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Chrome OS beta test by Google ends; no more Cr-48s to distribute

Summary: Google proved it was serious about the Chrome OS when it kicked off its beta program last year by sending thousands of Cr-48 notebooks to testers. The program has ended, so if you haven't gotten yours you can stand down.

James Kendrick

By for Mobile News |

Google proved it was serious about the Chrome OS for cheap cloud computers when it kicked off a unique beta program last year. The company had a test device produced and sent thousands of Cr-48 notebooks to folks agreeing to test the OS and give feedback to Google. The sleek black notebooks didn't have many frills, but the new OS made it a coveted item to receive on the doorstep (especially being it was free). Google is winding down the program according to a tweet from VP Sundar Pichai, and will no longer be sending out notebooks.

Mid-year would imply Chrome OS devices, most likely notebooks like the Cr-48, will be coming out this summer. A few OEMs including Acer and Samsung have expressed intentions to have Chrome devices on the market, and this statement by Pichai implies sooner rather than later. It will be interesting to see what the consumer reception will be to a cloud computer with Chrome OS.

Topics: Hardware, Google

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  • RE: Chrome OS beta test by Google ends; no more Cr-48s to distribute

    I've had my CR-48 since the middle of December and I haven't turned my other laptop on since.
    30otnix
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Chrome OS beta test by Google ends; no more Cr-48s to distribute

      @30otnix
      It's just a browser....lame!
      Hasam1991
      Reply Vote

      • First, there will be native client, so, there will be lots of C/C++

        applications that can be ported to ChromeOS and run in a tab. Next, people are doing some real eye popping things with HTML5. Offline mode will allow you to do some things (that make sense) offline, and will also make up for slow and/or flaky connections.
        DonnieBoy
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Chrome OS beta test by Google ends; no more Cr-48s to distribute

        @Hasam1991 It's much more than just a browser. And having to live in the cloud has taught me that HTML5 & Flash can do just about anything.
        30otnix
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Chrome OS beta test by Google ends; no more Cr-48s to distribute

        Good riddance! Nobody will use that POS in its current state. It's just a useless "network client" recycled that nobody except idiotic trolls like Donkeyboy would ever want.<br><br>Now, at least for me it's a disappointment. Google has a winner in Android in Phones, and although its current Android for Tablets (honeycomb) has a lot of bugs and work ahead to do, it's on the right track I think, and eventually it will be great. Chrome OS, instead, is dead already. It's useless and does nothing that you cannot do with other O.S.s<br><br>It could have been far more interesting if Chrome O.S. had been similar to what powers the Atrix's Webtop (some modified Ubuntu). At least you could claim it'd be useful in its own right (at the right price, though, Atrix's companion is outrageously expensive right now) as taking the phone experience one step ahead.
        nomorebs
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Chrome OS beta test by Google ends; no more Cr-48s to distribute

    i haven't receive mine...
    oldtechdudze
    Reply Vote

  • With native client, it will not be restricted to web applications. This is

    where people will be surprised.
    DonnieBoy
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Chrome OS beta test by Google ends; no more Cr-48s to distribute

      @DonnieBoy : What's the advantage over the standard Ubuntu? Can't the latter run Chrome browser already? What's all the fuzz about this. Care to explain that to us? Or is Chrome O.S. really just another "me too the mediocre" Desktop Linux?
      nomorebs
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Chrome OS beta test by Google ends; no more Cr-48s to distribute

        @nomorebs - Even Google has admitted that Cloud applications are a limited audience and not very well accepted and limited funtionality. So they are working localized apps. So I agree, how is this any different from a Linux, Windows or OSX laptop? To me it's not and to Joe User - who is clueless (despite the goofballs fantasy world in here like the one above) will not get it. Flake connections and slow connections will doom it before anyone will take the time to port applications. At this point in time it will be a bust or at best a niche audience.
        TheBottomLineIsAllThatMatters
        Reply Vote

  • Serious about the Chrome OS?

    Given the reviews its clear Google wasn't serious about ChromeOS
    If they were they made a POS that people really aren't excited about.
    Will Farrell
    Reply Vote

    • Well, Windows propeller heads are sure not excited at all about ChomeOS,

      they hate it. They hate the whole notion of people not needing them to re-install Windows, update anti-virus, in general keep Windows held together with duct tape and bailing wire. But, it will be consumers that make or brake ChromeOS, and they really do not know what it is yet, but, they know that Google makes the most popular phone OS, and they like the Google brand.
      DonnieBoy
      Reply Vote

      • Donnieboy, you really shouldn't talk if your not sure

        @DonnieBoy
        what is being said - a lot of "Linux propellerheads" are not excited about it either, so don't try to appease yourself by saying that it's "Windows people only" complaining.

        You don't fing it odd that a a large amount of pro-Linux people aren't excieted about ChromeOS, or Honeycomb for that matter?

        Are you going to claim that MS has put mind-control drugs in their drinking water to make them say that?

        You're such a small minded minded crybaby - you whine when something Google offers is dismissed as
        inadequate.

        [i]they know that Google makes the most popular phone OS, and they like the Google brand[/i]

        Really? most people who buy an Android phone have no idea who makes the OS, nor do they care. For a company with such a "great brand" that you claim, they sure have a lot of stuff being discontinued on a monthly basis. Looks like the brand isn't as popular as you want to believe.

        The more you say the sillier you look.
        Will Farrell
        Reply Vote

      • Linux propeller heads do NOT matter either. Yes, a lot of them hate Google

        mainstreaming Linux. And, YES, mainstream consumers do NOT have to know that Google is making the OS, but, they do love the Google integration, and they DO see that. At the end of the day, consumers like a great user interface at a great price. That is what drives Android, and it will also drive ChromeOS.
        DonnieBoy
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Chrome OS beta test by Google ends; no more Cr-48s to distribute

        @DonnieBoy <br>Where were you when the news of malware in Android Store was selling like hot cakes on ZDNET?
        Ram U
        Reply Vote

      • Now that is funny, DB

        @DonnieBoy
        [i] YES, mainstream consumers do NOT have to know that Google is making the OS, but, they do love the Google integration, and they DO see that.[/i]

        Integration with [b]what[/b]? Even Verizon can't get some Android phones here at work to work with certain email accounts. (yet the iPhone and WM phones work flawlessly)

        [i] At the end of the day, consumers like a great user interface at a great price. That is what drives Android, and it will also drive ChromeOS[/i]

        Not really. I don't know of one person that [b]"loves"[/b] their Android phone (though many love their iPhones). The only reason most here bought Android is because "some guy at Verizon said this model was [b]great[/b], only to find they they "think it's OK", nothing more.

        The guy at the store was pushing all they had, not really offering a choice of what they had.

        That tells me the people I've talked to have basically bought Android because the choices where either:
        a) 1 year old WM6.5 that would soon be replaced, so not supported.
        b) Some version of Android on some phone
        c) Unrefreshed Blackberry line-up.

        It's not like our employees had the choice of WM7, iPhone, Android, or updated Blackberries, so trust me when I tell you they <b><font color="red">Did Not</font></b> buy Android because it has a great user interface or a great price.

        It was all Verizon had.
        John Zern
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Chrome OS beta test by Google ends; no more Cr-48s to distribute

        @DonnieBoy

        You would have to get Congressional approval along with a personal letter from the President of the U.S. to even get the company I work for to even think about allowing anything other than a Blackberry to access their email servers....and even then they will probably tell you no.

        But you know what? They make an exception for iPhones and iPads now.

        Not so for Androids.
        VRSpock
        Reply Vote

      • Guys, Android is popular for a reason. People like it, it works great,

        a variety of phones to choose from, you do not have all of the security problems as with Windows. Maybe not as slick as iPhone, but, more variety of handsets at better prices, but, so much better than WP7 there is no comparison.

        It does not matter if the propeller heads do not like it (Linux or Windows), the main stream loves it.
        DonnieBoy
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Chrome OS beta test by Google ends; no more Cr-48s to distribute

        @DonnieBoy <br>You still haven't answered my simple question, "Where were you, when the news of malware in Android Store was selling like hot cakes on ZDNET?" It looks like you just disappeared on conveniently. <br><br><i>Guys, Android is popular for a reason. People like it, it works great,<br>a variety of phones to choose from, you do not have all of the security problems as with Windows. Maybe not as slick as iPhone, but, more variety of handsets at better prices, but, so much better than WP7 there is no comparison.<br></i><br><br>What, Android, and it is secured? google itself cliamed publicly for stupid apps on market. and for that matter no system is 100% secured and if someone thinks so, (s)he is out of mind or have no clue about how systems work. I don't think you don't belong to second group because I think you have at least some idea about how systems work, so you are clearly out of mind and your bias towards Google is blinding you from reality.
        Ram U
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Chrome OS beta test by Google ends; no more Cr-48s to distribute

        @VRSpock that's a riot because both blackberry and ios were already broken into at pwn2own but no such report has been made about Android yet.
        slickjim
        Reply Vote

      • Well DB, once agin you've proven that

        @DonnieBoy
        you really are talking about something you don't understand.
        You disregard everything people say and attribute it all to that "people are loving it", yet So many people here have said the opposite, that it really isn't a phone that many people love.

        But you tell yourself whatever you need to tell yourself, the rest of us are conforatable with facts..

        Oh, people love it so much Motorola is actually worried about the iPhone on Verizon, and WP7 in th efuture.

        LOL!
        John Zern
        Reply Vote
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