US search engine giant Google Inc expects to launch its Chrome operating system (OS) this fall in conjunction with PC original electronics manufacturers (OEMs), including those from Taiwan, a company executive told a media briefing yesterday in Taipei.
Google would not consider launching its own open-source Chrome computer systems as some local Chinese-language newspapers reported yesterday, citing speculation from Microsoft Corp vice president Steve Guggenheimer.
“As Google has been interested in scale, we want to reach hundreds of millions of users and hundreds of countries. And so our plan is to work within the [software] ecosystem to bring the devices to the market,” said Sundar Pichai, a Google vice president in charge of Chrome projects, in a media briefing during his first visit to Taipei.
Google’s Chrome projects include the OS and the Chrome Web browser, which was released last year.
“We have worked with selected OEMs; we have been working extensively with people in Taiwan ... We are getting ready to bring the Chrome OS to the market by fall,” Pichai said.
Pichai declined to disclose how many Chrome computers are in the pipeline for launch later this year or next year.
The announcement would be made from Google’s partners and OEMs, he said.
He said that the Chrome OS would focus on laptops with screen sizes ranging between 10 inches and 12 inches, which is different from the Android system, which uses smaller form factors such as smartphones and tablet devices.
Google will not charge for Chrome certification, but PC companies would have to talk to Google if they want to market their laptops using the Google name, Pichai said.
In addition, Pichai said that the upcoming Google TV would run on the Android operating system and Chrome Web browser.
He said Google TV would provide the same business opportunities to the software ecosystem in Taiwan over time as its Chrome and Android projects.
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