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Does Chrome OS Cannibalize Android?

Google's Chrome OS will start out targeting netbooks, the bare-bones laptops designed specifically to surf the Web, which means it won't be moving in on Microsoft's turf anytime soon. However, it may have a more immediate impact in Google's own backyard, writes BusinessWeek's Olga Kharif.

Indeed, Android is Google's other operating system, designed primarily for mobile phones but versions are also being developed for netbooks and other mobile Internet devices. Does this mean the company's efforts are now divided between potentially competing operating systems? Will software developers be forced to choose between the two?

"Chrome will result in more fragmentation," argues Andrew Brown, director at Strategy Analytics, a consulting firm. "It also suggests Google may scale back [efforts related to] Android for netbooks." Meanwhile, it's strange to note that the first Android-powered netbooks have yet to hit the market-PC maker Acer recently said it would release an Android-based netbook in the third quarter of this year. Several other PC makers are lined up to make Android-powered devices, too.

So, what does the announcement of Chrome OS mean for Google's Android ambitions? In a blog post, Google said, "While there are areas where Google Chrome OS and Android overlap, we believe choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone, including Google." Huh? Meanwhile, the first netbooks running Chrome are due to be released in the second half of 2010.

Read the whole story at BusinessWeek »

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