Hasta La Gadget!

Google Chromebooks are aplenty at the moment, with Acer, Samsung, Lenovo, and HP all offering Chromebooks at different shapes and sizes. However, it looks like Google may take matters into their own hands, because a video has leaked today that features a touchscreen Chromebook laptop that has a Retina-quality 2560×1700 resolution.

The video was originally uploaded to YouTube, but has since been taken down, and the company responsible for uploading the video, SlinkyMe, says that the video made its way to YouTube after its servers were compromised by hackers. Of course, we don’t know if that was actually the case, since it’s also possible that the video was just accidentally set to “public.”

The Google-designed Chromebook is supposedly called the Pixel, most likely named after the high-resolution display. It’s not said whether the device is both designed and manufactured by Google, or if they’re partnering with a manufacturer to put it together for them, similar to how the Nexus series of mobile devices operates.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that a Google-designed Chromebook has been made. The company released the CR-48 Chromebook, which only made its way to a handful of people and actually never went on sale. Of course, just like with the CR-48, the Pixel looks to be simply designed and takes a few queues from the MacBook, including the aluminum shell and the chiclet keyboard. We’ll be on standby if more details emerge of the Google Pixel.

[via Liliputing]

Google-designed Chromebook Pixel leaks, features Retina-quality touchscreen is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Developer François Beaufort posted something very interesting on Google+ earlier today. As you can see in the screenshot above, there appears to be a new feature for rich notifications on Google’s Chrome OS. A closer look will reveal notifications for messages, calls, Google+, and more. It even resembles a little of Google Now’s capabilities. Beaufort also pointed out a new app pinned to the launcher. (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: AT&T Renames U-verse Live TV To Mobile TV, Sony’s Launches K-12 Education Initiative For Teachers And Schools,

If you weren’t sure if Google was ramping up their education efforts within the last few months, maybe this will confirm it for you. Google now has Chromebooks in 2,000 schools globally, which is twice as many schools that had Chromebooks equipped from three months ago. It’s not said how many Chromebooks have been handed out so far, but a high school in Florida, which recently joined the program, has 2,200 Chromebooks at its disposal.

The search giant announced the news on their Enterprise Blog, and said that the impact of the Chromebook program was tremendous. It has allowed the schools to enable tech support internships, offer homebound students to collaborate remotely, and teach students to become “digital leaders.” With that said, it doesn’t seem like the program will hit a wall anytime soon.

Google also doesn’t mention what kind of Chromebooks they’re handing out to schools, as their are many different models from various manufacturers, but the company said that “there is a device for any school, any student, anywhere.” Either way, the computers will no doubt teach students more about technology and the internet, that way they can be prepared for the real world.

Out of the 2,000 schools that have joined in on the program, Google notes a few schools that were just recently added to the list. St.Thomas Aquinas High School in Florida (previously mentioned) is one, and Rocketship Education in San Francisco, California in another, with 1,100 Chromebooks at its disposal. Transylvania County Schools in rural North Carolina also recently joined the program, with 900 Chromebooks split between the county’s schools.

Google Chromebooks now in 2,000 schools is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Acer expects Chrome OS to play an increasing role in its fortunes moving forward, as “Windows 8 itself is still not successful” according to the Taiwanese company’s president. 5- to 10-percent of Acer’s US shipments were Chromebooks such as the C7 ultraportable, Jim Wong told Bloomberg, and the company is confident that Chrome OS can sustain consumer interest in the face of what it sees as waning Windows 8 demand.

Acer saw a 28-percent drop in Q4 2012 shipments, year on year, and blames Microsoft’s new platform for its PC shortfall. “The whole market didn’t come back to growth after the Windows 8 launch,” Wong argues, “that’s a simple way to judge if it is successful or not.”

What particularly impressed the Acer chief was how well Chrome OS has done despite Google’s relatively low-key marketing of the platform. Unlike the Windows 8 gush in advance of Microsoft’s launch late last year, Google’s promotional work was “not as broad” Wong points out, describing it as “encouraging” how much consumer attention Chromebooks nonetheless garnered.

Likely to be helpful is the average price of a Chrome OS device, which – in part because Google gives away Chrome OS licenses free, rather than charging for them as Microsoft does for OEMs using Windows 8 – undercuts most regular notebook models. The C7, for instance – which we reviewed last year – is priced at just $199, though Wong says Acer spent some of the money it saved on licensing fees on marketing and promotions instead.

Acer now intends to launch Chrome OS devices more broadly, with particular hopes for the potential of the low-cost machines in developing markets. Unfortunately for Microsoft, that’s not the strategy Acer will be taking with Windows RT, the version of Windows intended for use on ARM-based tablets and notebooks. The company is still evaluating the platform, Wong says.

Meanwhile, Acer hopes to triple its smartphone sales in 2013, aiming for 1.5m sales globally and targeting individual carriers with specific devices, rather than blanketing the market. It’s likely that will involve Android, Google’s better-known OS.

Acer: Chromebooks good, Windows 8 bad is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

This week it appears that HP is getting set up to work with a Pavilion-branded Chromebook, pumped up and ready to take action with the rest of the extremely inexpensive machines that Samsung and Acer have created thus far. We’ve had our hands-on review looks at the newest Samsung Series 3 Chromebook and Acer C7 Chromebook, now it’s time for HP to bring what we’re expecting will be one of the least hardcore versions of their lineup to the Chromebook world. I say least hardcore simply because HP has been known for and has proven to us that they are, indeed, hardcore with their Elite lineup top to bottom – with Chrome the game is altogether different.

The specifications for this Chromebook from HP show it to be a 14-inch display-toting HP-looking beast, that meaning it’ll at first appear very much to be a high powered Pavilion by all outward appearances. Once you’re inside you’ll find that its size and weight foretell its abilities – 3.96
lb (1.8 kg) and you’ll wonder how powerful it could possibly be. Inside you’ve got SSD storage and connectivity to Google Drive for cloud storage, and of course the software is mostly web-based so your processing power is mostly surrounding what you’ll be able to do in your Chrome web browser.

The power you do get is an Intel Celeron Processor 847 clocked at 1.1GHz. That’s not a misprint, this machine literally has what appears to be a processor with less power than your smartphone. That’s alright though, and you can chill, because with 2GB DDR3 SDRAM and support for up to 4GB, you’ll be rolling out hard with whatever you’ll need to do in the Chrome OS without a doubt. The display is an LED-backlit unit with BrightView technology and 1366 x 768 pixel resolution as well, so videos you’ll be watching via Google Play will be as high definition as they get.

NOTE: All of the info you see here comes from a Product PDF straight from HP’s shopping center. At the moment it appears that the “ad embargo date” is set for the 17th of February, 2013, so you can expect it to hit shelves soon!

This machine at the moment is spec’d to work with wifi only, but we’re expecting a mobile version in the future as well. This Chromebook has 3 USB 2.0 ports as well as 1HDMI out, 2 Rj-45 port (LAN), and a headphone/microphone combo port. The unit itself is just 0.83 inches thick at its thickest point, 13.66 inches wide, 9.37 inches deep, and will be coming in at 4 hours and 15 minutes battery time in this first iteration. Sound like the winner you’re looking for? We’ll be seeing official confirmation of this machine soon – and we’ll likely see it in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress 2013 as well!

HP Pavilion Chromebook leaked for February 17th is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.