Android is not in direct competition with the iPhone; it’s too simple for that. It’s designed to take out Microsoft’s cell phone OS. By the time that Android gets near the features on today’s iPhone, Apple will have moved on to better things. What? We don’t know, yet.

Chrome is too simple an OS for Apple customers. What Google is doing is cleaning up Linux so it is finally a desktop that doesn’t look like Windows. It will likely look like the Mac and Apple won’t complain.

Chrome won’t be very good. It will be just good enough for the web on cheap equipment, but it will have better security than Windows 7. Google will be aiming Chrome at its Web Apps and that won’t hurt Apple.

The point is that neither partner can afford to say they are out to get Microsoft. But, Chrome is designed to carve away at Microsoft’s low end computer market. This is a market that Apple doesn’t want, because there is no money in it. Google doesn’t need to sell hardware like Apple does, but it needs to have people use its search engine and to read its ads.

Nobody can trust Microsoft. MS has been trying desperately to throw a monkey wrench in Google’s business plans. That is what the Yahoo merger attempt was all about. MS has a history of knifing its competitors and partners in the back. The Chrome OS prevents that sabotage and gives Schmidt some revenge.

Unless Apple unveils another tablet computer, or Microsoft decides to re-invent Windows (again, as they did with Windows CE) they are both ceding this ground to Google (for now).

It will probably get more interesting at some point, especially once there is an actual product.

Keep in mind there is still no chrome browser for Linux or OS X. Best laid plans, etc.

How many Android handset makers would turn down an iPhone OS license if Apple offered to sell them one? How many PC makers who are working now on Chrome OS would turn down a Mac OS license? Even if Apple charged for those licenses and Google’s were still free, Apple would still crush Google in this space. In both cases, the Apple system has all of the promised features of the Google system (e.g. Mac OS has an HTML 5 browser on Unix core with no viruses today and for the past few years, not starting in late 2010) plus much more (3D compositing animated UI, rich multimedia support).

So not only do they not compete, but Google is getting into markets that Apple has already passed on many many times.