Apple and Google move computing forward in identical-yet-incompatible ways

I attended both Apple and Google's developer conference keynotes last month, and I experienced strong deja vu on more than one occasion. Both companies talked about design and consistency. Both companies talked about improving back-end services. And both companies talked about new initiatives to make stuff on your phone appear seamlessly on your tablet or laptop.

"Users almost always have a smartphone with them, including when they are using a Chromebook," said Google's Sundar Pichai. "So we want to increasingly connect those experiences together, so they have a seamless experience across their devices."

At or around the time the Android L release comes out this fall, this means your phone and your Chromebook are going to be able to share even more stuff than they already do. If you have your phone with you, it can unlock your Chromebook (and if you have your smartwatch with you, it can unlock your phone). If you get a call or a text or your battery is running low, you'll be told about it on your Chromebook. Some Android apps are even going to be able to run in Chrome OS, though Google didn't talk much about the technical details.