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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
If a Chrome OS device is one of your household’s main routes to the internet and you’re ready to extend this option to your children, you’ll now have some new tools at your disposal. Google recently added supervised user support to its growing platform, which lets Chromebook and Chromebox owners set up secondary profiles on their Chrome OS devices.
Since the very first CR-48 rolled off the assembly line, Google has billed its Chromebook platform as reliable but affordable alternative to buying a traditional laptop. Today, the company expanded on this idea by revealing plans to bring its next-gen netbook to nine new territories. Residents of New Zealand, the Philippines, Norway, Denmark, Mexico, Chile, Belgium, Spain and Italy will soon have access to Google’s Chrome OS-powered platform.
Google loves to highlight its work getting Chromebooks into the hands of business customers and a lot of the time that also means a switch from Windows and Microsoft Office products to Chrome OS and Google Apps. It’s not as often, however, that we hear about companies that decide to replace their Macs with Chromebooks. Today Google published a guest blog post from CIO of digital creative group Fred & Farid Group about the company’s decision to do exactly that, replace Macs with Chromebooks for around 60 percent of its employees:
Macs are a popular choice among the creative team. But I soon realized not everyone needs a Mac, especially the 60 percent of our employees who work in office roles like marketing, sales, IT, and administration. We recently rolled out 10 Samsung Chromebooks in a small pilot and plan to have 200 employees on Chromebooks by the end of the year. Our decision to adopt Chromebooks wasn’t based solely on price — though we expect to save a significant amount compared to deploying Macs — but also a desire to have faster collaboration. When you have a Chromebook, you think less about downloading stuff to your hard drive and more about sharing information in the cloud. With Google Drive, we’re able to store, sync and share all our important files easily, whether it’s when we’re on our Chromebooks or on our phones and tablets on the go.
Like with those switching from Windows, relying on mostly Google Apps is one of the reasons the company decided Macs weren’t necessary for many of its employees: We use Google Hangouts for all our voice communications — we don’t even have phone lines in our offices anymore. In the Paris office alone, we conduct more than 50 Hangouts each day. Of course, we also use Drive for document sharing and Calendar for scheduling.
More on the Google Enterprise Blog here.
Google released an update for its Chrome OS today and and in addition to some standard bug fixes and security patches, 35.0.1916.116 adds some noticeable features. For starters, the Chrome OS launcher now supports folders, so users can organize their apps as they see fit. Google has also updated window controls based on user feedback. The minimize button has now returned and the left/right tiling of windows is now accessible by long-pressing the maximize button. Hotwording (“OK Google”) in now available to US Chrome OS users through the New Tab Page and Google.com. Mountain View has also added captive portal detection during sign-in. This addition will make it easier to connect to public networks at places like hotels, airports and libraries that use a landing page to authenticate users before using the internet.
Nothing lasts forever and if you’ve invested in a Chrome OS-powered device, it’s good to know how much support time you’ll have from Google. The folks in Mountain View recently updated its end-of-life schedule for Chrome OS devices, letting people know how long a specific product will have guaranteed support from Google. What happens when your device reaches its EOL date? It’ll work, however it may no longer receive automatic software updates from Google. This will most likely result in missing features and possible performance issues.
Google is thinking about adding a new feature to Chrome OS that will give users advanced remote access to their devices. Internally known as “consumer management,” this work in progress will let people remotely lock, erase and locate their Chrome OS equipment. As of now, the feature isn’t available, but you can get a look at it by switching to the Dev channel, going into Dev mode and running a specific set of code.
Today in San Francisco, Google and Intel announced a brand new fleet of Chromebooks in various shapes and sizes. While some of these devices will be powered by Intel’s familiar Haswell processors, the big news today is that the chip maker is bringing its newer Bay Trail platform to Mountain View’s take on the notebook. Partners like ASUS, Lenovo, LG, HP and Acer will all be producing Bay Trail-powered Chromebooks.
In addition to the new ChromeOS and Intel-based ChromeBook announcements this morning, Intel announced an important new manufacturing initiative for its computer microprocessors. The company announced via a video that it will be moving production of its processors to completely lack conflict materials. These new chips, including the more efficient Bay Trail, will be conflict free in the new ChromeBooks. Intel’s video explicitly mentions materials such as gold, tungsten, and tin coming from war zones in the Congo. The video says that Intel is choosing to completely revamp its processor manufacturing operations and to assist these zones rather than abandoning them and moving to already conflict-free zones for sourcing materials.
The profile of Chromebooks is likely to get a boost after the world’s largest PC manufacturer, Lenovo, announced its first Chromebooks aimed at the consumer market. Pricing starts at $279.
Lenovo, best known for its Windows laptops, launched its first Chromebook in January – but that one was pitched at the education market, selling in bulk to schools and colleges. This is the first time it has pitched a Chromebook directly at consumers – something which may worry Microsoft. Lenovo has 18.6 percent of the PC market, ahead of HP, Dell and Acer …
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If listening to tunes on your Chromebook is a daily activity, you’ll be happy to know that the process just became more refined. Thanks to a recent Chrome OS dev update, owners of Google’s internet-fueled notebooks can now control the volume of their music by using the device’s arrow keys. It’s a modest addition for sure, but it’ll most likely make life a little easier for people who struggle with their Chromebook’s trackpad.
Here’s an overview of the keyboard shortcuts for this new feature :
Since you’ll probably be queueing up new playlists this weekend, allow us to make a suggestion. Nas’ “The World is Yours” is currently free from the Play Store. You’re welcome.
