Google’s Chrome is already the key feature of a range of products including Chromebook laptops and the Chrome OS, but these have failed to gain the success in the market which the company intended. According to Cnet, HTC will be developing their own Chromebook for next year that will feature the best parts of both Google’s software, Android and Chrome.

As Cnet explains this new hybrid product could take the form of HTC Shift, which they descried as having an over-sized keyboard, or it could be a laptop/tablet combination similar to the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime. It is also unclear how the two OSs would work with one another on the device. One of the suggestions was perhaps Android would be used for regular tasks and Chrome used for more complicated activities.

Electronics retailer is predicting big things for a device like this next year, saying they believe 10% of computers sold in 2012 will be Chromebooks, despite the poor sales these products have produced so far. Their optimism relies on getting the right manufacturer for the products, which will result in the correct hardware and more focus on the benefits for the consumers. Reports are also suggesting that if the device does turn out to be a Chromebook, in order for them to have success the price of it will have to drop to around $199 in order to attract consumers.

What do you think the new Chrome/Android OS product will be?

More About: Android, Chrome, Chromebook, HTC

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Sales of laptops are 80 percent in-store when compared to online, so makes sense to open a store to see the new Google running device. The reason for this must be down to consumers wanting to see if the laptop is too bulky or thin and slick? This is a huge test for Google, one that they hope pays off – will it be a huge success?

Offering this service to consumers is so important for Chromebook, as they do not know what to expect from the new device. At least they can get to understand how the new operating system works and get some much needed advice, due to it being different to what you are used to.

Interest has not been that great all the time that consumers could not get a feel for the Samsung made Chromebook, but we now expect sales to start increasing. What better way to do this than putting a store in one of the busiest shopping locations in the UK – especially now that we are approaching the busy shopping season.

Google is expected to follow Apple’s lead and begin to open up their own stores, although this is just what Microsoft has done, and success has not been that great – well not when you compare it to Apple anyway.

More About: Chromebook, google

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Ryan Naraine of ZDNet is reporting that the new laptops are not the most spec loaded devices, and this may not be a problem as the Google Chrome OS is the first commercial consumer cloud-centric OS. It has been designed with the idea of throwaway terminals, but without the fear of losing your data. With this in mind the OS cannot get damaged or infected with malware.

If you have a crash all you need to do is reinstall it and re-sync with the cloud to get up and running again. Google have also claimed it won’t need virus protection, but recently a French company cracked security protections built into Chrome. But with all of our data being stored in a cloud and available 24/7 it will be highly tempting for criminals.

All criminals will need to do is get hold of authentication tokens that are needed to access the account, which is similar to what malware does now. The endpoint may now be more secure, but as the data is stored in a more risky location, it will be easier to quietly take it away.

Criminals will be busy trying to get their hands on the access credentials, as soon as they have those they won’t need to get bank accounts and passwords, they will all be neatly stored on the Google Dashboard. So in some ways the security for Chrome OS will be better, but in other ways much worse.

More About: Chromebook, Google Chrome OS

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Patrick Goss over at TechRadar is reporting in an article that the new laptop will be arriving in the UK on June 24th. If you want the Wi-Fi only model it will cost you £349, and by adding 3G it will cost you £399. There does seem to be some surprising difference in pricing compared to the US though.

In the US as we reported yesterday the Wi-Fi only model is priced at $429, but with today’s exchange rates that’s almost £100 difference. The Wi-Fi and 3G version converts to around £305 at today’s exchange rate.

This will anger many consumers who want to purchase the device, but has a big mark up compared to the US. It will be available online at Amazon and PCWorld. The device should also be available in brick and mortar stores as well when it is released.

Will you be getting the new Google Chromebook?

More About: Chromebook, google, Samsung Series 5

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Well we can now tell you that the reports were correct, as according to Sean Hollister over at engadget.com, Google has made now made it official, by unveiling the new Samsung Series 5 Chromebook. The ultra-slim device will be powered by a 1.66GHz dual-core Intel Atom N570 processor.

The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook also features a Li-ion battery, which Google claims will provide 8.5 hours of continuous use, a 12.1-inch Super Bright display with a 1280 x 800 resolution, dual-band 802.11 Wi-Fi, a 1-megapixel webcam, an SDXC card reader and a 16GB mSATA solid state drive.

Weighing in at 3.26 pounds, the Series 5 Chromebook also comes with optional global 3G, a multi-touch trackpad, a full size Chrome keyboard and two USB 2.0 ports. The Samsung Chromebook will be available from both Amazon.com and BestBuy.com as from June 15th in the United States.

The Wi-Fi only model has been priced up at $429.99, while the Wi-Fi + 3G model will cost you $499.99. You can read more about the new Samsung Series 5 Chromebook via engadget.com. Do you like the sound of the new Chromebook?

More About: Chromebook, samsung

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Google Chrome OS is completely different to Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and even Linux, this is because everything resides on the cloud, you do not install applications on your notebook, instead you access webapps, also you do not store files locally, they are stored online.

Buy buying a Chromebook you will be taking a huge leap in terms of computing, you will no longer install local printers, no longer copy camera photos directly to your notebook, instead you will be able to print to ePrint-capable printers and rather than copy photos from your camera to your notebook they will be stored online, which means they will be accessible from any device which can access the internet.

It does not look like the Chromebook will replace a laptop, instead it will be used like a tablet for on the go usages, the more people that use Chrome OS the better it will become, but will people be patient enough to buy a Chrome OS-based device while developers improve the cloud-based OS?

We have heard that web apps are not as good as “real” apps, you can find out a little bit more about this over at InfoWorld, to cut a long story short Google Docs (and similar web apps) are great for editing docs on the go, however not as great as a locally installed office suite.

Do you think that there is a need for a cloud-centric OS? Are Google unnecessarily re-inventing the wheel? Share your thoughts in the comments section below…

More About: Chromebook, google, Google Chrome OS

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