Electronista grabbed Google CEO Eric Schmidt's opinion about hardware keyboards and their upcoming Cloud-based Chrome OS. He was speaking at the Web 2.0 Summit, where he reiterated the importance of those QWERTY keys we've grown to hammer on. He said that the Chrome OS will be built for devices with this traditional form of input in mind, instead of touch-only interfaces generally preferred by Tablets like the Apple iPad.


Google has no control over some manufacturers using Chrome OS for their Tablets, since it is after all an open-source Operating System. But there is hope that the Google Android OS; which initially was targeted at smart-phones and has now found its way into many Tablets, would be rather used in touch-only devices instead of Chrome OS. This is because Android is built ground-up for touch-screen devices, and while the current version isn't optimized for these un-pocketable consumption devices, version 3.0 (or Honeycomb) is expected to bridge that gap.

Google's belief in the folding screen-keyboard contraption that we commonly refer to as laptops or netbooks is seen aplenty with reports suggesting a Google-branded smartbook (in short, a Netbook with an ARM processor instead of an Intel Atom) in the works. I showed my faith for the same (or rather, my non-faith towards Tablets) here, if you care to read my POV. Chrome OS is said to be released to the world in the coming few months.