Google has announced details of the first two commercial notebooks using its Chrome OS. Samsung and Acer will release the first of these so-called “Chromebooks” in the U.S. and six other countries starting on June 15.
Google made the announcement during its Chrome keynote at the annual Google I/O developer conference earlier today. Samsung’s Chromebook will be based on a 12.1-inch display while Acer’s model will have an 11.6-inch display. Both will have instant-on, an 8-second boot time and all-day battery life, according to Google. The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook will cost $429 for Wi-Fi version and $499 with 3G. The Acer Chromebook will start at $349.
Google announced that it will also sell the Chromebooks–as well as a small-form factor ChromeBox desktop–to businesses. The company will sell the devices to them as part of a package that includes the hardware, software and support for $28 per user per month. These will be Google will sell a similar package to schools and government for $20 per user. These packages will also be available starting June 15 directly from Google.
These new Chromebooks also address many of the issues raised during the pilot program with the Cr-48 Chrome notebook over the past six months. These ChromeBooks have an Intel dual-core for faster performance, a revamped trackpad, better support for Adobe Flash and a new File Manager and apps that make it easier to work with documents, photos, music and video. More details on the ChromeBooks and capabilities of Chrome OS in an upcoming post.
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