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September 3, 2008 7:57 AM PDT

Google co-founder expects Chrome for Android

by Stephen Shankland

Google co-founder Sergey Brin speaks at the Chrome browser launch event.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin speaks at the Chrome browser launch event.

(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News)

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Google's new Chrome browser is for PCs today, but company co-founder Sergey Brin expects the technology will make its way to Android, the company's mobile phone operating system and software suite.

Chrome and Android were developed largely separately, Brin said in an interview at the Chrome launch event Tuesday. "We have not wanted to bind one's hands to the other's," Brin said. But you can expect that to change now that both projects are public and nearing their first final releases.

"Probably a subsequent version of Android is going to pick up a lot of the Chrome stack," Brin said, pointing to JavaScript improvements as one area.

And the brand name likely will follow. "My guess is we'll have 'Chrome-like' or something similar," he said.

Chrome and Android's current browser both already employ WebKit, an open-source project for the process of interpreting the HTML code that makes up a Web page and rendering it on a screen.

Click here for full coverage of the Google Chrome launch.

Stephen Shankland writes about a wide range of technology and products, but has a particular focus on browsers and digital photography. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered Google, Yahoo, servers, supercomputing, Linux and open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stshank.
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by jazzmandan September 3, 2008 9:11 AM PDT
"largely separately.."
"probably...."

at least they share the same underpinnings.

They are not going help produce a compelling alternative to the iphone with android if they don't take a user centric focus instead of a "we've got so big we've got no idea what's going on at each ends of the campus" approach.

An integrated user experience has never been Googles' strong point. I'll be amazed if Android can hand together at all with the free for all it's going to be,
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by bob1xxxx September 3, 2008 9:20 AM PDT
Yes chrome is faster than Internet excrement oops IE 7 (so is a dead dog) , but whether or not it faster than firefox is web site depentant. Some sites run faster others run worse than IE 7. Cnet is very fast on chrome and I think thats no accident sense your good reviews would be crital to it US launch sucess. Also the lack for some very basic default home page and printer icons, and the inabality to get any font type/size changes to stick is really ******* pain in the ass. grade so far speed B+ features D over all generious C-, Yeah it fast, but everything else is pain in the ass. Chrome is very half baked and need loads of work before it up to Fire Fox 3 A- performance.
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by Michael-Martin September 3, 2008 9:54 AM PDT
I believe Sergey was quoted to as calling it Chrome Lite not Chrome-like as I have in http://www.googleandblog.com/google-chrome-merging-into-android/3139/

Also I definately can see the V8 JSVM in Chrome being migrated into Android. (Editors' note: Spam link deleted.)
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by recoveringtechie September 3, 2008 9:56 AM PDT
At the press conference for the release of Chrome, they mentioned that the high performance javascript engine, V8, had been ported to the ARM processor, which is the heart of a lot of mobile devices. That they did this is a clear sign that they'd like to use it in such devices.
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by David Gerard September 3, 2008 10:00 AM PDT
?We are so, so happy with Google Chrome,? mumbled Mozilla CEO John Lilly through gritted teeth. ?That most of our income is from Google has no bearing on me making this statement.? (Editors' note: Spam link deleted.)
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by sugosugita September 3, 2008 10:07 AM PDT
This is the kind of news I like to read. If Google wants their own browser, who cares? more browsers on the market is better for the end user.
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by sugosugita September 3, 2008 10:08 AM PDT
This is the kind of news I like to read. If Google wants their own browser, who cares? more browsers on the market is better for the end user.
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by Jonathan Machen September 3, 2008 12:31 PM PDT
What I like best about this post is the photo - nice one!
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by onlyauser September 3, 2008 12:41 PM PDT
Do not trust Google Chrome.

Chrome is spyware mascaraing as a browser.
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by Kreuzer33 September 3, 2008 8:18 PM PDT
It should be a very interesting month for Google, that's for sure. Let's see what the public thinks of the products before jumping to any conclusions. Great photo of Sergey by the way. Nice!

http://kreuzer33.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/google-android-to-be-trimmed-with-chrome/
Reply to this comment
by danch123 September 7, 2008 3:59 PM PDT
HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND AND A HOLE LOT MORE! GREAT JOB! THANKS,DAN
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by untactical_theonlyone December 2, 2008 9:23 AM PST
Every new development carries with it a plethora of criticism and arguable complaints but in most cases, it's either from lack of understanding how something works against personally researching the desired topic before installing something that sets itself apart from the rest. It's a new breath of life that we now have from Google and for those of us who are caught up in the Windows arena vs Linux or Mac, we can sigh a little easier knowing that we truly have something exceptional. IE served its purpose when Microsoft introduced it back when Windows 95 came out but since then, new forms of control meant increasing their updates many of which already had errors in the updates that meant that they would just keep adding onto them hoping their problem would disappear over time. Unwittingly, Microsoft created its own backlash when it was punished back in 1987 for its java script abuse and no-one really had much say in that. In the present time, if Google Chrome is the way developers will look toward the future then with relative ease, we can all feel safe with the additional enhancements that are built into this challenging browser. I wonder though, can any plug ins be incorporated from Mozilla into Chrome which may help iron out some missing linkage. Hat's Off to the boy's at the development office and those two smart boys who started out from a garage.
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by SEO-Service-India July 14, 2009 5:47 AM PDT
Google has a bad habit of spying on user behavior. They are more inclined towards marketing and you should be careful since Chrome can easily pass information such as popular websites, which users clicking which websites and whole lot of other crucial information.

Firefox is the KING of browser, and till date I havent found any competitor of Firefox.
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