Google just announced its new high-end computer called Chromebook Pixel, which is aimed at “everyone” (including the “enthusiast” market), and we got a chance to check it out this morning. If you are unfamiliar with Google’s Chromebook products, they are computers built for “cloud” users who rely mainly on web-based applications and services. It has had some real retail success (Amazon) and has gained some traction in the education space as well. Previous Chromebooks laptops were primarily designed to be affordable, and that means making tough choices when it comes to hardware, especially in terms of chassis materials and display quality. The Chromebook Pixel will change this, and this time again, Google has worked (hard) with Samsung to build this laptop computer. [Photo credit: Karsten Lemm (www.kalemm.com)] (more…)
Taking a small stage in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood, Google’s Sundar Pichai introduced the Chromebook Pixel, the company’s attempt to “rethink everything” in terms of laptop design. We can’t say that the touchscreen notebook is a stark departure from the category’s norm, but it certainly feels like a solid piece of kit. Weighing in at 3.35 pounds, the Chromebook Pixel’s unibody frame looks and feels somewhat like a MacBook Pro — flanking a comfortable chicklet keyboard and a luxuriously large trackpad with a small dip at its south end. The usual bevy of navigation and control keys headline the keyboard, and the machine’s left side is populated by a Mini DisplayPort port, a power plug and two USB 2.0 plugs. The right edge houses an SD / MMC card reader and, well nothing else. The Pixel is a minimalist machine, and it both looks and feels good for the subtlety of design.
The machine’s real star is its 12-inch, 3:2 display. True to Google’s word, the screen is gorgeous, and makes full use of that 2,560 x 1,700 resolution. Photos pop, text is crystal clear and at 400-nits, everything is stunningly bright. At first swipe, it seems to be a capable touchscreen too — in the few minutes we had with the device, we didn’t have any trouble flicking our way through Engadget’s news roll, though the traditional trackpad still feels more natural at this stage. Still, everything we did was comfortable, eye-catching and rather quick, thanks, no doubt, to the Pixel’s Intel Core-i5 processer. First impressions? Very solid, and possibly the finest Chromebook yet — but at $1,299 for WiFi and $1,449 for LTE, it had better be. Skip on past the break for a hands-on video and a second hand look at the Pixel’s high resolution display.
Until now, Chromebooks hadn’t been much more than glorified netbooks; underpowered curios best suited for technological novices. The 13-inch, touchscreen, retina-displayed, full-powered Chromebook Pixel, though, appears to be anything but. And it should be enough to make Apple at least a little nervous. At least until you get to the price. More »
Got your grains of salt at the ready? Good. Rumors of a more extravagant Chromebook have been making the rounds for months now, but the new, supposedly leaked video the new touch-friendly Chromebook Pixel may provide the first real glance at what Google has been working on behind closed doors.
The video was spotted by Chrome buff François Beaufort, and it certainly looks flashy enough — it exhibits and level of polish and clarity of message that’s notably absent in most fan-made mockups (though some of them are getting very good). The video doesn’t offer much in the way of hardware specifics aside from noting that the display plays home to 4 million pixels, which Beaufort believes means a screen resolution of 2560 x 1700.
For what it’s worth, the information laid out in the leaked video jibes with some earlier reports of a touch-enabled Chromebook. Last November, the China Times claimed that Google was planning to launch a Chromebook with a 12.85-inch touch display, and noted that the search giant (and not a hardware partner like Samsung or Acer) had placed orders with ODMs Compal and Wintek.
The implication at the time was that Google would be bypassing its usual slew of hardware collaborators completely in favor of crafting and selling its own gadgets. Interestingly enough, the Chromebook Pixel video states that it’s a new kind of computer “designed entirely by Google,” suggesting that Google may have done just that. Naturally, Google declined to comment when asked if the Chromebook Pixel was indeed a real product.
The story behind how this video came to light is perhaps just as outrageous as the product being shown off. It was found on a YouTube channel owned by Slinky.Me, a Mountain View company whose states mission is to build the “world’s largest visual guide” — whatever that means. Slinky.Me was apparently was hacked a few hours ago, and the secretive Chromebook video was posted to the company’s YouTube account shortly afterward.
But why would a company working on what appears to be a fairly static visual guide have access to a promo video for unreleased Google hardware? Well, it would seem that part of the team’s work also involves crafting promo videos like these pro-Google ads that were uploaded to their collective Vimeo account this past week. None of them seem all that high-brow — not nearly as much as curious Chromebook Pixel promo anyway — but they hint at some sort of working relationship between Google and Slinky.me.
Adding fuel to the fire is Slinky.me’s CEO, one Victor Koch who claims on his LinkedIn account that he is (or was, if he’s not the type to update regularly) a software engineer at — you guessed it — Google. A quick look at his Facebook profile seems to shed a bit more light on the situation, as he refers to himself there as an “ex-Googler.” We have been unable to confirm with Google that Victor Koch was a former employee, and Mr. Koch wouldn’t respond to the Facebook messages I’ve sent him so for now this facet of the story is still a bit murky.
Naturally, someone attempted to clean up this leak as best they could as soon as the supposed hack went down. The video no longer exists on YouTube, and the elusive Mr. Koch issued a public apology (and tagged Google co-founder Sergey Brin) on his Google+ account for the video’s sudden exposure. This case has many of the earmarks of your typical botched release, but I imagine we’ll soon get official word on the Chromebook Pixel’s veracity — Google I/O is just a few months away, after all.
Google’s Chromebooks have been slowly increasing in popularity over the years as a number of big name companies are announcing their own Chromebook on a semi-regular basis as well as schools adopting them more and more. But if what is being featured in the following video turns out to be true, it could mean a much more sophisticated Chromebook may be on the way. (more…)
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
