Google reportedly releasing 12.85-inch touch-enabled Chrome OS notebook at the end of 2012

Jake Smith

According to reports out of Asia, Mountain View-based Google will unveil its own-branded 12.85-inch touch laptop powered by its Chrome OS at the end of 2012. Details are scant this morning on what embodies the device; however, a report from Commercial Times said 20 million units are on tap. A Taiwanese-based company, named Compal Electronics, will be responsible for the overall production, while Wintek will supply the touch panels for the laptop.

Traditionally, Google’s approach to Chrome OS —or any of its software—has been to distribute it to various OEMs for production. Google has never manufactured its own product on a large scale, as the Nexus Q was the only one, and it wasn’t even shipped to the mass-market, but that won’t be the case with its latest Chrome OS device.

Samsung and Acer have released past iterations of Chrome OS. While the overall success of the platform is not really known, Chrome OS products are sold in larger stores like Best Buy. Google pitches Chrome OS as the solution “for everyone.” Just maybe a touch-enabled laptop could strike the fancy of some users looking to ditch their traditional devices.

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Acer teases quad-core Iconia Tab A700, features Tegra 3 with 1080p display

Jake Smith

The 2012 Consumer Electronics Show is underway in Las Vegas, and Acer wrapped up the first press event of the week. Acer showed off its new Acer Aspire S5 laptop at the event, and —better yet­­— the Taiwan-based company teased its new Android tablet – the Iconia Tab A700. The new Acer tablet is a complete beast with its Tegra 3 quad-core processor, Android 4.0, and 1080p display. As of now, there is no more information besides those two specifications, but we will work on finding out the rest as the week rolls on.

Check out another image after the break or view the full gallery over at The Verge.

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Acer’s 10-inch Iconia Tab A200 hits US Jan. 15 for $329.99, ICS upgrade due February

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Acer America announced Jan. 5 that it would launch the 10.1-inch budget-friendly Iconia Tab A200, equipped with Android 3.2 Honeycomb operating system, in the United States for $329.99.

The titanium-gray A200 weighs 1.5 pounds, but the hefty tablet comes with a high-definition multitouch display at 1280-by-800 resolution. Nvidia’s Tegra 2 dual-core mobile processor and GeForce GPU power  the device that features Acer’s Ring interface. With such a large screen, touted processing power and graphics processor, Acer is calling it an ideal gaming tablet.

“Made especially for multimedia enjoyment, the A200 packs hardware and apps for loads of fun,” said Acer in the announcing press release. “The Iconia Tab A200’s fast gaming experience is also supported by a six-axis motion sensing gyroscope, essential for high-precision gaming so actions and animations are more correctly performed.”

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Is HTC developing Chromebooks?

9to5 Staff


Pictured above: A Series 5 Chromebook by Samsung

Chromebooks are currently being produced only by Samsung and Acer, the former having multiple Series 5 models on offer and the latter just one base model, the AC700. Market source from Asia, however, told DigiTimes today that handset maker HTC could be developing a Chrome OS device of its own:

HTC is evaluating the feasibility of combining the advantages of Chrome OS and Android for use in Internet-access devices, products between tablet PCs and netbooks.

The statement is a bit ambiguous in and of itself. Granted, HTC has been rumored to consider alternative operating systems before, but their mission statement-like video posted on YouTube today is a portrayal of a mobile devices company specialized in phones, tablets and personal digital assistants. There’s no reason as to why HTC wouldn’t evolve its product line and throw notebooks/netbooks into the mix.

However, it’ss a crowded space with slim margins offering little incentive unless you’re Apple. On a final note, the “products between tablet PCs and netbooks” part could mean many things, not necessarily a Chrome OS netbook from HTC. Perhaps an Internet-connected portable media player akin to Apple’s iPod touch or Samsung’s Galaxy Player. It could also be a niche gadget such as Samsung’s Galaxy Note as well as a tablet/netbook hybrid with the capability to boot into Chrome OS or Android.

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Google begins advertising holiday Chromebook sale right inside of Chrome’s ‘New Tab’ page

Jake Smith

In an interesting move by Google, the company has begun advertising their new Chrome sale right inside of Chrome’s ‘New Tab’ page. The ad, as seen above, says, “Get a Chromebook for the holidays: the computer powered by Chrome.” This comes after Google announced this afternoon a $50 price slash on both their Chromebooks. Things must be really bad in the Chromebook department to push an ad like this..

Am I the only one seeing this?

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Chromebooks receive price drop to $299, just in time for the holidays

Jake Smith

Just in time for the holidays, Google has announced a price drop for both the Samsung Series 5 and Acer AC700 Chromebooks. Both are now being dropped to $299 from $349, which still seems a little steep for what you’re getting. So why the price drop? Most likely Google isn’t seeing the type of sales they were looking for with Chrome OS and hope sales will help boost that.

Shouldn’t Google be going a little lower in price with these?