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Tag: Chromebook Pixel

  • Google Announces The First Affordable Touchscreen Chromebook

    Touchscreens are everywhere today thanks to the proliferation of smartphones and tablets. Even Microsoft embraced the touch craze with Windows 8 supporting touch displays right out of the box. Google isn’t a stranger either with its touch-based Chromebook Pixel, but now it’s making sure everybody can afford a touch-based Chromebook.

    Google announced on Wednesday that the first affordable touchscreen Chromebook is coming in the form of the Acer C720P. This new Chromebook sports a 11.6-inch touchscreen, a Haswell Intel CPU, 16GB solid state drive, 100GB of Google Drive Cloud Storage and a 30-day free trial to Google Play Music All Access. Like most Chromebooks, it also promises an incredible battery life of 7.5 hours.

    Google notes that it has been working on perfecting touch controls in Chrome OS since the launch of the Chromebook Pixel earlier this year. Google says the improvements make touch so intuitive that those using these new Chromebooks find themselves using touch more often than the mouse to control actions on screen.

    The Acer C720P Chromebook is available for preorder now at Amazon, and will hit stores in the US this week for $299. That’s a super affordable price for a touchscreen notebook, but the guys of Pawn Stars probably still won’t buy it for fear of being scroogled.

    [Image: Google]

  • LTE Chromebook Pixel Ships On April 8

    LTE Chromebook Pixel Ships On April 8

    In late February, Google launched the Chromebook Pixel to reviews praising the hardware, but criticizing its $1,300 price tag and lack of software. Still, the Pixel certainly has a market, and some may be waiting for the LTE version of Google’s new flagship Chromebook to launch. The good news is that you won’t have to wait much longer.

    On the Chromebook Pixel product page, Google now says that the Pixel is expected to ship by April 8. The LTE Chromebook Pixel comes in at $1,449, or $149 more than the Wi-Fi Chromebook Pixel, but the added LTE capability may be worth it to the consumer that desires more mobility out of their consumer electronics.

    Before you dive headfirst into the LTE Pixel, though, you should probably be aware of what you’re getting into. For starters, the LTE Pixel exclusively uses Verizon’s LTE network. Those who purchase it will get 100 MB a month for the first two years. After that, you’ll have to start paying normal LTE network fees.

    If you want more data, you’ll have to purchase a data plan with Verizon. Gigaom reports that Verizon will be selling Pixel LTE data by the gigabyte with 1GB a month costing $20, 3GB a month costing $35 and 5GB a month costing $50. If you want unlimited data for a day, that will cost $9.99. Gigaom also confirmed with Verizon that those already on a data sharing plan with the wireless carrier can add the Pixel to their existing plan for $10 more a month.

    At the moment, the Pixel is tied to Verizon. It will be interesting, however, to see if Google starts offering it on other carriers in the future. If T-Mobile can build out its 4G LTE network even more, I could see some people flocking to the carrier for its unlimited data plans.

  • Google Makes Chromebook Pixel Official, Costs $1,299

    Last month, a leaked video teased that Google was working on something called Chromebook Pixel. It was reportedly a high-powered Chromebook with a 2560×1700 display that would rival Apple’s own retina display MacBooks. Now Google has made it officially known that the Chromebook Pixel is a reality.

    The Chromebook Pixel is similar to what we saw last month in the leaked video. The screen is a 12.85-inch touch display with a resolution of 2560×1700. That’s a whopping 239 ppi, or 4.3 million pixels. Other hardware specs include an Intel Core i5 processor clocked at 1.8GHz, integrated Intel HD Graphics, 4GB of RAM and a 32GB SSD.

    Another rumor regarding the Pixel that’s been confirmed by Google is that the laptop will come in two flavors. The basic Pixel will feature Wi-Fi connectivity only, while the other features LTE connectivity. The LTE connection allows for 100MB/month through Verizon.

    Of course, some may be concerned about the paltry 32GB SSD storage on the Pixel, but Google has your back with its usual offer of extra storage via Google Drive. Those who purchase the Chromebook Pixel will get a terabyte of storage in the cloud for everything from videos and music to pictures and documents.

    The Wi-Fi Chromebook Pixel is available starting today in the Google Play store, and will be on Best Buy’s Web site soon. It will retail for $1,299. Preorders will start shipping out next week. The LTE Chromebook Pixel will retail for $1,449 and ship out in April.

  • Chrome OS Code Hints That Chromebook Pixel Is Real

    The Internet lit up last week as rumors of a new, more powerful Chromebook began to disseminate after a leaked video showed off a product called the Chromebook Pixel. It was touted as a super high resolution Chromebook that rivals Apple’s own retina display MacBooks. At the time, we didn’t know if it was real or not, but some of Google’s own code may have just confirmed it.

    Myce, a computer storage community, recently ran a report claiming it found a number of hints in the code of Chrome OS that point to the existence of Chromebook Pixel. If legitimate, it could be the first solid proof we have that Google is finally introducing a Chromebook for the power user and hardcore media consumer.

    So, where does this all begin? Myce says that there are traces of code in Chrome OS that point to the existence of HighDPI support. The current Chromebooks aren’t powerful to support HighDPI resolutions, but something like the Chromebook Pixel obviously can.

    Next is where things get interesting. Chrome OS developers say that HighDPI will only be supported on something called “Google Link.” The folks at Myce think this is a codename for Chromebook Pixel, and it very well could be.

    So, we can assume that the Chromebook Pixel is a real thing, but do we know anything about the hardware? After some more digging, it was found that Chrome OS developers are also working on adding in Ivy Bridge CPU support. Going even deeper, the Google Link name is brought up again as developer say they’re adding support for the “Link chipset” which could be in reference to the aforementioned Ivy Bridge.

    Some final notes of interest include code that hints at support for backlit keyboards and LTE connectivity.

    If all of this comes to fruition, we may have Google’s most ambitious piece of hardware yet. The Chromebook line is already an attractive alternative to Windows and OS X. The only thing holding it back has always been its less than impressive hardware. Granted, it didn’t really need it with Chrome OS, but the Chromebook Pixel, if real, could pose a real and serious threat to laptops and MacBooks.

  • Google Chromebook Pixel Revealed In Leaked Video [Rumor]

    The Chromebooks of today aren’t exactly cutting edge. The budget notebook PCs are intended to bring the power of the Web to as many people as possible through affordable hardware. That all may be changing in the future if a leaked video is to believed.

    Android Authority nabbed a fascinating teaser video that references a new Google project called the Chromebook Pixel. It features a 2560×1700 display. The only thing better would be the 15-inch MacBook Pro which sports a 2880×1800 retina display. Check out the leaked teaser video below:

    The leaked video doesn’t tell us much about the Chromebook Pixel’s hardware, but we do know that it will sport a touchscreen. Adding to the legitimacy of the leak is that it originally came from François Beaufort, a developer who has leaked previous Google products on Google+.

    Google hasn’t made any formal announcement in regards to the Chromebook Pixel yet, or even hinted that such a thing exists. The company only just recently partnered with HP for the Pavilion 14 Chromebook.

    Still, the idea of a high-end Chromebook is exciting. The only thing holding the Chromebook back with power users, besides Chrome OS’s incompatibility with traditional applications, is that they’re usually underpowered devices. The Chromebook Pixel could go a long way in increasing adoption among power users, especially with that glorious screen.