Chrome OS and Android are merging 10/30/15

I’m surprised this hasn’t happened already:

The Verge has independently confirmed that Chrome OS and Android will combine, with a preview likely to be demonstrated at Google I/O next year. The move marks an effort at Google to reduce the number of independent platforms it has to maintain, sources said.

The new operating system is expected to be released sometime in 2017.

It’ll be interesting to see how successful Google is in making Android apps work on Chromebook hardware. The merge could also mean that all future Chromebooks will have to have touchscreens, which could drive up the entry-level cost.