Google announces the successor to the Chromebook: the Googlebook

Google is announcing a new line of laptops coming in the fall called Google Books. Details are sparse at the moment, as well tease This is just a small part of the various Android ads through Google Android display. But we do know that this is a major new initiative in the laptop space for Google, which appears designed to succeed Chromebooks with something more capable: a platform running a long-rumored new operating system based on a mix of Android and ChromeOS.

This operating system, through diverse Leaksand has been referred to as Aluminum operating system. Google hasn’t announced the real name of the operating system or provided many details about it yet. “We’ll have more to share about the exact OS brand later this year,” says Peter Du of Google’s global communications team. Edge. “We can confirm that it is not aluminum. This is the code name, not the official branding.”

So what do we really know about Googlebooks and their operating system that isn’t made of aluminum but isn’t either no Aluminum? For starters, Googlebooks is built on top of the Android technology stack. They will run Chrome for web browsing as well as running Android apps. They’ll also be able to directly access files from your Android phone and run your apps directly from it so you don’t have to temporarily move your attention across devices. And they will have Gemini intelligence Hidden in almost everything – right down to the cursor.

Googlebooks will have a Magic Pointer feature that offers contextual suggestions when you shake the pointer and point it at something on the screen. Google examples include setting up a meeting by mentioning a date in an email or selecting photos of furniture and living space to visualize together. In addition to the mouse cursor, Googlebooks will also feature custom AI-generated widgets that Google is debuting today for Android phones and Wear OS smartwatches. I don’t know what kind of horror people will be able to turn into widgets, but Google offers an example of creating one to organize your flights, hotel information, and restaurant reservations, and another to create a countdown timer for an upcoming family reunion. (It’s always the flights, hotels, and restaurants, right?)

While there a lot The outstanding questions to be answered about Googlebooks, the biggest and most obvious of which are what will these laptops look like, what chips will they contain, and how much will they cost? We don’t have any of that yet. Google only has some initial renders of the mysterious Google Book and the promise that it’s working with Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo to make the first models. There are no model names. No specifications. Nada. Google doesn’t mention whether the laptop in its offerings is made by a partner or if it’s just a cool mockup. The only distinctive hardware feature on offer, a glowing Google-colored light bar, will be a signature of all Google Books. (Sure, turn on RGB. Why not?)

I’m always excited about new devices and new operating systems, even if Google is now trying to classify their operating systems as “intelligence systems.” But this tease also leaves a trail of uncertainty. From this little glimpse of Googlebook OS, it certainly looks very similar to ChromeOS. So it’s easy to conclude that Googlebooks are the new Chromebooks. And what does this mean for the millions of Chromebooks already out there?

When asked if Chromebooks and ChromeOS will continue, Google’s Peter Du said Edge“Yes, Chromebooks will be released after Googlebook launches” and “…all Chromebooks will continue to receive support by sticking to their current hardware date.” This date is a commitment 10 years of automatic security updates For Chromebooks released in 2021 or later. But there’s no telling what Google’s focus on Chromebooks and ChromeOS will be in a world that also has Googlebooks.

We’ll just have to wait and find out – either for a proper product launch or for the inevitable leaks that Google makes known as.