Google Patents the Cloud OS

This week, Google was given approval of a network OS patent that it applied for back in 2009. The design of the OS is built for “providing an operating system over a network to a local device” to provision new versions of operating systems onto hardware devices. Filed in March 2009, the idea for Chrome OS was protected by Google early in the development process of the OS, but it was hardly new and unique, given the general description of its features in the patent itself. It is the best sign yet that Google is working toward seamless hardware and software experiences.

It wasn’t that long ago where we would not have even thought about Google as a client hardware company. We have known since the early 2000s that Google prefers to build its own servers, but until the acquisition of Motorola, the company only sprinkled occasional hardware on the market, always in limited numbers and only for specific user groups. The original Nexus phones were for developers only and the Cr-48 Chromebook, the first Chrome OS cloud notebook, was produced in a run of 60,000 units and given to those Google believed were willing to test the Chrome OS and help establish an instant community around the OS.

That thought of a much more hardware-focused Google pivoted sharply when Google decided to acquire Motorola Mobility, a company that has had quite a bit of success in promoting and selling mobile phones with Android. And as much as Google probably had reservations about getting into the hardware business, looking forward there is no doubt that experience in both hardware and software experiences are in high demand. For companies like Google and Microsoft, and possibly even Mozilla, it will be critical to control both hardware and software to compete with the obviously successful model of Apple. Microsoft Surface is just one example that seemingly kicks OEM interests to the curb. It is stunning to see a Microsoft that is willing to kill its OEM relationships for an opportunity to compete with Apple.

No matter which way you look at it, hardware sales will continue to grow in the coming years for both desktop and portable PCs. But what is interesting is how much of the market will actually be about third-party Windows devices as opposed to first-party devices from Apple, Microsoft and Google.

Source: IDC

Microsoft plans on releasing its Surface tablet on October 26, a scary proposition indeed for manufacturers of Windows-based devices. Users increasingly want high-level design and operability from their devices this day in age when most of us spend so much time immersed in the digital space.

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Chrome OS Patent

Given the current market, it is no surprise that Google wants to capture the market for the connected OS, or network operating system. The problem is that they have introduced the software, and it has not been successful so far. Chrome OS was announced on July 7, 2009 – 50 days after Google had filed the umbrella patent for the software. The abstract of the patent reads:

“A system for providing an operating system over a network to a local device is provided. The system includes a base image server, a preferences image server and an image loader. The system may also include a boot loader. A method for providing an operating system over a network to a local device is also provided. The method includes receiving a request for an operating system. The method further includes transmitting to a local device remotely stored base and preferences images that are configured for combination into a combined image. The method may also include the synchronizing the combined image with a cached version of an operating system on the local device.”

Google is making a total of 18 claims that are now protected, including:

“[..] the image loader is further configured to determine at least one of an appropriate base image or an appropriate preferences image for the local device.”
“[…] the local device includes a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), and the BIOS on the local device loads the image loader at boot time.”
“[..] further comprising synchronizing the full version of the operating system between the local device and at least one of the base image server and the preferences image server in order to provide a synchronized version of the full version of the operating system on the local device.”
“[…] synchronizing the full version of the operating system on the local device with the update of the at least one of the base image or preferences image in order to provide a synchronized version of the full version of the operating system on the local device.”
“[…] the synchronizing step comprises fully replicating files and applications of the full version of the operating system on the local device.”
“[…] the full version of the operating system provides a virtual disk file system and wherein the virtual disk file system is associated with a remotely stored file system.”

and, most notably:

“A computer-implemented method for providing an operating system over a network to a local device, comprising: determining a status of a network connection between the local device and a remote base image server, wherein the local device lacks a full version of the operating system; upon detecting a connected status of the network connection subsequent to an unconnected status of the network connection, receiving a request for an appropriate operating system from the local device, wherein the appropriate operating system is determined based upon at least one of a hardware configuration of the local device or a cached version of an operating system on the local device; and based upon the determination, transmitting a remotely stored operating system base image and a remotely stored preferences image, wherein the base and preferences images are configured for combination by an image loader on the local device in order to provide the full version of the operating system on the local device and wherein the full version of the operating system is automatically removed from the local device when logging off or exiting the full version of the operating system on the local device.”

There is little doubt that the platform for which this patent likely applies to is Chrome OS, an operating system, which was released commercially last year. Despite good reviews and its ability to integrate with Google’s enterprise Apps business, Chrome OS hasn’t made as much of a splash as Google probably was hoping for.

What about Sun and Oracle?

As novel as cloud OS made sound today and as inconvenient a cloud operating system is for the mainstream user today, Google’s idea is not new. Oracle was first with such a system, when it announced the NC, short for network computer, in 1996. Back then, there was no cloud buzzword and what was essentially a thin client device (a diskless desktop computer), did not resonate with more people than a visionary, enthusiastic user base in the enterprise world. In the mid-1990s, Oracle had a big opportunity to become what Google is today, had it wanted to. Back then, Oracle pioneered web innovations based on its database technologies, which included, for example, the first truly user customizable website on a large scale, which was called CNN Custom News at the time. What differentiated the NC from Chrome OS was that it was hardware-focused. While it had a software foundation that was very similar to what Google is presenting today, the NC was really about hardware and pushing Oracle’s databases, and not an OS.

Similarly, Sun Microsystems, which has been diluted into Oracle, had its own cloud operating system called JavaStation, which was developed between 1996 and 2000. Sun intended JavaStation to run only Java applications primarily on workstations based on its SPARC processor architecture. Similarly to Oracle’s NC, the JavaStation was enterprise-focused and lacked any kind of storage devices such as a HDD or CD-ROM drive.

Chrome OS has a different target and several different approaches than JavaStation did. The main difference is that it is very broad, and all-encompassing, It covers all previous versions of cloud operating systems as well as all future operating systems that are based on Internet-based core distribution. We believe that the patent, however, may be just as irrelevant as it may be concerning. It will be tough for Google to enforce it, and if it can, it may find itself in another lengthy patent battle with Oracle that could end up in a cross-licensing agreement. Interestingly, if that is the case, the company on the losing end could be Microsoft. The company that has dominated the client operating system landscape since the dawn of the mainstream computing industry has not shown a substantial client cloud operating system so far. If the cloud OS takes off, Microsoft is in trouble (keep Microsoft’s streaming storage patent in mind, though).

Chrome OS success: Hardware the missing piece?

Google has been taking the classic third-party approach on hardware so far. Chrome OS devices were released by Samsung, Acer and there have been sightings of a Sony device. But with Google’s acquisition of Motorola, there is potential that a first-party Google developed Chrome OS commercial device may be on the horizon. It might be able to lift the Chrome OS platform, if the price is right, the user experience is good enough, and if the design is top-notch.

Samsung Series S-550 Chrome OS Chromebook.

That may be a tall order for Google, but they have been shown to surprise before. Plus, they now own the patent on the cloud-based OS, a platform for “a computer-implemented method for providing an operating system over a network to a local device”, as the filing states. Can they be successful in the hardware market? They have a good shot, as the hardware cohesively ties into their business model. The more people are using their devices, the more advertising they sell. That’s their business model, and they are sticking to it. If Larry Page’s now famous quote to put more wood behind fewer arrows applies to any product Google is offering today, it is Chrome and Chrome OS.

There is no doubt in our mind that Google positions Chrome and Chrome OS (and Android) to flank Microsoft and Apple to take over market share. It does not seem that Google has all its pieces in the right places yet, but the cloud OS patent and hardware are now in play and should be taken seriously by its rivals. That said, it will take is a lot of grit, solid design and superior user experience in order for Google to pull it off.

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