Chromebook: the official computer behind Chrome OS

After yesterday’s amazing announcements from Google it’s hard to top them out the second day, but that might just have happened, as the second day at Google IO conference was the day of Chrome OS.

Today Google announced the availability of Chrome OS, their version of lightweight operating system that relies heavily on Web apps, that’s going to ship preloaded on netbooks from Google’s partners Samsung and Acer starting June 15.

Currently the netbooks running Chrome OS are called Chromebooks, and there are two models available, the Acer Chromebook and Samsung Series 5 Chromebook, a 11,6 inch and 12 inch respectively diagonal form factor laptops. Both run on dual core Atom CPUs, offer optional 3G (with a subscription from Verizon in US and other partners in other launching countries) and can be purchased from Amazon (pre-order page is live) and Best Buy in US.

There’s not much to say about Chromebooks, except they’re like the Apple laptops on a darker tone, with few graphic elements to annoy the eye, thus being very simple, feeling almost featureless. Here are the main specs of those two Chrome OS laptops. More models will be available later this year.

Chromebook specs

Acer Chromebook WiFi/3G

• 11.6” HD  LED-backlit LCD: (1366 x 768) resolution
• Intel Atom N570 @1.66GHz
• 2GB RAM
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150
• 16GB Solid State Drive
• 1.3 Megapixel HD Webcam
• Two Built-in Speakers
• Wireless-N
• Qualcomm Gobi 2000-3G (optional)
• 2- USB 2.0 Ports, 1- HDMI Port
• 6-cell Lithium-Ion Battery up to 8-hours battery life
• 2.95 lbs weight
• Price: $499 with 3G, and $429 for the WiFi only model

Samsung Series 5

• 12.1-inch LED-backlit display with anti-reflective coating
• 1.66 GHz Intel Atom dual-core N570 processor
• 16 GB solid-state drive (SSD)
• 2 GB RAM
• Wireless-N, integrated 3G (via optional Verizon Wireless subscription)
• 2xUSB 2.0, 4-in-1 memory card reader
• VGA out (via optional dongle)
• Stereo speakers, combo headphone/microphone jack
• Battery: 6-cell battery for up to 8.5 hours of use
• 1-megapixel webcam
• 3,26 lbs weight
• Price: starts at $349 (not official yet)

Preorder Samsung and Acer Chromebooks – official page on Amazon

As you can see, those are not cheap laptops and specs are not that high, especially the 16 GB storage space. I know Google wants Chrome OS to be the best cloud operating system, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a reserve where you store local files like pictures and videos that are hard to upload to the cloud (I upload a 1 GB file on Youtube in 2 hours for example). I know that’s not the point for those who will opt in for Chrome OS, but if this OS wants to get lot of market share and attract Windows and Mac users it has to offer all the amenities of current laptops, with the added bonus of Chrome OS. And speaking of advantages lets’ take a look at what makes Chrome OS special and worth considering.

Chrome OS special features

Instant web – lack of features has it advantages, and for Chrome OS that means boot up in just 8 seconds. After eight seconds you are ready to browse the web or launch any web app installed

Always connected – in theory a Chromebook Chrome OS laptop is always connected to the Internet, via WiFI or 3G (Verizon’s 3 year contract offers 100 MB free to start with). In practice the speed of Chrome OS will depend heavily on your Internet connection, so take that statement always with a little bit of caution.

Same experience everywhere – all your data is in sync with the cloud so if you lose your computer or have to log in with you Google account on another Chromebook you have access to all your data. That’s the advantage of cloud computing, but it’s also its disadvantage if Internet connection speed is low or you’re offline.

Web apps – no need to install anything from a CD (the old way). All apps are HTML 5 based and can be downloaded via Google’s Chrome OS app store. An interesting feature, which all media people hoped for, is that most apps will work offline, so you don’t need an Internet connection all the time to work or play (that’s a good thing, but raises the question of how much can you store on only 16 GB of storage, minus the Chrome OS files),

Guest mode - if you want a friend to play with your Chromebook you have the guest mode, where they don’t have access to your files and everything is deleted once the session ends.

Auto updates – the system is updated automatically, including the apps, so an annoyance less for technologically challenged consumers

Security build in - multiple layers of protection are available, including sandboxing, data encryption, and verified boot

Chromebooks for business and education

Google is pretty smart and will offer Business and Education programs which allow those types of users to rent a Chromebook for 28$/20$ respectively, per month. The requirement is a three year contract for each device. After three years you can opt for a better device (which should be available by then). Don’t know what happens if you want to switch in mid term. If your Chromebook breaks before the three year period Google will repair/replace it for free.

The whole concept of the education and business program could allow Google to build up momentum quicker and will allow a lot of people to try the new OS for a relatively low amount of money. For businesses it should be an ideal tool  as everything is secured, saved online and hassle free when it comes to updates and management. That should be enough to convince small business owners to at least try Chrome OS.

Final thoughts

Is Chrome OS a revolution? Don’t think so, as for me is confusing where Android for tablets plays in this scenario, as it offers mainly the same features of Chrome OS on cheaper and even lighter devices. Sure you can’t work on a tablet too much, but I would dare to say that you can’t work on a Chromebook either unless similar desktop apps like the ones you use today will be developed. It remains to be seen how much of the current OS market Chrome OS will capture, but definitely Microsoft and Apple should pay more attention to Google in the next period.

Don’t forget to share with us your thoughts about Chrome OS in the comments below.

Official Google Chrome OS presentation videos

Instant Web

Always connected

Same experience everywhere

The Web Apps

Guest mode

Auto updates