Hasta La Gadget!

Interested to know how you were gonna fill up that Chrome OS app page? Google just announced its new online web app store at I/O. So far they’ve shown off Dark Room for image editing, a pretty slick version of TweetDeck, and yes, like every other platform known to man, there’s Plants. vs. Zombies and Lego Star Wars. Paid-for software will be offered — Dark Room is $4.99, if you want to go ahead and put that money aside. No word on a launch date, but we’ll keep pushing for more. We were just shown a demo of Sports Illustrated‘s interactive magazine, and we gotta say, it’s mighty impressive — embedded video, fully searchable, and some pretty clever tricks with geolocation that frankly exceed most anything we’ve seen on the iPad thus far. The web store — for Chrome and Chrome OS — will hit the dev channel “soon.”

Google unveils Chrome web store, Sports Illustrated app impresses originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 May 2010 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The recent rumors of an forthcoming Verizon Android tablet prompt this question: Whatever happened to Google’s Chrome OS? Granted, Google never led us to believe that the Web-based OS would be available to consumers before the second half of the year, but it’s a bit surprising just how little we’ve heard coming out of the Chrome camp.

But now, it seems that the first Chrome OS-based device may actually hit shelves. According to a story over at Venture Beat, Acer is set to become the first company to launch a device running the operating system. The unnamed piece of hardware is rumored to be making its debut at Computex, held June 1st to June 5th.

There’s nothing official about the reports, however. Venture Beat hasn’t cited any of its “multiple sources,” but I guess we’ll all know the answer in a couple of weeks.

PC maker Acer has been saying for months that it will launch laptops loaded with Google’s Chrome OS in the second half of the year. Now, rumors say Acer Chrome OS gadgets will debut next month, much sooner than most industry watchers would have bet.

Acer is likely to introduce its Chrome OS products at the Computex trade show in Taiwan held June 1 to June 5, multiple sources told VentureBeat.

If true, the move will mark a significant step for Google in the PC industry. Google introduced Chrome OS in November as a lightweight, browser-based operating system that would boot up in seven seconds or less. Google said the first Chrome OS netbooks would be available late 2010.

Soon after, Acer’s president of IT products division Jim Wong said his company is “aggressively pursuing” to become one of the first PC makers to offer Chrome devices. Acer said it expects to launch its products in the second half of the year, and it expects to ship one million Chrome devices in 2010.

Acer hasn’t mentioned pricing for its Chrome OS netbooks. But recently Google CEO Eric Schmidt said he expects Chrome OS netbooks to cost between $300 and $400, coming in line with devices running Microsoft’s Windows operating system.

Acer might be the first to release Chrome laptops, but it probably won’t be long before companies such as Asus and Lenovo follow.

See Also:

• Acer Plans a Million Chrome OS Netbooks, New E-Reader
• Mock-ups Show a Google Chrome OS Tablet
• Chrome OS Netbooks For Under $400, Says Google
• Google Chrome OS: Ditch Your Hard Drives, the Future Is the Web …

Photo: (nDevilTV/Flickr)

Not much by way of detail here, but Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam just confirmed that his company is working on tablets with Google in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. Unfortunately, that’s all we’ve got to work with at the moment — McAdam said tablets are “part of the ‘next big wave of opportunities,’ but didn’t say what OS the Google devices would run, just that Verizon’s “looking at all the things Google has in its archives that we could put on a tablet to make it a great experience.” That sounds like something Google’s been working on for a while, so we’ll take a guess and say it’s Android-based, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see a Chrome OS tablet or netbook make the scene at some point in the future. We’re also wondering who’ll build this thing: any number of companies from Dell to Toshiba to MSI have already started working on Android tablets, and we’re sure HTC and Motorola would totally jump at the opportunity. A nice crisp confirmed fact wrapped in layers of chewy speculation — just how we likes it.

Update: Bloomberg scored some more details in an interview with Marquett Smith, Verizon’s VP of corporate communications; the tablet is said be Android-based, and more details will be released later this week. Let the wait begin!

Verizon confirms it’s working on a tablet with Google (Update: Android!) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 11 May 2010 18:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Netbooks that will run Google’s new Chromium operating system will be competitively priced in the range of $300-$400, says Google chief Eric Schmidt.

The Chrome OS netbooks are expected to hit retail shelves by the end of this year or early next year.

“Those prices are completely determined by the costs of the glass, the costs of the processor and things like that,” says Schmidt in this video dug up by Tech Radar, “but in our case Chrome OS and Android are free so there is no software tax associated with all of this.”

Google introduced Chrome OS two months ago as a lightweight, browser-based operating system that would boot up in seven seconds or less. Google hasn’t revealed who will be manufacturing the Chrome OS netbooks, but already Acer has said it expects to offer about a million of these devices this year.

Chrome OS netbooks could also be available on contract from phone service providers, says Schmidt.

But it’s not clear how well that strategy will work. Other netbook makers have already tried that in the U.S. with limited success. For instance, Nokia offers its Booklet 3G netbook for $300 with a two-year AT&T contract that requires a monthly data service fee. But the device is also available without the plan at Best Buy for $600.

The novelty factor of the Chrome OS operating system aside, the netbook market is extremely price sensitive. And if Google wants a share of that pie it will have to beat the price of the Windows-based devices.

See Also:

• Acer Plans a Million Chrome OS Netbooks, New E-Reader
• Five Things Google’s Chrome OS Will Do for Your Netbook
• Mock-ups Show a Google Chrome OS Tablet
• Google Chrome OS: Ditch Your Hard Drives, the Future Is the Web
  
• Google Chrome OS Netbook Specs Leaked?

Photo: (BlubrNL/Flickr)