By bringing the two together, Google will expand the utility of both Android apps and Chromebooks. Over time, the most-popular global app store will run on other existing Chromebooks and new PCs specifically designed for Play that Google is developing with hardware partners, the Mountain View, California-based company said yesterday.
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Chromebook shipments overtook Macs in the US during the first quarter of this year, according to IDC.
The company had a breakout session on their website that let people test the apps for Chrome and even get some help with optimizing them for their own Chromebooks. And the way we get there is through the typical smartphone evolution: “where today’s premium devices-the ones that can run VR experiences-are next year’s mid-range, and the following year’s low end devices”, Elbouchikhi told developers in the audience.
“…our intention [for Daydream] is to operate at Android scale, meaning hundreds of millions of users using Daydream devices”.
Enterprise administrators will be able to push applications down to devices through a centralized process and can control which apps are available through the Play Store using the Play for Work API. But Google also announced a few new features, especially as part of Android N and Android Wear, that Apple users have not experienced yet. This means that downloading and using Android apps are now possible in a laptop.
It’s promised that the same apps used on your phone or tablet will run on your Chromebook, “without compromising their speed, simplicity or security”.
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Google Play will begin rolling out the feature in early June in the developer channel with M53 on the ASUS Chromebook Flip, the Acer Chromebook R 11 and the latest Chromebook Pixel, and support for non touch devices will come in the markets soon. “They serve different needs, and that’s how we see it and I think that’s how it will continue to be going forward”, Hiroshi Lockheimer, Google’s chief of Android and Chrome OS said to Computer World in a podcast.
