It is perhaps Google’s worst kept secret . Fuchsia OS has been in development for several years , but it was not until a few months ago that they opened the code to developers and we have finally begun to see it in the Google Nest Hub , the first devices that have this operating system as the protagonist.
Now Google seems to want to take this platform further: in a series of job offers Google indicates that “it is time to expand it to additional smart devices and other formats.” They do not speak specifically about mobiles, but of course Google could be preparing to leave behind Android and its Linux kernel , and the reason is the same as always: to have the maximum possible control over the platform.
Fuchsia deployment is slow but steady
Contrary to what happens with Android, Fuchsia does not use a Linux kernel, but a microkernel called Zircon . The implications for Google are clear: by not depending on Linux, it does not have to meet the requirements of the GPL license for that kernel, and it can fully control that platform and license it (or not).
In a new series of job openings, Google appears to be willing to up the ante. There is already talk of a division of ‘Fuchsia Devices’ in which a team of engineers will work who will take this operating system to other smart devices and other formats.
It is not specified which ones in a concrete way, but it is mentioned that ” Chromecast, video conferencing and deep learning are fundamental parts of the intelligent products that will arrive soon.”
However, it is not expected that the Chromecasts that appear in the future will integrate this platform, but that products of the Nest division may have ‘casting’ functions with which, for example, send content from the mobile phone.
What seems clear is that Google wants to promote this platform little by little, an effort in the software field that joins its advances in the control of its own hardware as well . The Tensor chip that will be the protagonist in the Google Pixel 6 is proof of this, and it seems that part of Google’s future is marked by that total control of the SW / HW binomial.