There are no immediate plans to merge Chrome OS with Android Google’s Sundar Pichai has, once again, confirmed.

As the Senior Vice President of Android, Chrome and Apps Pichai would be at the centre of any such unification effort. But in an on-stage interview at the SXSW conference in Austin, USA this week he reiterated the benefits Google find in keeping each platform largely independent of each other.

Pichai explained that Google: “…view them as building blocks. By investing in both, we believe that over time we will be able to meet almost all use cases,” adding that the company “…feel fortunate to have both.”

Pichai’s latest comments on the dilemma echo those made by Eric Schmidt back in early 2013, when it was said that the plan was for each OS to remain separate ‘for a long time to come’.

The assumption that Android would seek unification with Google’s cloud-centric operating system has been a long-standing rumour, one many gave more credence when Pichai was promoted to a newly created role as the head of Android, Chrome and Apps.

In other SXSW news, it was revealed that sales of the Google Chromecast have now surpassed the one million mark, with Pichai assuring attendees that the HDMI dongle will launch in “more countries” in the coming weeks. The company also announced that an Android software development kit for wearable devices is to launch in the coming months — an area Google has, until now, not shown massive interest in.