14 DAY TRIAL // The mobile Chrome browser doesn't have that much in common with the desktop version, as far as most people can see. It's powered by the same engine and shares much of the source code, but it doesn't look much like the desktop one.
The latest Chrome 31 beta is making some strides in that direction, with the introduction of a redesigned new tab page, inspired by the one that became the default on the desktop.
The new version of the new tab page includes the Google homepage, in a way, with the Google logo and the search box taking up much of the space. Presumably, doodles will be shown here as well. Below this section there's a row with your most visited sites, which used to take up the entire page before.
There are also buttons for the Bookmarks and the Other devices sections. Selecting any of them though will first direct you to the old version of the new tab page. You may catch a glimpse of it before Bookmarks load, indicating that the redesigned version isn't quite ready yet.
In fact, it's only available to a few users by default, though you can enable it by visiting the chrome://flags section. Still, it should be the default for everyone by the time Chrome 31 arrives in the Android stable channel.
Google explains that the new tab page redesign was needed because so many people go to the Google homepage to start their searches, instead of using the omnibox. That, unfortunately, is true; a lot of people aren't aware of even some of this basic functionality in the browser.
But whether building the Google homepage into the Chrome new tab page is the answer rather than teaching people to make better use of the tools they have at their disposal is debatable. What isn't debatable though is that Google benefits from having its search page even more visible in its browser.