Search engine Google will soon combine its computer and Android operating system into one.
Starting from as early as 2017, Google will reportedly have only one operating system as the company plans to combine its Chrome operating system used in computers and laptops with Android used in smartphones, notebooks and tablets.
The decision has been taken in order to meet the growing demands of browsing internet using mobile phones and cutting down on the number of separate platforms Google has to keep up.
However, making Android the only operating system both for traditional computers as well smartphones, tablets, watches and televisions, will need big changes and backing for the Google Play Store as well, The Verge reported.
Even before 2017, Google is likely to unveil an earlier version of its single operating system at the Google I/0 – an annual developer conference, next year (2016).
The current Google CEO Sundar Pichai, under whose guidance the Chrome operating system was developed in 2009, has said that "mobile as a computing paradigm is eventually going to blend with what we think of as desktop today."
A couple of years before, Pichai was given the responsibility to look after both Chrome OS as well as Android. As part of his job, he worked in uniting the two operating systems, including making some Android apps run inside of Chrome OS.
Furthermore, some Android apps are even running on Chromebooks although the name of the new Chromebook computers that will feature the combined version, from 2017, hasn't been renamed yet, according to The Verge.
Pichai also launched a hydrid, convertible tablet-notebook called "Pixel C" last month that is the first in the Pixel series to feature Chrome OS in support of Android.
Google is not the only one, striving to have one operating system. Microsoft Corp. has also made a similar move, where it developed versions of Windows 10 OS to run on smartphones as well as computers, letting some apps run on both devices, according to The Wall Street Journal.
