighting trolls working on a tablet.
There was also Racer, which could be played by up to five different devices on tablets and mobile phones, the game was multiplayer racing and the five players would move around different screens with nearly no interference.
750 million users
We can see why Chrome is still a well loved and well cared for platform, Sundar Pichai announced Chrome has over 750 million active users, 300 million in the past year and is the most used browser worldwide.
This trumps Mozilla and Internet Explorer, who have always been in a battle with Chrome for first, second and third, for a long time IE was top, but it seems to be sliding now.
Google I/O shows the commitment but also the integration between Android and Chrome in the near future, we wouldn’t be shocked if Chrome was in some way adapted to the growing mobile and web Android ecosystem.
