Google is approaching a watershed moment in its internal platform wars. The time is nearly at hand when they will have to decide once and for all what Android is, what Chrome OS is, and where they are both going. This is not to say it has not been internally decided and even worked out to the decimal for some years ahead — but they’re going to have to break it to the world sooner or later, and today’s I/O event may have been a powerful hint.
The hint is in two announcements today: one expected and more or less standard for Google (Music), the other a surprise (Open Accessory Toolkit). Google is laying the groundwork for a two-pronged OS assault a little ways down the road: Chrome OS everywhere, and Android anywhere.
