Google Chromebook slated for June

By Liam Tung on May 12, 2011 4:52 AM
Filed under Hardware

Linux laptops promise eight second boot time and no need for Antivirus.

Google has announced its first Chromebook, slated for release in Europe and the US by June 15.

The Linux OS Intel-Atom dual-core processor laptops, to be manufactured by Samsung and Acer, will feature a 12.1 inch screen, 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, automated software updates, and a boot up time of just eight seconds, according to Google, which announced the product at its I/O conference in San Francisco.

Samsung's wi-Fi plus 3G laptop will retail in the US for US$499, while its Wi-Fi only laptop will retail for US$429.00, according to its statement.

The laptops’ security features include automatic updates, sandboxing to thwart drive-by downloads, home file encryption, recovery options and a "verified boot".

“Thanks to automatic updates the software on your Chromebook will get faster over time,” Google's Linus Upson, VP of engineering and Sundar Pichai, senior VP of Chrome said in a joint post.

They claimed its built-in security meant there was “no anti-virus software to buy and maintain” while users should have a “whole day of use on a single change”.

Offline access for Google Docs, Gmail and Google Calender were slated for this (US) summer, according to the All Things Digital blog.

Google teamed up with Citrix for its cloud-dependent laptop, utilising Citrix Receiver. This would allow for users to access, for example, a virtualised version of Adove Photoshop through the Chrome browser.

Google also flagged supported versions for schools and businesses at US$20 and US$28 per month respectively.

It remains to be seen whether Google's Chromebook has improved since its release of the Rc-48 prototype. The screen quality of the device was comparable to most netbooks, its battery life under continuous use was 6 hours, and there were problems with its single-surface touchpad, according to a January 2011 review by Ars Technica.

According to Samsung's fact file, the laptop will last for up to 8.5 hours, depending on its configuration.

Google has not set a release date for Australia.

Image credit: Google.

7 comments in this discussion

"iTnews wrote: iTnews Article: Google Chromebook slated for June Linux laptops promise eight second boot time and no need for Antivirus. Read the story here: Google Chromebook slated for ..."

By JohnHenry

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Comments: 7

mrhasbean May 12, 2011 7:46 AM	Until the speed and reliability of internet access in Australia improves dramatically - especially in regional areas - devices that rely on an internet connection to be anything more than an organiser or something to play tetris on will be a total waste of money. More virtualisation also means more access to your private data, and the last company I want having access to my personal and business data is Google.
ITnovice May 12, 2011 9:27 AM	Google's Chrome OS was revolutionary until Apple kick-started the tablet market with the iPad. Google should not have taken so long from the time of announcement until release, it takes away any excitement from the product release.
laman May 12, 2011 10:50 AM	Will it choke up my 512K boardband service with only 2GB download quota? Or will it work smoothly with the dial-up connection people are using in the outer suburb? I personally hate that I have to have a broadband connection to use something.
yum-e May 12, 2011 3:13 PM	Ohh the poor didums can't get broadband, boo hoo. Well why did you vote for the unhinged one! and his half-arsed patch-work solution? hmmmmm???
umbria May 12, 2011 5:37 PM	My Wyse terminal used to boot and connect to the mainframe in two seconds in the 1980s. But from home the 300 bps acoustic coupler took about thirty seconds to connect. Everything old is new again... mrhasbean and laman represent the millions of Australians who will benefit from the NBN, don't they, folks? MrH, the speed and reliability of NBN internet access will not only support cloud computing, but also lets you securely connect to your employer's network and work on documents stored on the in-house file server. And yes, laman, cloud computing will consume dialup-grade monthly data quotas in a day or two. Even the 7% outside the fibre footprint will have 12 Mbps connections, so you won't be constrained by 1990s dialup. And remember that outer suburbia is IN the fibre footprint, along with many rural towns from about 1,000 premises up.
dawesi Jun 2, 2011 10:06 PM	@mrhasbeen... two words 'google gears', local storage and local web apps, you won't always need to be connected, it syncs, not saves. @ITnovice... yeah a tablet killed the laptop... sure, maybe in 2020, tell it to my CEO's PA. I'd be interested to see how many mid-large businesses are willing to upload their intellectual property to Google for _permenant_ storage. Also funny how they talk about no anti-virus, but they do 'security updates'. It's all spin. EVERY OS has virus's. Apple calls virus's 'security issues' as does google. malicious code is malicious code. We all know what happened to Yahoo! toolbar now don't we. Nothing like spoofing an update and screwing up your laptop, your google account and more! awesome!
JohnHenry Jun 9, 2011 10:05 AM	iTnews wrote: iTnews Article: Google Chromebook slated for June Linux laptops promise eight second boot time and no need for Antivirus. Read the story here: Google Chromebook slated for June What do you think? Join the discussion. This Netbook is for web browsing and office use only a it is weak and not having much power to do multimedia stuff and gaming.