Chrome For Android: The Browser For The 1%

MG Siegler takes a look at the Chrome for Android beta. All his Ice Cream Sandwich-is-only-on-1%-of-devices snark aside, the browser looks fantastic.

There's also this tidbit:

One other bit of intrigue: Chrome for Android will be a part of the Google Apps package. This means that once Chrome fully replaces Browser on Android, there will no longer be a browser that’s a part of the open source Android. In other words, if vendors like Amazon want to include a browser on the Kindle Fire, they’re going to have to build their own — which they did. Still, interesting.

For those who don't know, this is how Google tries to keep other companies under their umbrella. The core Android operating system is free and open source while Google's official apps (Google Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Google Voice, etc.) are only available on devices which fall under certain restrictions set by Google. When Chrome replaces the current Android browser, it'll become another such app--so anyone wanting to make a device that doesn't fit into Google's specs will have to continue to build off the existing browser's codebase or build their own.