Hasta La Gadget!

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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Plowing through bug reports is a reliable way to dig up juicy morsels of info, and thanks to that timeless tactic we’ve got some specs on a pair of unannounced Chrome OS devices. First up is a netbook from Acer codenamed ZGB which, according to a recently filed report, will have a 1366 x 768 panel, presumably in the 10 to 12 inch range. We also know that you can hook up an external display to it via an HDMI port powered by an encoder chip from Chrontel. Since AMD’s Fusion netbook platform supports HDMI natively, we can also safely assume that the ZGB will be running the web-only OS on an Atom processor. That’s where the details end for now but, hey, it’s better than nothing.

The other device, Seaboard, has been floating around the Chrome OS flaw depot for some time, but reports are finally starting to reveal some tantalizing details. We now know that it is powered by a Tegra 2 and sports a touchscreen — the perfect place to test out those finger-friendly tweaks we’ve heard so much about. There are also mentions of a “lid switch” and a physical keyboard, indicating it may be a convertible or something in the vein of the Eee Pad Slider rather than a pure slate. The hybrid form factor would make perfect sense since it will house a pair of USB ports and an HDMI jack, which could make for a rather chunky tablet. Obviously, neither of these devices are confirmed yet (and Seaboard is most likely being used for internal testing only) but at least we’ve got a better idea of what to expect when the browser-based OS comes to consumers later this year.

Chrome OS machines leaked in bug reports: Acer netbook and touch-friendly Seaboard originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Apr 2011 13:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony’s top-secret prototype labs must be clocking hours like mad, as Sony Insider reports that the company has two more surprises in store — in addition to a PlayStation tablet, dual-screen clamshell and sliding PC, the skunk works has cooked up a Chrome OS notebook, as well as a “VAIO Hybrid PC” that defies any sort of meaningful explanation in just three words. The Chrome OS device is reportedly modeled after Google’s own Cr-48 reference design with roughly the same dimensions and keyboard but an oh-so-slightly smaller 11.6-inch screen, and NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 running the show alongside 1GB of RAM and 16GB of flash storage. Sony’s also shooting for eight hours of battery life, and a weight of just 2.2 pounds.

All of that pales in comparison to what Sony’s plotting for this “Hybrid PC,” though. The publication says we’re looking at a thin-and-light Core i7 notebook with an incredible 8 to 16.5 hours of battery life, Intel Thunderbolt and an internal SSD, all of which plugs into a dock of some sort that adds a Blu-ray burner and external graphics (by AMD) for gaming and multimedia. We don’t have any pictures or proof at this point, but it sounds like a whopper of a tale, and just the sort of thing that Intel was talking about making possible with the 10Gbps of bandwidth that Thunderbolt brings.

Sony crafting VAIOs with Chrome OS, external GPUs and Thunderbolt tech? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Mar 2011 19:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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