Google raised some eyebrows last month when it made changes to Chrome OS’s source code. It added multiple references to touchscreens and tablets, including a new touch-optimized tab page. The idea of a Chrome OS tablet isn’t new though; Google even made mocks of such a device in February 2010.
When asked about Google’s future plans for Chrome OS beyond the notebook, Google SVP of Chrome Sundar Pichai said that Chrome OS is “agnostic” to the hardware it runs on. In other words, Chrome OS can easily be ported to tablets, desktops and other Internet-connected devices.
With that said, Pichai made it clear that Google is laser focused on Chrome OS for the notebook. He noted that Google wants to reach the greatest amount of people possible, and most people use notebooks rather than tablets or desktops. “We are fully focused on notebooks,” Pichai said.
That doesn’t mean that Google is ignoring tablets, though. On Tuesday, Google released Android Honeycomb 3.1, the newest version of its tablet-optimized OS. With an operating system already optimized for phones and tablets, Google doesn’t have any incentive to bring Chrome OS to tablets anytime soon.
