Hasta La Gadget!

Close your eyes: imagine an alternate universe where almost nothing you know holds true. A place where your entire system of beliefs has been torn asunder, flipped on its end for seemingly no reason whatsoever. How would you manage? How would you know right from wrong, up from down? Okay, now open your eyes, and feast them on this image — proof that we came indescribably close to making that frightening, foreign world a reality. Seems the Nexus S that we all know today was at one time known as the Nexus Two — internally, anyway — because Google’s official YouTube page for the phone makes numerous calls to a domain by the name of “nexustwophone.appspot.com” (and yes, appspot.com is a Google-owned domain). Why the name change happened is anyone’s guess; could’ve been Sammy’s desire to tie it in with the Galaxy S line, could’ve been Google’s long-term goal to avoid the Nexus Six Bladerunner reference, could have been Rubin’s last-minute whim. Whatever the case, thank goodness we all came out of this brush with destiny alive and relatively unhurt.

Note: We’re aware of the discussion that Samsung allegedly “didn’t want to be number two,” hence the “S” — but whether the story is true, it’s interesting to see just how close the Nexus Two name seems to have come to retail.

Was the Nexus S nearly the Nexus Two? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 15:42:00 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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Google just demoed Chrome OS running on a piece of reference hardware at its event in SF. It just takes four steps and less than a minute to set up a brand-new Chrome OS machine — it pulls all your Chrome themes and settings from the cloud, so it’s ready to go almost right away, and changes can propagate in less than a second in some cases. The reference machine demoed was able to come back up from sleep almost instantly — Google says the limiting factor is actually how fast the user can move their hand. (It wasn’t that fast in the demo, but it was still really fast.) The OS also supports multiple accounts with a guest account that runs in Incognito mode, and all user data is encrypted by default. The OS itself is loaded on read-only memory that can’t be altered without physical access — a tech which enables verified booting. (A “jailbreak mode” switch on the developer units lets you install whatever you want, but we’ll see what the final machines support.) What’s more, the OS will be automatically updated every few weeks — the goal is for it to get faster over time, not slower.

There’s also offline capability — Google Docs was demoed running offline, with changes synced when the machine reconnects. It seems like that’s an app-specific feature though — apps on the Chrome Web Store have to be built for HTML5 offline to work, obviously. Google also demoed Google Cloud Print, which allows you to print on your home printer from anywhere. Chrome OS devices will also be able to use new Verizon 3G plans for offline access — you’ll get 100MB of free data per month for two years, and then plans start at $9.99 for a day of “unlimited access” with no contracts required. (There will eventually be international options, but those weren’t detailed.)

There are still some unfinished bits though — there’s no support for the USB ports on the machines yet, and there are still some performance tweaks and bug fixes to come. (Don’t expect ever being able to connect a printer, as the company thinks its Cloud Print service is a better option.) The OS will come on Intel-based machines from Acer and Samsung in mid-2011 — and “thousands of Googlers” are using Chrome OS devices as their primary machines. An unbranded 12-inch reference machine called Cr-48 will be available for developers — read more about that here.

Overall, Chrome OS is very much a modern riff on the “thin client” idea from the 90s — an idea that Eric Schmidt himself pioneered while at Sun. Indeed, Schmidt took the stage at the event to explicitly draw the connection, saying that “our instincts were right 20 years ago, but we didn’t have the tools or technology.” That’s a pretty wild statement — and now Google has to deliver.

Developing…

Google Chrome OS gets detailed, first laptops from Acer and Samsung coming mid-2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 14:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It hasn’t been that long since we first saw Google’s web store — mid-May, to be exact. An updated version is currently being showcased on stage at the Chrome event. The UI looks much more refined, and those who are itching to try some out yourself, it seems some of the web apps are already available, at least partially: NPR, The New York Times, Amazon Windowshop. If you ask us, they feel a lot like iPad apps for browsers and mice / keyboard. Audio can run in the background even if you move to another tab. There’s offline mode, too. App purchases are tied to your Google account, naturally. There’s some gaming, but from what we’ve seen so far (“you pop it!“), it’s nothing you’re gonna be focusing a lot of time on. Interesting note from the Q&A is that the apps, since they’re built with “standard web technologies,” will work with all compatible browsers. We’ve been trying to access the web store (via the Chrome browser, naturally), but it’s currently hiding behind a “coming soon” redirect — it’s rolling out later today, though, at least for the US, so keep an eye out.

Update: Try that link one more time, the Chrome Web Store should now be live.

Google demos Chrome Web Store, rolling out later today to US (update: now live) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 13:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s a big Chrome day for Google today, and they’re kicking things off with new features for the browser itself, features that will be included in Chrome 9 when it lands. The real highlight is the addition of Instant Search to Chrome’s famed “Omnibox.” It works about as you’d expect: as you type a Google search you still get your regular suggestions, but you also get a full search results page loading and refreshing live as you type. Google took things a step further and actually implemented this for regular sites too: based on your typical behavior, when you start typing an address, Chrome will pull up that site for you automatically (we hope when you type “e” you’ll get Engadget, instead of Google’s espn.com example).

The other huge improvement is “Crankshaft,” which Google claims is a 2X improvement in JavaScript speed, based on what benchmark you’re looking at. To put it in context, Google claims Chrome is 100X faster than IE’s JavaScript performance back in 2008. Other rendering tweaks include a super fast built-in PDF reader (Google demoed the browser loading the entire health care bill in a blink), and full-on WebGL support.

Developing…

Google spruces up Chrome with Instant Search from the Omnibox, other nerdy things originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 13:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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