Samsung’s US Chromebook webpage now carries a large image title proclaiming that the platform is “Powered By Android.” Regular readers might raise an eyebrow at this: it looks as though somebody has inserted text over an image in a slapdash manner, but as Redditor darthyoshiboy points out, this is entirely in keeping with Samsung’s website! After investigation this appears to be a legitimate webpage. A Reddit user spotted the page and referenced a link to it; this is almost certainly a case of Samsung’s marketing engine missing a turn and assuming that because some Chromebook models will be able to run a number of Android applications, that the whole platform is now powered by Google’s other operating system. Furthermore, there is more confusion in that the webpages shows all eight of Samsung’s Chromebook models but not all of these will be capable of running Android applications for technical reasons.
In the past we have seen rumors that Google was planning a merger between the two operating systems, Android and Chrome OS. Both run over a Linux base and both feature tight integration with Google products and services when they leave the factory. Google has repeatedly said that Android and Chrome OS are to be kept separate but the two teams will be working closer together; we’ve already seen some evidence of this in how Google is planning to release Android applications for the Chrome OS platform. The way that Android applications will run on the Chromebook is in itself interesting, as the operating system will essentially run a lightweight Android OS on top of the Linux base. Android 7.0 Nougat’s “seamless update” feature has been borrowed from the Chromebook. This is a means of the device downloading system updates to the device without distracting the user before subsequently letting them know that there’s a software update ready to be installed.
For customers, however, it does not matter the specifics as to how Google are implementing Android applications on Chromebooks, but that they work reliably and expand how functional the Chromebook is. Samsung’s statement that their range of Chomebooks are powered by Android is at best misleading. It’s an exciting development for the Chromebook platform but it does not change the underlying Chrome OS platform of the computer. It’s also not the first time a marketing department has been overzealous with what new developments a product range brings to the market: Samsung’s arch rival in the electronics world, Apple, manage this every year!