After starting with the Google Chrome OS less than a couple of years ago, the giant corporation finally decided to enter the hardware market with Chromebook, a notebook developed in partnership with Samsung and Acer.
During Google I/O, a developer conference held in San Francisco, the company announced the launch of the long awaited Chromebooks. In December 2010 several such devices were sent to the people who registered for the pilot program, but now the launch date is known. People from US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain will be able to order their Chromebooks online starting on June 15. The notebooks will become available in the other countries at a later date.
Most of us use notebooks for accessing the Web, and Google is well aware of that. Based on this idea, Google created a notebook that has no additional software besides the browser. The users will notice that one of the main advantages of this fact is the incredible start-up time of the Chromebook. On a typical desktop, regardless of the operating system that is used, the start-up process takes a considerable amount of time. As there are no other software pieces to load besides Chrome, Google’s notebook is up and running in 8 seconds.This means that people are able to skip annoying delays and do what they want, when they want.
Some may think that a notebook that has nothing less than a browser is useless, but Google reminds them that everything can be done online nowadays. There are online applications for viewing and uploading photos, for listening to music and even for creating or editing documents. Basically, all the information is stored in the Cloud, fact that also makes back-ups obsolete. Supposing that the Chromebook gets irremediably damaged or is stolen, the data is still safe. Calendars, emails, documents, books – everything you will ever need is safely stored. However, this implies a subscription of $28/month for business and $20/month for users in schools.
Security is yet another thing people can get their mind off. Chromebooks does not need virus protection, as there are multiple security layers integrated in the Chrome OS, so people can really rest assured from this point of view. Besides, the software gets updated automatically, which means that the Chromebooks will only get faster as time goes by.
Battery life is a very important factor for portable device users. Chromebooks will be able to run a whole day on a single charge, according to Linus Upson, Vice President of Engineering and Sundar Pichai, Senior Vice President, Chrome. 3G comes as an option for some of the Chromebooks, so getting on the Web will be practically possible from anywhere. Overall, Google’s notebook brings many novelties, so we are looking forward to getting our hands on one.
Other new releases from Google is the Google Music Beta, the Android @Home and the official Google Docs Android App.
Via: Google Blog
