Hasta La Gadget!

Google’s second (and final) day of I/O 2011 was all about Chrome, and unfortunately for those yearning for a Chrome OS tablet, it looks as if your dreams will remain unfulfilled. Sundar Pichai, Senior VP of Chrome, spoke candidly about the company’s intentions during an executive Q&A session follow this morning’s keynote, and he didn’t bother to mince words:

“[Chrome OS] is a new experience we’re working on. It’s hardware agnostic in a sense. We are fully, 100 percent focused on laptops. Most of the web usage — greater than 90 percent — is on laptops. That’s what we’re working on today, and we have no other plans on any other form factors.”

Any other form factors outside of the Chromebox, we’re surmising. Goog’s been pretty steadfast in its approach to Chrome OS; it’s being marketed as a software + hardware package, with both working in lockstep to provide a (more or less) guaranteed user experience. To that end, the outfit’s obviously not interested in cannibalizing any Android slate sales with the addition of Chrome OS, and while we’re bummed in a way, the promise of Ice Cream Sandwich helps to numb the pain (a little). In related news, Sundar also addressed questions regarding the company’s decision to rely on both Chrome OS and Android. When asked to “reconcile [Google’s] two big strategic visions,” he hit us with the following:

“There are a variety of experiences out there, and the web model is very different. We’re comfortable seeing them coexist. Google Movies and YouTube have web versions — when you use a Chromebook, you see how it’s different, and they’ll naturally coexist. These are very different models — if we didn’t do something like Chromebooks, I’m pretty sure someone else would.”

That last line is most telling, and it begs the question: if not Google, then who? There’s no question that companies are crowding the cloud bandwagon, but would Microsoft or Apple really have the desire to bust out a totally connected operating system? Makes you wonder if Chrome OS won a race that never actually began…

Google: ‘no plans’ for Chrome OS on tablets, any other form factors originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 19:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SAN FRANCISCO — Google announced a new generation of Chrome OS–based laptops at the company’s I/O developer conference here Wednesday.

The new device will be called the Chromebook, and its interface will be based entirely on Google’s Chrome browser. In other words, everything you do with a Chromebook will be on and through the web.

Google has formed partnerships with two manufacturers to build the hardware, Acer and Samsung. Each of the companies will produce one Chrome netbook.

Acer’s model will run on Intel’s dual-core Atom processor, with an 11.6-inch HD display. Google claims a 6-hour battery life, with instant-on capability. It weighs just under 3 pounds, and will come in Wi-Fi or 3G models, starting at $350.

Samsung’s model is similar, though a bit bigger. Its larger 12.1-inch display puts Samsung’s Chromebook at 3¼ pounds, so it’s also somewhat heavier. But the makers promise better battery life, at 8.5 hours. It will run on the same Intel Atom dual-core processor, and have the same USB and SD card slots that the Acer model will have. Samsung’s model will start at $430 for Wi-Fi, and $500 for a 3G version.

Google’s initial foray into this market launched last year with the CR-48 web-only laptop. Google said the pilot program had over 1 million participants. Initial feedback was generally positive, except for scathing reviews of the CR-48’s trackpad.

Google vice president of Chrome Sundar Pichai assured the developer audience that the new Chromebooks will come with “fully reworked trackpads.”

And in a hacker-friendly nod to its developers, Pichai said Chromebooks will come with “full jailbreaking mode built in, so you can play around with the kernel all you want.”

The Chromebook will be available to the public through Amazon.com and BestBuy.com beginning June 15 for U.S. customers. It will also be available in a small number of other countries: Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.

All photos courtesy Google.

In among all the hard news of today’s second Google I/O keynote, we were treated to a tease of a Google Chrome OS nettop, which to our ears sounded like it was called a Chromebox. What we’ve no doubt about is that Google is planning a desktop version of its web-centric OS, which — together with that Samsung-branded computer above — is going to be showing up at some point in our collective future. Light on details, but rich on intrigue, just the way we like it.

Google teases Samsung-built Chromebox, desktop version of Chrome OS originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 13:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google just showed off a new 11.6-inch Chromebook from Acer at Google I/O promising an eight second boot time with an Intel Atom N570 CPU, 16GB SDD, instant-on, two USB ports, webcam, HDMI and 6.5 hour battery life. It’s cheaper than the Samsung Series 5 also announced, starting at $349 with optional world-mode 3G available for more cash and will be available for preorder on the same day — June 15th from Amazon and Best Buy. Check more details at the source link below, with pics in the gallery and specs are after the break.

Continue reading Google unveils Acer Chromebook: $349, 11.6-inches with 6.5-hour battery

Google unveils Acer Chromebook: $349, 11.6-inches with 6.5-hour battery originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 May 2011 13:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Had enough Google for the week? We thought not. We’re still cranking on content from the (admittedly momentous) first day, but we’ll be taking a break just after lunch tomorrow (May 11th in the great state of California) to bring you blow-by-blow coverage of the outfit’s final keynote for I/O 2011. It’ll be hard to top the bevy of introductions from today, but we’re guessing Google’s down for trying to top itself. We’ll see you tomorrow, and if you’re looking to follow along as it happens, you can bookmark our liveblog page right here.

06:30AM – Hawaii
09:30AM – Pacific
10:30AM – Mountain
11:30AM – Central
12:30PM – Eastern
05:30PM – London
06:30PM – Paris
08:30PM – Moscow / Dubai
12:30AM – Perth (May 12th)
12:30AM – Shenzhen (May 12th)
01:30AM – Tokyo (May 12th)
02:30AM – Sydney (May 12th)

Google I/O 2011 continues tomorrow, get your (second) liveblog right here! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 May 2011 21:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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