2023 Author: Gordon Kinson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 11:09
Search giant Google has stated that the streaming video device runs on the new ChromeOS operating system, but hackers discovered that this is not the case: Chromecast is the same Google TV, but without Android functionality.
ChromeOS is a Linux distribution, a cloud OS project from Google. When installed on a netbook or PC, ChromeOS contains only one component - the Chrome browser, with which you can do all the work, for example, edit documents in Google Drive or play games (web applications). Google introduced Chromecast as a device running on this operating system, that is, based on Linux.
However, enthusiasts from GTVHacker hacked into the Chromecast software and were able to access the shell of the operating system. After the hackers examined the system, they delivered a verdict: the device runs on an OS that is much closer to Android in structure than to ChromeOS.
To be precise, Chromecast is a GoogleTV in which the Dalvik and Bionic libraries are replaced by a single binary.
Bionic is an alternative to the standard C library for Android and aims to replace GPL-licensed code on Linux to avoid conflicts. Also, Bionic is focused on working on weak devices, unlike Linux, which is more installed on servers or PCs.
Dalvik is a high-level virtual machine built specifically for Android. Although the code for it is written in Java, Dalvik compiles it into its own bytecode, optimized for a more economical memory consumption. It is a heavily rewritten standard Java virtual machine. By the way, it is Dalvik that is the reason for Oracle (the current owner of the Java developer - Sun Microsystems) lawsuits against Google.
Developers can run on Dalvik both java-like applications in the form of JAR files and low-level C code using the Android NDK (Native Development Kit). Neither Dalvik nor Bionic are supported by Chromecast, unlike other Google media devices such as Google TV and Nexus Q.
Almost all of the Google TV code was used in the Chromecast device: bootloader (loader), kernel, binaries and init scripts. Perhaps the Chromecast is the same Android TV project that Andy Rubin led, which Google said was completed this spring - around the same time Rubin was demoted. He was replaced by Sundar Pichai, who previously worked on the development of the Chrome browser.
So we probably saw a Chrome-branded device due to the change of leadership, but on the other hand, Google may have more ambitious plans.
See also:
- What does the second generation Nexus 7 look like from the inside.
- Android was originally designed for cameras.
- Surprise your guide with these Gmail tips.
- Second Generation Nexus 7 Review (2013).
- Happy birthday, Android!
- Flawgic or Google's secret to success.
