Google plans to merge its Chrome operating system with Android as soon as 2017, reports the Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with Google's plans. Google has already been working to bridge the Chrome-Android gap for two years and has recently made progress. Google may show off an early build of the merged operating system as soon as next year. Chrome OS runs on inexpensive laptops, called Chromebooks, but has a limited user base of just 3% of the PC market. Following the OS tie-up, Google is expected to make laptops and PCs that run Android, complete with access to the Play Store and the apps therein. Google hopes to see Search and YouTube installed on as many machines as possible, and sees this as one way to reach that goal. Android is the world's dominant mobile operating system. Chromebooks will be given a new name, as Google intends to keep the Chrome brand for its internet browser. Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently said, "mobile as a computing paradigm is eventually going to blend with what we think of as desktop today." Google did not comment on the Journal's report.


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