Google announces Acer C7 Chromebook, on sale Tuesday

 Google unveiled a new, ultra-easy Chromebook Monday, the Acer C7.
"The core of Google's Chromebook vision is creating a better, more simple computing experience and making it available to everyone," said Sundar Pichai, senior vice president, Chrome and Apps at Google, in a press release.
"We're excited about the Acer C7 Chromebook, the newest addition to the Chromebook family.
"The Acer C7 delivers a hassle-free computing experience with the speed, security and simplicity that users expect of Chromebooks built in."

Seventh heaven

Featuring an "extra bright" 11.6-inch HD Widescreen CineCyrstal LED-backlit LCD screen (that's a mouthful) and more than 3.5 hours of battery life, the C7 has an Intel Core processor inside.
It boots up in 18 seconds, resumes instantly and offers a smooth, hi-def video viewing experience with 1080p on its 1366 x 768 resolution screen. Integrated 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi offers quick connect times, too.
The C7 is one-inch thin and weighs 3.05 pounds, though still manages to accommodate a full-sized keyboard and clickable touchpad.
An HD 1.3MP webcam with LED indicator and microphone, three USB 2.0 ports, an HDMI port and a card reader that supports a SD card and MMC are also part of the C7's package.
Storage is available through a 320GB hard drive, plus Google is gifting new owners with 100GB free storage on Google Drive.
Auto-updating is one of the C7's hallmarks, while built-in security features defend against malware and viruses.

Order of the day

The recently announced Samsung Series 3 Chromebook, by contrast, offered 16GB of internal storage and 6.5 hours of battery life with a single USB 3.0 port and a lone USB 2.0.
Other differences include an ARM-based Samsung Exynos 5250 processor and the claim the 2.5-pound, 0.8-inch thick machine can boot in 10 seconds flat.
Whereas Samsung's latest Chromebook came in at $249 (UK£229), Acer is upping the odds of the C7's success by lowering the price.
The Chromebook will be available in the U.S. starting Tuesday through Google Play, Best Buy and BestBuy.com for $199.
Update: In the UK, customers can pick it up via Google Play, Amazon UK, PC World and Currys, priced at £199.
More countries should see the C7 come soon.

Google unveils Samsung Chromebook running Chrome OS

Google has unveiled its latest Chromebook, mere weeks before the release of Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system, claiming the laptop is one of the lightest ever made.
Built by Samsung, the new Chromebook is the Google's cheapest to date, retailing for a modest £155.
The device is currently available for pre-order and is set for release in the UK via Amazon, Google Play, PC World and Curry's on 26 October, the same day as Microsoft's Windows 8 platform.
The device is the latest to run using Google's cloud-focused Chrome OS. The OS is interesting as it works by offloading a lot of the heavy lifting traditionally tasked to the processor onto the cloud.
It also runs all programs and applications off the cloud, meaning users don't have to download files to the machine to run them. Google claims the new Chromebook to boots up in less than 10 seconds and resumes instantly.
Despite these supposed perks, Chrome OS has traditionally struggled to compete with the more established Mac and Windows operating systems.
Addressing these concerns Google senior vice president Sundar Pichai claimed that the new Chromebook's low price will help break this cycle and entice more people to try the OS.
"A few years ago, we set out on a journey to build a better computer that's faster, simpler and more secure," wrote Pichai.
"This gets to the heart of the Chromebook vision. In order to have one, two or more computers around the house, they need to be easy to use and much more affordable. So together with Samsung, we designed a [...] computer for everyone."
Beyond its Chrome OS, Google claims the Chromebook includes several other notable features, boasting it is one of the lightest laptops on the market, weighing just 1134g and measuring in at 0.8in thick.
The new Chromebook promises six hours of battery life with "typical use" and comes loaded with 100GB of free storage on Google's online Drive service.
The new Chromebook also features an 11.6in 1080p HD display that promises to be radically better than the 12.1in 1280x800 display used in its predecessor, the Samsung Chromebook 5 550.
Check back with V3 later in the year for a full review of the new Samsung Chromebook.

Google Chrome 16 lands with multi-user features

Sign-in to access your bookmarks, apps and more

Google has unleashed the latest version of its Chrome web browser, which offers multiple user accounts.
Chrome version 16 allows you to sign-in to a number of different accounts, with each hosting its own set of bookmarks, history, add-ons and web-apps.
Switching between the accounts is easy thanks to an in-browser tab, which could prove ideal for households with a single computer.

Not a 'private browsing' tool

However, the feature is not yet designed to safeguard your personal data as once you're signed into your account it's easy for other users to access it by simply switching tabs.
So, unless you trust your family explicitly, it's probably not a good idea to think of this as a private browsing feature. It really isn't.
Google says on its Chrome Blog: "Keep in mind that adding new users to Chrome isn't intended to secure your data against other people using your computer, since it just takes a few clicks to switch between users.
"We're providing this functionality as a quick and simple user interface convenience for people who are already sharing Chrome on the same computer today.
"To truly protect your data from being seen by others, please use the built-in user accounts on your operating system of choice."
Of course, the other advantage of signing into your Chrome profile is that your own apps and add-ons can be accessed from whatever computer you happen to be using.

Why isn’t Chrome a part of Android

Android (Finally) Taking Steps Towards WebKit And Chromium 

Why isn’t Chrome a part of Android? It’s a question as old as time itself. Or at least a few years old. But given that the same company, Google, makes both products, it never made much sense. Now they’re finally taking steps to resolve this. A bit. Maybe.
As a group of Googlers have announced on the WebKit-Dev group today (relayed by Google’s Peter Beverloo), the Android team is now committed to working more closely with the WebKit community. Yes, it’s a bit odd that a product so devoted to “open” wasn’t really working with the open source community before — but hey, better late than never.The full story is a bit more complicated than it appears on the surface. While Android has its own separate browser which isn’t branded as “Chrome”, the two do share some code. But they’re not the same, and two separate teams work on each. For whatever reason, Google chose not to brand the Android browser as Chrome, and doing so now may cause some confusion since there’s Chrome OS — another operating system built by Google that’s unrelated to Android.

 

Google Chrome Operating System

Google Chrome OS is a Linux-based operating system designed by Google to work exclusively with web applications. Google announced the operating system on July 7, 2009 and made it an open source project, called Chromium OS.

 

• Google is currently looking to revolutionize the way in which we use our computers and change what we know needs to be done to keep them working properly. In a nutshell, they’re basically saying that all you need is the Internet and some type of equipment to connect to what the company has dubbed The Cloud.

• The Cloud is a massive bundle of online information which gives you all you need to use your computer. And to connect to it, Google have developed Chrome OS and the subsequent Chromebook, the netbook you will never have to service.Unlike Chromium OS, which can be compiled from the downloaded source code, Chrome OS only ships on specific hardware from Google's manufacturing partners.The user interface takes a minimalist approach, resembling that of the Chrome web browser. Since Google Chrome OS is aimed at users who spend most of their computer time on the Internet, the only application on the device is a browser incorporating a media player.

• Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we're already talking to partners about the project, and we'll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.

• Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS.the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

Google unveils first Chrome powered laptops that will run on its Chrome operating system.

The machines, made by Acer and Samsung, will go on sale next month.
Unlike conventional computer systems which use installed software like Microsoft Word, Chrome is built around web-based applications such as Google Docs.
Some analysts have questioned whether users will want laptops that rely so heavily on an internet connection.

 

However, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, hailed the technology as a "new model of computing".
Samsung and Acer will be the first manufacturers to offer the devices, for between $349 and $499, in the US and six European countries initially.
Google's aim is to encourage people to use web-based applications, claiming that that is where most people spend their time and that most tasks can be accomplished online.
History
Google developers began coding the operating system in 2009, inspired by the growing popularity and lower power consumption of netbooks and the focus of these small laptops on Internet access. To ascertain marketing requirements for an operating system focused on netbook Web transactions, the company did not do the usual demographic research generally associated with a large software development project. Instead, engineers relied on more informal metrics, including monitoring the usage patterns of some 200 Chrome OS machines used by Google employees.On November 19, 2009, Google released Chrome OS's source code as the Chromium OS project. As with other open source projects, developers are modifying code from Chromium OS and building their own versions, whereas Google Chrome OS code will only be supported by Google and its partners, and will only run on hardware designed for the purpose. Unlike Chromium OS, Chrome OS will be automatically updated to the latest version.

Chromium PC

In 2011, Xi3 launched the Chromium PC, a regular (small form-factor) computer with Chrome OS as its primary operating system. Compared to laptops, the Xi3 is more powerful, yet it is a little less portable.