Hasta La Gadget!

The Earthlings here at Engadget HQ are still patiently awaiting their own Cr-48s, but it looks as if those who were quick on the trigger have just received a Chrome OS laptop to cuddle with. If you’ll recall, Google opened up a Chrome OS Pilot Program Tuesday, and for those who registered early (and got awfully lucky), they’re being treated to a Cr-48 on their doorsteps. One gracious tipster has already sent over a trio of unboxing shots (while another provided the video after the break), and we’ll be sure to give the low-down (you know — video, impressions, etc.) once our own arrives. Anytime now, FedEx…

[Thanks, Dan and Michael]

Continue reading Google Cr-48 Chrome OS laptop now shipping to the lucky few

Google Cr-48 Chrome OS laptop now shipping to the lucky few originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 09 Dec 2010 10:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We gotta hand it to Google: if its goal was to own the technology news cycle for 48 hours, mission accomplished. The Mountain View-based company spent the first two days this week laying out pretty much every big announcement it possibly could: a new flagship phone coming next week (the Nexus S), a new Android build (2.3 Gingerbread), a preview of the next Android build (Honeycomb) on a never-before-seen Motorola tablet, the debut of its cloud-based laptop platform (Chrome OS) with hardware, and a giant plunge into the growing e-book market — and that isn’t everything. We’ve done our best to condense all the days’ highlights into something easier to digest, so read on for a recap on all things Google!

Continue reading Google’s big week: Nexus S, Honeycomb tablets, Chrome OS laptops, and eBooks to boot

Google’s big week: Nexus S, Honeycomb tablets, Chrome OS laptops, and eBooks to boot originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Dec 2010 13:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When Amazon launched Kindle for the Web earlier this year, we all cried “what?!” The service let you preview small snippets of Kindle ebooks in your browser, and that was about it. It kind of proved itself as a way to promote books on other sites, thanks to embedding features, but it remained a curiosity.

Now Amazon has announced an update, bringing the full Kindle experience to the browser, and also to Google’s new Chrome Web Store, meaning any notebook running Google’s Chrome OS. You’ll be able to read entire books on any web-connected device, and if you embed books on your site and people read them there, you’ll earn affiliate fees.

Kindle seems to be the default option for reading ebooks: There’s a Kindle app for pretty much everything, and Amazon has the biggest catalog, too, especially if you live outside the US where things like Apple’s iBooks Store are crippled. I spend almost as much time in the Kindle app on my iPad as I do in Safari.

Putting the Kindle on the web is smart, and shows that Amazon is way more interested in selling Kindle books than selling Kindle hardware. Hell, even the Barnes & Noble Nook has a browser. Maybe you could even read Kindle books on that?

Kindle for the Web [Amazon]

Every Website Can Now Be a Bookstore [Amazon press release]

See Also:

• Five Things Google's Chrome OS Will Do for Your Netbook
• Google Chrome OS Not Ready for Primetime Yet
• With Chrome OS, Google Doubles Down on the Cloud

We’ve long been proponents of subscription music, but it’s always a rocky relationship: Rhapsody‘s excellent selection but bad app and terrible web player (you call that a bitrate?), Zune‘s beautiful UI but Windows-only-ness, and Spotify‘s continued inability to work in the US. Eventually, this particular writer drifted over to MOG, which was initially a $5 a month web-only service, best known for its high bitrate and decent selection, with a more recent move to Android and iPhone apps (including offline play) for a still-palatable $10 a month price. Unfortunately, all this time we’ve had to put up with the indignities of a pop-up, window-based Flash player for our main MOG experience, which crashes any browser on a Mac at least once a day — like most Flash things on the Mac. Which brings us to today: MOG is a featured app on Google’s new Chrome Web Store, and once “installed” it offers an all-new luscious, speedy, HTML5 UI for MOG. Better yet, the web app also works in Safari at mog.com/chrome. Under the hood there’s still a “headless” Flash playback element for DRM purposes, but everything else is a vast improvement. The only thing that could make us happier would be some sort of exfm-style Chrome extension for adding music we discover on the web to MOG playlists. You know, as long as we’re getting lifelong dreams granted like this, might as well go for broke.

MOG hits the Chrome Web Store, cools our Flash fever with a nice cool HTML5 washcloth originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 18:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve had plenty of pre-knowledge on this, but surprisingly this is our first actual glimpse of Google’s new unbranded “Cr-48,” the very first Chrome OS laptop. Google will distribute the laptop through its Chrome OS Pilot Program, in a sort of public beta. You actually have to apply to join the program, and there are going to be a limited number of the laptops available — retail Chrome OS models from Acer and Samsung will be available in the middle of 2011 for the masses. Google’s doing a number of little promotions to give away the devices to interested users and businesses which will provide feedback, and it looks like there’s no way to actually pay money for one right now. Now, for the specs:

• 12.1-inch screen.
• Full size keyboard.
• Oversized clickpad.
• Qualcomm Gobi 3G chip for Verizon data in the US, your carrier of choice internationally.
• 802.11n dual-band WiFi.
• 8+ hours of active use.
• 8+ days of standby.
• Webcam.
• Flash storage.

The keyboard is the one we uncovered last week, with no function keys, but a full row of Apple Keyboard-style actions. The caps lock key has been replaced with a search button, which will enrage internet trolls and screenwriters alike. Branding-wise… there is none. The “Cr-48” refers to an isotope of the material chromium, there’s no logo and no design frills on the laptop itself, and it only comes in black. It seems Google is going out of its way to make it clear that this isn’t a mass market device, with Chrome OS still in the beta stage, and no apparent intentions to compete with third parties in the hardware space. Still, we gotta say: we wish more manufacturers would take a page out of this no-frills book. The murdered out Cr-48 looks like pure sex to us.

Google unveils Cr-48, the first Chrome OS laptop originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 14:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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