Google may be looking to incorporate touch features in their Chrome operating system. This would pitch Chrome’s capabilities against that of Apple’s I-Pad touch features (or even against HP Slate). Who would win this battle of the giants?

When questioned about whether Chrome OS would include multitouch capability, Anders Sandholm, Senior Product Manager of Search, quoted “I can’t, I mean, right now we are targeting netbooks, that’s what we’re focused on, but I expect it to work well. We expect it to target everything up to desktop computers. Chrome OS will be built for a specific hardware setup.”

Incorporating the Touch Feature would enable Google to enter the tablet markets, one, which Google is still to enter. This would pit Google severely against Apple’s newly launched I-Pad and against the zillion other tablet devices by Hewlett Packard, Lenovo, Dell and Acer (to name a few).

Mobile devices from HTC, Apple, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG, HP and others have already made touch capablities popular amongst the the consumers. With so many mobile devices providing support for touch features, consumers are ready to accept an operating system which would imbibe that magic touch experience into the operating systems of laptops, notepads and desktops.

The market is already there, awaiting to be tapped.

Would Google be the first entrant and sweep over the consumers all over the world with this new operating system? What do you think should be Microsoft’s strategy in light of this statement by Anders.

By Kar

Dr. Kar works in the interface of digital transformation and data science. Professionally a professor in one of the top B-Schools of Asia and an alumni of XLRI, he has extensive experience in teaching, training, consultancy and research in reputed institutes. He is a regular contributor of Business Fundas and a frequent author in research platforms. He is widely cited as a researcher. Note: The articles authored in this blog are his personal views and does not reflect that of his affiliations.