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Tag: Chromebooks

  • Mozilla’s Firefox VPN Now Available In Beta

    Mozilla’s Firefox VPN Now Available In Beta

    Mozilla’s standalone Firefox VPN service has entered beta and is available for Windows, Android and Chromebooks.

    Mozilla has emerged as one of the staunchest privacy advocates in corporate America, coming out in favor of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), vowing to extend its protections to all Firefox users. Similarly, Mozilla extended the protections offered by the EU’s GDPR to all users as well.

    Given its strong focus on privacy, it’s not surprising Mozilla has opted to offer VPN software. VPNs are critical components for journalists and political dissidents around the world, not to mention corporate use and anyone concerned with privacy.

    Mozilla is offering two varieties: one as a free browser extension and the other as a standalone service for $4.99/mo. The latter is what is now available in beta. Mozilla touts servers in 30+ countries and no browser or network monitoring or logging. The service can be used on five devices under a single account.

    The beta is currently available for Windows 10, Android and Chromebooks, with macOS, iOS and Linux coming soon.

  • Chrome OS Isn’t Going Away, Says Google

    Rumors of Chrome OS and Android merging into one operating system have seemingly been happening nearly as long as the two operating systems have existed alongside each other.

    Sergey Brin even reportedly mentioned as far back as 2009 that the two would likely one day converge.

    Late on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Google plans to fold Chrome OS into Android, citing people familiar with the matter, adding that Google engineers have been working for two years to combine the operating systems, having made new progress.

    The report indicates that Google plans to unveil the new single operating system in 2017, while showing off an early version next year. It also says the new combined version of will give PC users access to the Google Play store. Technically, they already have access, so I’ll take this to mean they’ll be able to use Android apps on PCs. Chrome OS will remain as an open source OS that Google engineers will maintain, it says.

    Google has responded to the report, downplaying any notion that Chrome OS is going away, but not exactly denying its accuracy.

    Hiroshi Lockheimer, SVP Android, Chromecast, Chrome OS tweeted this:

    The future of the two operating systems as described by the Journal could still be seen as in line with that tweet. It does say Chrome OS will be maintained by Google even as it’s open source, and it does not say that Chromebooks are going away, which considering said momentum, would be ridiculous.

    In August, NPD reported that Chromebooks were outselling Windows laptops.

    Image via Google

  • Google Announces New Chromebook for Work, Work-Related Features

    Google Announces New Chromebook for Work, Work-Related Features

    Google announced a new addition to the Chromebook family with the Dell Chromebook 13, which is specifically geared toward business use. It also announced support for various work-related apps and enhancements to the Chrome Device Management Console.

    Google says in a blog post, “Today, the new Dell Chromebook 13 joins the Asus Chromebook Flip and Chromebook Pixel in the Chromebook for Work lineup. Built with a lightweight carbon fiber cover, the laptop comes with a 13.3” FHD IPS touchscreen display, 5th Gen Intel Core processor, magnesium alloy palmrest, backlit keyboard and high-precision glass trackpad. And if you’re often on the road or rushing between meetings, you’ll have the machine power to keep moving, thanks to a 12-hour battery life.”

    “Using Microsoft infrastructure?” it continues.”No problem. Single sign-on and support for legacy apps mean Chromebooks can now plug right in with VMWare, Dell vWorkspace, or Citrix’s improved Chrome receiver. Connecting to your files is even easier with Windows File Shares (SMB/CIFS), Box, Dropbox, or OneDrive. Need to print? Printing to local printers with Cloud Print 2.0 or to any existing printer using the improved Cloud Print CUPS connector is simple. With the help of a new API, HP supports over 100m+ printers with the HP Print for Chrome app. And connecting just got more seamless –VPN support from Pulse Secure and Dell SonicWall join Cisco AnyConnect on the Chrome Web Store (F5 Networks and Palo Alto Networks coming soon).”

    As far as enhancements to Chrome Device Management Console, they’ve added domain autocomplete and asset management in a bid to “make IT admins lives easier”. According to a study from IDC, Chromebooks already require 92% less labor to support than other devices, so they’re already on well on the right path in that department.

    The Dell Chromebook 13 starts at$399.00 and will be available starging September 17 in the U.S. and Canada.

    Image via Dell

  • CES: Acer Announces Chromebook 15 With 15.6-Inch Display

    At the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, Acer announced a new Chromebook, which is the first of its type to offer a 15.6-inch display. It’s called the Chromebook 15.

    The device uses 5th Generation Intel Core i3 and next generation Intel Celeron processors based on Intel 5th Generation Core micro-architecture.

    “The Acer Chromebook 15 is a true powerhouse – it provides fast mobile performance and a large display to help customers accomplish more every day,” said Jerry Kao, president of Acer Notebook Business Group. “Acer has been a leader in the Chromebook market, from providing the latest in technology and trailblazing battery life to designing new form factors. We’re driving the category forward again with the world’s first 15.6-inch display Chromebook, the Acer Chromebook 15.”

    “This large size increases productivity by giving customers more real estate to view multiple tabs and apps,” Acer says. “The crisp and vibrant display comes in two options. The full HD display has a 1920×1080 resolution that ensures sharp and legible text as well as vivid, clear videos and photos. It also reveals more content on screen to reduce scrolling. In addition, it has wide viewing angles, so customers can comfortably share content such as movies, e-books and games. The second option is an HD 1366×768 resolution display that is ideal for budget-minded customers. Both options are Acer ComfyView displays, so they have anti-glare properties to minimize the amount of reflecting light for less eye strain.”

    The device has two full-sized upward facing speakers.

    Options for the device include: a 16GB or 32GB SSD drive and either 2GB or 4GB or RAM. Pricing and availability vary by region, but prices start at $249.99 in the U.S.

    The company is also expanding its Chromebook 13 line with new touchscreen models. These will be available in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa this month for €329.

    According to Gartner, Acer dominates the Chromebook segment with about 40% market share.

    Image via Acer

  • Run Linux In A Window On Your Chromebook

    Google “Happiness Evangelist” François Beaufort announced on Google+ that a Google intern added support to run Crouton (Chromium OS Universal Chroot Environment) in a Chrome OS Window.

    This means people can run the Linux distributions of their choice on Chrome OS Devices in a window without having to jump between virtual terminals, which was the only way to run them before.

    Beaufort runs down the steps:

    – First, you need to make sure your Chrome Device is in Developer Mode³ (not Dev Channel).
    – Install the Crouton Integration Chrome Extension⁴
    – Download crouton⁵
    – Open a shell with ++T, type shell and hit
    – Run sudo sh ~/Downloads/crouton t unity,extension

    Hat tip to TheNextWeb.

    Image via Google+

  • Chromebooks Overtake iPads In Education

    Chromebooks Overtake iPads In Education

    In early 2012, Google announced that its Chromebooks for Education initiative was already a success. Later that year, the tech giant took it a step further by making Chromebooks available to schools for only $99. Now the laptops have become the number one technology in education, easily beating out Apple’s iPad.

    The Guardian reports that Google shipped 715,500 Chromebooks to schools in 2014 whereas Apple shipped 702,000 iPads in the same period. It may seem like a close rivalry at this point, but the numbers show that iPad shipments are falling. Evidence also suggests that Chromebook shipments will only rise over the next few years. So, why has the Chromebook become so popular in schools?

    PC World theorizes the Chromebook’s success can be attributed to price and accessibility. At only $99, the Chromebook is much cheaper than what Apple wants for an iPad. Considering that many school districts are strapped for cash, it makes sense that they would turn to Chromebooks when looking to integrate technology into the classroom.

    As for accessibility, the Chromebook offers two advantages over the iPad. For one, it has a keyboard. Apple’s iPad does have a keyboard attachment, but it’s also expensive. With the Chromebook, the keyboard comes standard with the device and offers the kind of tactile input that students need when working on projects. It doesn’t hurt that much of the world still relies on computers with keyboards to get work done so it helps prepare them for that future.

    The second, and perhaps most important, advantage is that the Chromebook utilizes a multiple account system. In other words, more than one child can use a Chromebook whereas the iPad has to be wiped clean every time a new student uses it. Apple’s account system works in its favor to ensure that it sells more devices to schools, but some schools would rather have multiple students use the same device. With a Chromebook, that’s entirely possible and far more enticing to a school that can only afford a set of Chromebooks for one class instead of every student at the school.

    All of this isn’t to say that Apple will eventually exit the education market. There’s far too much money to be made. What’s going to happen is that Apple starts to focus more on high schools and college where digital textbooks are all the rage, or they change their account settings for schools so more than one student can use the same iPad. I’m betting Apple will focus on the former.

  • Chrome OS Adds Google Drive Chromecast Support

    The beauty of Google’s $35 Chromecast streaming device is that the company as well as third parties can keep adding support for additional products and features, which means ultimately it just gets more and more useful.

    Google announced an update for its Chrome OS operating system, which powers Chromebook devices, to enable Chromecast support for media files stored on Google Drive.

    Not only does this mean more functionality for your Chromecast, it’s more of a reason to store media files in Google Drive, if you have a Chromebook.

    This isn’t the only addition with the Chrome OS update. Here’s what Google said about it in its release notes:

    The Stable channel has been updated to 39.0.2171.85 (Platform version: 6310.48.0) for all Chrome OS devices except Dell Chromebook 11, HP Chromebook 14, Acer C720 and the Toshiba Chromebook. This build contains a number of bug fixes, security updates and feature enhancements. Systems will be receiving updates over the next couple weeks as the team takes a break over the holiday. Here is a list of Chromium changes.

    Some highlights of these changes are:
    Enable Chromecast support for media files stored on Google Drive
    Update Network Error page design
    Display apps installed in Google Drive in the Chrome OS Launcher
    If you find new issues, please let us know by visiting our forum or filing a bug. Interested in switching channels? Find out how. You can submit feedback using ‘Report an issue…’ in the Chrome menu (3 horizontal bars in the upper right corner of the browser).

    While Chromecast has some new competition, it does continue to gain additional third-party app support as well as additional device support for Android screen mirroring.

    Image via YouTube

  • Google Adds New Work Features To Chromebooks

    In a push to get more businesses using Chromebooks, Google announced the launch of some new work-related features. These deal with identity, manageability, virtualization, and performance.

    There are now single sign-on and multiple sign-in options. The former lets you log in with the same credentials and identity provider you use in the rest of your organization, and uses the SAML standard. It also works with CA SiteMinder, Microsoft AD FS, Okta, Ping Identity, SecureAuth, and SimpleSAMLphp. Multiple sign-in lets you securely switch between work and personal accounts.

    “Businesses, schools and government institutions can now easily provision Chromebooks with client certificates to access 802.1X EAP-TLS wireless networks and mutual TLS protected web resources,” says product manager Saswat Panigrahi. “Using the Admin Console, IT admins can pre-configure their secure networks, push certificate management extensions and pre-select certificates to be used with certain websites and networks. Partners such as Aruba Networks, Cloudpath Networks and Aerohive Networks have already integrated this functionality.”

    For management, the Admin Console now lets IT administrators push a list of bookmarks and other settings to signed-in workers on all platforms, including mobile devices.

    “We’ve worked with virtualization partners like Citrix and VMware to expand the boundaries of what’s possible on Chromebooks,” says Panigrahi. “Recently, Citrix released a new Citrix Receiver optimized for Chromebooks, which provides more direct integration with Chromebooks and enables new features including seamless integration with Google Cloud Print; cut-and-paste between local and virtualized applications; better audio and video playback; improved license and application usage monitoring; and protection from end-to-end SSL connections.”

    Google recently partnered with Nvidia and VMware to speed the delivery of graphics-heavy virtualized applications to Chromebooks, so 3D-modeling and simulation applications can run.

    Finally, Google announced a new pricing option, enabling businesses to get all of this stuff for $50 per device per year. That’s available in the U.S. and Canada, with more regions on the way. Additionally, if you lose or replace a Chromebook, you can easily apply your existing license to the new device.

    Google will host a Chromebooks for Work Hangout on Air on October 9th.

    Image via Google

  • Google’s Chrome OS Gets Adobe Photoshop Support

    Google’s Chrome OS Gets Adobe Photoshop Support

    Google and Adobe have partnered to bring Creative Cloud to Chromebooks, starting with Photoshop. A streaming version will be available in the U.S.

    In a post on the Chrome blog, product manager Stephen Konig wrote:

    Chromebooks are fast, easy to use and secure. They bring the best of the cloud right to your desktop, whether that’s Google Drive, Google+ Photos or Gmail. Today, in partnership with Adobe, we’re welcoming Creative Cloud onto Chromebooks, initially with a streaming version of Photoshop. This will be available first to U.S.-based Adobe education customers with a paid Creative Cloud membership—so the Photoshop you know and love is now on Chrome OS. No muss, no fuss.

    This streaming version of Photoshop is designed to run straight from the cloud to your Chromebook. It’s always up-to-date and fully integrated with Google Drive, so there’s no need to download and re-upload files—just save your art directly from Photoshop to the cloud. For IT administrators, it’s easy to manage, with no long client installation and one-click deployment to your team’s Chromebooks.

    They didn’t really get much more into the timeline of when other offerings might become available or when this might be expanded into additional countries.

    In the meantime, those interested in applying for using Photoshop for Chromebooks can do so here.

    Image via Google

  • You Can Now Run Android Apps On Chromebooks

    Google has been hinting at merging Chrome OS and Android into one operating system in one way or another for years. It’s also suggested that it won’t do that.

    While the operating systems are hardly one now, Google has indeed taken another step in a somewhat similar direction by enabling Android app compatibility with Chrome OS.

    At Google I/O this summer, Google showed this off:

    On Thursday, Google announced the “first set of Android apps coming to a Chromebook near you.”

    That set includes Duolingo, Evernote, Sight Words, and Vine.

    “Chromebooks were designed to keep up with you on the go—they’re thin and light, have long battery lives, resume instantly, and are easy to use. Today, we’re making Chromebooks even more mobile by bringing the first set of Android apps to Chrome OS,” Google says.

    “These first apps are the result of a project called the App Runtime for Chrome (Beta), which we announced earlier this summer at Google I/O. Over the coming months, we’ll be working with a select group of Android developers to add more of your favorite apps so you’ll have a more seamless experience across your Android phone and Chromebook,” it adds.

    Additionally, a Google spokesperson told Ars Technica, “The app code is all running on top of the Chrome platform, specifically inside of Native Client. In this way the ARC (Android Runtime for Chrome) apps run in the same environment as other apps you can download from the Chrome Web Store, even though they are written on top of standard Android APIs. The developers do not need to port or modify their code, though they often choose to improve it to work well with the Chromebook form factor (keyboard, touchpad, optional touchscreen, etc).”

    Google is actually asking users which apps they’d most like to see on their Chromebooks. If you use Chrome OS, you might want to consider weighing in with this form.

    Image via Google

  • Chrome OS To Add Android File Transfer

    Earlier this week, Google announced an update for the Chrome OS beta channel, which is just starting to get some notice in the the tech Blogosphere (thanks to Android Police) for one feature in particular.

    One of the highlights Google mentions in the blog post is MTP support in the Files app, which will let users plug in their Android phones, and get files from them.

    As Android Police notes, “It’s not a huge step forward, but the ability to plug in your Android phone and transfer files to and from it is still something worth being happy about, as it shows ChromeOS’ maturity and Google’s push to make it more consumer-friendly.”

    In fact, it’s little things like this that are often the knocks against Google’s operating system. Chrome OS by its very (cloud-based) nature removes a lot of the functionality of traditional desktop operating systems, but with that trade off, offers a much faster and frankly less annoying experience. Chromebooks aren’t bogged down by needless applications consuming valuable resources. That also contributes to longer battery life.

    Google is, however, adding more and more functionalities to Chrome OS as time goes on, and this is a good example of how Chromebooks are becoming more and more useful as time goes on.

    21 million Chromebooks were shipped last year.

    Also in the latest beta update is a set of features to enhance touch screen accessibility as well as some security updates and bug fixes.

    Image via YouTube

  • Google And Citrix Partner On Receiver For Chrome

    Citrix and Google have been partners for the past three years, but announced a new partnership in the form of a receiver for Chrome and advanced features for Chromebook users.

    Citrix Receiver is client software that gives users access to XenDesktop and XenApp installations. Citrix Receiver for Chrome gives users direct integration to Chromebook-specific features. These include: the ability to integrate with Google Cloud Print; audio and video playback, assignment of a unique Receiver ID to each device for monitoring; clipboard integration across remote and local apps; end user experience monitoring; and direct SSL connections.

    Google Director of Product Management for Chrome for Business and Education Rajen Sheth said, “Chromebooks continue to do well in business, whether customers are already fully in the cloud or they need a little help from our friends at Citrix. Many vertical industries like healthcare and finance have complex requirements around security and compliance, and all businesses need robust manageability, which is why Chromebooks appeal to a broad range of IT folks at Citrix customers like Woolworths and Chapters Health System.”

    “Citrix and Google are changing the way people work,” added Citrix VP of product marketing for desktop and apps Calvin Hsu. “In addition to the joint collaboration around XenApp and XenDesktop with Chromebooks, Citrix ShareFile features a personal cloud connector for accessing Google Drive files, Citrix GoToMeeting Free is now available on Chrome, and Citrix Podio is integrated with Google Apps. Google and Citrix are committed to continued innovation across our product lines to bring best in class mobile workspaces to our customers.”

    Citrix says partners trained to introduce and deploy Chromebooks combined with XenApp and XenDesktop are operating in regions throughout the world.

    Gartner predicts Chromebooks will triple in sales by 2017. Google recently put them in nine new countries.

    Image via Acer

  • Google Puts Chromebooks In More Countries

    Google announced on Monday that Chromebooks will be making their way to nine more countries. For some reason the company made the announcement in a poem or a series of song lyrics or something.

    If you’d rather skip all of that, the countries are as follows: New Zealand, Philippines, Norway, Denmark, Mexico, Chile, Belgium, Spain and Italy.

    Otherwise, here you go:

    So we’d like to say our Hellos
    to our new global Chromebook fellows:

    Kia ora to our New Zealand mates,
    where getting on-line will have shorter waits.

    Kumusta to new friends in the Philippines,
    a better way of computing is what this means.

    Hallo to all the folks in Norway
    Speed, simplicity and security are coming your way.

    Hej Hej to the people in Denmark
    Built-in virus protection will be your new computing benchmark.

    To Mexico and Chile, Hola we say
    Tons of apps and free automatic updates are starting today.

    And in the coming weeks — very soon, you’ll see —
    Chromebooks will be in Belgium, Spain and Italy.

    Chromebooks are easy to share, manage and use,
    With lots of shapes, colors and sizes to choose.

    Stay safe with your data stored in the cloud,
    A smart pick like Chromebook will make your mom proud.

    When Chromebooks in these countries alight,
    We hope our new global friends find some computing delight.

    Your guess is as good as mine. Anyway, that brings the total to 25 countries.

    There were 2.1 million Chromebooks shipped last year.

    Image via Acer

  • 2.1 Million Chromebooks Shipped Last Year

    2.1 Million Chromebooks Shipped Last Year

    The PC market is still in decline and shipments of traditional desktop and notebook PCs took a nosedive during 2013. PC manufacturers are introducing new features such as ultra HD displays and touchscreens in an effort to compete with the rapidly-rising tablet market, Though the ability of these features to turn around the PC market is in doubt, not all PC devices are seeing the same declining sales.

    Market research firm ABI Research this week released a new report showing that 2.1 million Chromebooks were shipped during 2013. Chromebooks are low-priced notebooks designed around Google’s Chrome operating system.

    The firm’s numbers show that almost 89% of last year’s Chromebook shipments were to North America – a mature market that is already showing signs of saturation in the mobile device market. ABI points to the low average sale price of Chrombooks as the competitive force that is propelling the segment well past higher-priced traditional notebooks and PCs.

    “ABI Research tracked Chromebooks across six regions and found the average selling price (ASP) to be US$338,” said Stephanie Van Vactor, research analyst at ABI. “This truly budget-driven device is a disruptive force to the portable PC market.”

    Of course, Chromebooks are one of the few bright spots in the overall declining PC market. The new report shows that only the “ultraportable” notebook segment also managed growth in 2013, though only slight growth. Even then, the average sale price of ultraportable PCs was seen declining by a significant 7.4% last year, cutting manufacturer’s margins even thinner.

    Given the trends seen in this data, it isn’t hard to predict where the consumer market for PCs will be headed in the coming years. ABI predicts that lower prices, greater connectivity, and a wider reliance on cloud services – all features integral to Chromebooks – will drive the PC market in the future. The report also mentions that the coming death of the popular Windows XP operating system could also have a large effect on the PC market in the coming year.

    Image via Acer

  • Enterprise Connect: Google And Cisco Partner For Chromebook Offerings

    Enterprise Connect: Google And Cisco Partner For Chromebook Offerings

    Google and Cisco have partnered up to offer Cisco WebEx and Cisco UC on Chromebooks. Rajen Sheth, Googles’s Director of Product Management on Chrome for Business announced the news at Enterprise Connect, where he demonstrated a proof of concept of the WebEx offering.

    Chromebooks with Cisco

    “We’re also integrating Cisco UC technologies into Google Apps, helping our joint customers work better together,” writes Chrome for Business Product Manager Saswat Panigrahi. “Imagine joining a WebEx meeting directly from Calendar, or starting an instant meeting from Contacts or the Gmail People widget. Starting today, if you use Cisco and Google Apps, features you love, like messaging, fax, click-to-call and Cisco presence, are visible alongside Gmail.”

    Google is telling Cisco customers to get in touch with the Google sales team or Google Enterprise sales via this form to see about getting set up.

    In case you’re wondering how long Chrome OS for enterprise devices is supported, it’s four years.

    Images via Google

  • A Discussion About Chromebook Developer Mode

    Google has released a new video about Chromebook Developer Mode. It’s part of the Google Developers Live series, and features Google Chromium evangelist Francois Beaufort talking about Developer Mode for Chrome OS, which is different than for Chrome itself.

    Image via YouTube

  • Samsung Has Two New Chromebooks On The Way

    Samsung Has Two New Chromebooks On The Way

    In early December, Acer announced a new Chromebook with touch display. Certainly interesting, but can it compete with faux-leather?

    Samsung announced today the Chromebook 2 – the successor to its original Chromebook from a few years back. It comes in two variants – one with a 11.6-inch 1377×768 display while the other has a 13.3-inch 1920×1080 display. Both have a faux-leather backing that’s reminiscent of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

    “Since we introduced our first Chromebook in 2011, Samsung has been committed to continually developing our designs and features to meet our users’ ever-changing needs, while staying true to the core Chromebook attributes of simplicity, speed and security,” said Mike Abary, senior vice president of consumer IT product marketing at Samsung Electronics America. “Samsung has been the top selling consumer Chromebook brand for the past three years and we’ll continue to grow our leadership position in this space with the launch of the Chromebook 2 Series.”

    As for general specs, both models sport 4GB of RAM, a 16GB SSD, 100GB Google Drive Storage, USB 3.0, HDMI Out, 720p webcam and a microSD slot. The only difference between the two is its CPU with the 11.6-inch model sporting a 1.6GHz Exynos 5 octa-core CPU and the 13.3-inch model sporting a 2.1GHz Exynos 5 octa-core CPU.

    The new Chromebook is a pretty big step up from the original which featured a Exynos 5 dual-core CPU. The original also lacked that luxurious faux-leather backing. Even better than a faster CPU or faux-leather, however, is the estimated 8.5 hours of battery life in the new Chromebook compared to the 6.5 hours in the original.

    Alas, a better CPU, faux-leather and more battery life comes at a price. Whereas the original Samsung Chromebook retailed for a super affordable $249, the new Chromebook will retail for quite a bit more. The 11.6-inch model will retail at $320 while the 13.3-inch model will retail for $400. Both will be available in stores and online in April.

    Image via Samsung

  • Chrome OS For Enterprise Devices Get Four Years Of Support

    Did your company make the switch to Chrome OS devices in the last few years? You may have made the switch thinking that Google wouldn’t pull the rug out from under you like Microsoft does when it ends support for past versions of Windows. While it’s true that Chrome OS is an evolving platform with no end of life date, the hardware it runs on will one day stop being supported.

    If you ever wanted to know when your Chromebook is going to become obsolete, look no further than Google’s Chrome OS End of Life Policy page. Each Chrome OS product currently available is listed with its End of Life date. After the date listed, the hardware will stop being officially supported by the Google Enterprise team.

    Here’s the full list:

    Chrome OS For Enterprise Devices Get Four Years Of Support

    Google notes that the above list isn’t set in stone. End of Life dates can be pushed back if Google deems it necessary. You won’t have to worry about dates being pushed forward though as Google gives all Chrome OS devices four years of official support.

    So, what happens to a device after the Google Enterprise team stops supporting it? For starters, it will no longer receive automatic software updates. It’s unknown if Google will allow admins to manually download the latest versions of Chrome OS. Even more pressing, however, is the fact device management through admit control will no longer work.

    In short, you can keep on using your Chrome OS devices after their End of Life date. It just won’t be a pleasant experience. Just as those businesses who use Windows will have to upgrade to Windows 7 or 8 at some point this year, businesses using Chrome OS devices will have to buy all new devices every four years.

    [h/t: Digital Trends]
    Image via Google

  • Google And VMWare Team Up To Bring Windows Apps To Chromebooks

    Google And VMWare Team Up To Bring Windows Apps To Chromebooks

    Google has seen the popularity of Chromebooks increase, but one of the biggest knocks against them is always the lack of desktop app support. That changes now to some extent.

    Google announced today that it has partnered with VMWare to bring traditional Windows apps and desktops to Chromebooks.

    “Cloud applications allow flexibility, scalability and security and enable a work-anywhere environment, but many of our customers still use traditional desktop applications,” says Chrome Director of Product Management Rajen Sheth. “Desktop as a Service (DaaS) helps bridge the gap between the cloud and a traditional desktop by allowing you to run your traditional software in the cloud and have applications appear on your Chromebook similarly to how they run today. An example might be your Windows based accounting application.”

    “Today, customers can fully embrace the cloud with Chromebooks using VMware Horizon DaaS. VMware and Google are working together to make the migration of legacy applications even easier, by using the HTML5/Blast experience from Chromebooks. This means you can work with Chromebooks and connect to a Windows experience running VMWare Horizon View.”

    He goes on to say that Chromebooks and DaaS environments will help things like security vulnerabilities, app compatibility and migration budgets be things of the past.

    I wonder if any of this will change the Pawn Star guy’s opinion of Chromebooks.

    More on the partnership here.

    Image via YouTube

  • Samsung Revises Down Notebook Shipment Estimates

    The traditional PC market is taking a big hit from the rise of tablets and other inexpensive mobile devices. Desktop computers are certainly feeling the pinch, but notebooks may be the category most at risk from ultra-portable devices. Notebook shipments worldwide have been dropping for several consecutive quarters, including this past holiday season. The only categories of notebook PC seen growing are inexpensive, ultra-portable devices such as Chromebooks.

    Notebook manufacturers have been turning to 2-in-1 solutions, touchscreens, and HD displays to try and add value to their notebook offerings, with limited success so far. Now it seems that those same manufacturers have accepted that the notebook industry may never be the same again.

    A DigiTimes report today shows that Samsung has revised its notebook forecast for 2014. The Korean manufacturer now expects to ship seven million notebooks throughout this year. This represents an over 40% drop in notebook shipments from the estimated 12 million units the company shipped during 2013. According to DigiTimes, 2013’s 12 million notebook shipments were already down significantly from the 17 million Samsung expected to ship last year.

    In addition to the relatively low shipment numbers, the report’s unnamed “Taiwan-based supply chain makers” believe that Samsung does not have plans to launch any new notebook models in the coming years, with the exception of new Chromebooks in 2015.

  • Chomebooks, 2-in-1s to Lead PC Industry in 2014

    The traditional PC industry has been in decline for over two years now, with mobile devices such as tablets eating into sales of desktops and notebooks. PC shipments during last year’s holiday quarter continued to decline, and overall PC shipments were down 10% in 2013.

    To turn sales around, PC manufacturers have tried a variety of gimmicks in the past year, including touchscreen notebooks and hybrid devices. The only thing that seems to have caught on so far are Chromebooks, the ultra-portable, inexpensive notebooks developed around Google’s Chrome OS platform.

    DigiTimes Research today predicted that companies have learned from the previous year and intend to focus more on Chromebooks in the coming year. The publication, based on its observations of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) offerings, is predicting that Chromebook shipments in the coming year rise to around four million – over 100% more Chromebooks than were shipped in 2013. These notebook sales are expected to be led by major brands such as Dell, Asus, Toshiba, and Acer.

    In addition to Chromebooks, DigiTimes sees PC manufacturers heavily pushing so-called 2-in-1 devices. Such notebooks are expected to run two different operating systems (Windows and Android for the most part), with many able to transform into tablet devices for portability.

    The notebook industry has already seen such 2-in-1 offerings from major manufacturers during 2013. Though the devices have yet to catch on with consumers, manufacturers appear to be set on the idea of hybrid notebooks that they believe will curb the rapid market gains that tablets have been enjoying over the past few years.