Chromebooks

The latest Chrome Dev Channel update adds the ability to check how much of your Chromebook’s battery power is being used by an individual app or website. To access this slick new feature, visit the Settings window and select the “Battery” option under the device section.

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Samsung is halting its laptop efforts in Europe, which also includes the release of Chromebooks in this specific market as well. Earlier in the year, Sony announced that it was selling off its VAIO business to investment firm Japan Industrial Partners. Unlike Sony’s decision, Samsung’s change in direction appears to only apply to its European business.

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Toshiba upped its already solid Chromebook game today with the aptly-named Chromebook 2 laptop. With an optional 1920×1080 pixel display, Haswell processor, 4GB of RAM, HDMI AV out and AC/Bluetooth 4 wireless, it ticks most of the boxes on what you’d want on a high end laptop. It even claims 11.5 hour battery life and new forward facing speakers designed with help from Skullcandy.

It comes in starting at $249 for the 720P 16 Model and is set for release on Oct. 5

Spec sheet follows:
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Google and Citrix today announced a new partnership that will bring a variety of new enterprise features to Chrome OS powered devices. Citrix’s Receiver app is now available for Chromebooks everywhere and allows direct access to the device’s system resources, including settings for things such as printing, audio, and video.

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Some of us are old enough to remember when desktop computers were large towers that you stored under your desk; these days, you can hide the desktop PC behind your monitor.

Acer has today announced a new Chromebox based on its C7 series Chromebook, the Chromebox CXI. The compact format makes it suitable for mounting on a monitor stand … 
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Microsoft appears to be gearing up to challenge Google’s Chrome OS by partnering with companies to release affordable Windows-based alternative notebooks. Pictured above is the HP Stream 14, a $200 laptop that feels a lot like Redmond’s answer to the Chromebook. From its 14-inch 1,366 x 768 display, to its modest AMD processor, all the way down to its 2GB of RAM, 32GB of flash memory (optional 32GB) and two years of cloud storage from Microsoft’s OneDrive — sound familiar?

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From 9to5Toys.com:

Today’s Amazon Gold Box Deal of the Day is the HP Chromebook 14 in Red or Turquoise refurb for $199.99 with free shipping. That’s $129.01 off the list price and the lowest we’ve ever seen this Chromebook which includes 200MB of free 4G wireless for life thru T-Mobile with the ability to get more data at T-Mobile’s rates. The 4-lb machine features 14-inch/1366 x 768 display, 4GB RAM/16GB Storage amd 1.4GHz Haswell processor.

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Acer is providing tough competition for Samsung’s Chromebook 2 with its new Chromebook 13, offering 11-hour battery life with full HD display for $100 less. The NVIDIA Tegra K1 2.1GHz quad-core processor should give the 1920×1080 display even better graphics performance than Samsung’s Exynos-powered model, as well as beating its 9-hour battery-life, for $299 against Samsung’s $400.

The downside, as noted by Engadget, is the cheaper-looking casing, being plain white plastic rather than the faux-leather stitching of the Chromebook 2 … 
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Chromebooks are already making waves with educators and school districts and of course retailers are no exception. Amazon is currently running a back to school promotion that knocks $20 or more off the regular asking price of select Chromebooks. This brings some device’s like the Acer C720P Chromebook to an all time low. Other machines like the HP Chromebook 11, which features an Exynos 5 processor, 2GB of RAM and an 11.6-inch 1,366 x 768 display are available for $200.

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Today, Google’s Senior Director of Global Enterprise Marketing, Chris Farinacci, announced that the search giant moved over 1 million Chromebooks through its Google for Education program during Q2 of 2014. Part of the company’s success is based on school districts and teachers using Google’s alternative laptops and software as tools to educate students.

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Chromebooks are already being marketed as affordable alternatives to traditional laptops, but Google’s browser-based computing platform could soon offer hardware at a sub-$200 price point. Taiwanese SoC maker MediaTek recently added an ARM Cortex A7 board codenamed “Moose” to the open source Chromium OS base. This system is based on the company’s low-end MT8127 quad-core processor, which clocks in at 1.5GHz.

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Continuing Mountain View’s push for Chromebooks in classrooms, Google Play for Education is now available for the company’s low-cost laptops. This software hub helps teachers tailor their curriculum to fit the needs of their class by providing them with tools and materials based on students’ needs and interests. The program first started with tablets and Google says that teachers later requested support for Chromebooks.

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Yesterday during I/O’s opening keynote, Google announced that it’s bringing several Android apps to Chrome OS later this fall. In a demonstration of what can be expected, Android frontman Sundar Pichai did a walkthrough of Evernote, Vine and Flipboard running on a Chromebook. This new move falls in line with Google’s new Material Design initiative and its focus on unifying the search giant’s different platforms.

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Today during its annual I/O developers conference, Google revealed a bevy of new products and services, however a particular presentation managed to stand out among the rest. Shortly after previewing its next version of Android, the company started talking about Chromebooks. Not exactly the longest segment of the show, Mountain View’s focus appeared to be bridging the gap between Chromebooks and Android.

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Today during its annual I/O conference, Google announced that its Chromebook platform has eight OEMs and 15 devices in 28 countries. Google says that the top 10 highest rated laptops on Amazon are all Chromebooks. The company says it’s aware that most users carry a smartphone while using their laptop and to bridge the gap between both platforms, Google is introducing a feature baked into Android’s L release that will automatically unlock your Chromebook when nearby.

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Google is trying to right a wrong plaguing customers who purchased the LTE version of its Chromebook Pixel. Released last year, this network connected edition of Mountain View’s uber-Chromebook originally shipped with a free 100MB of monthly 4G data from Verizon for a period of two years. However, for one reason or another, Big Red has stopped honoring this promotion, with its customer service reps telling Pixel owners that they’re unfamiliar with this service offer.

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Google’s annual I/O conference is only two days away but leaks and rumors leading up to this year’s show have been going strong for quite a while. In an effort to brace ourselves for Mountain View’s latest contributions to the tech world, we’ve decided to discuss what we might be seeing in the next couple of days. While some of these items are a given, others are a mix of rumors and speculation. There’s no guarantee that everything listed here will be announced during I/O, but we eventually expect to see these projects from Google at some point in time. That being said, here are some things that we might see this year in San Francisco.

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A listing for what could be the first Tegra-powered Chromebook may have just been outed by a Swedish retailer. Listed as the Acer Chromebook CB5 13.3″ HD, this unannounced system features a Tegra K1 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 32GB SSD for local storage and a 13.3-inch HD display. At a glance this white Chromebook appears to have a pair of USB ports (presumably USB 3.0) and a 3.5mm audio jack.

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