Acer is expected to show its First Netbook with Google’s Chrome OS at a trade show early in June. Google’s Chrome operating system promises to boot fast and uses cloud applications and storage. Acer hasn’t commented openly on the reports, although the company has said it would be one of the first hardware makers to offer a Chrome OS-based device.
Taiwan-based computer manufacturer Acer is not the only one to use Chrome OS, many other manufacturers are also working on it. Google’s Chrome OS, which was announced late last year, has attracted attention because it’s a lightweight, browser-based platform that allows devices to boot up almost immediately and emphasizes cloud -based applications and storage.
Talking about Cloud Printing, a Chrome OS device would use a web-based or a locally based app, called a Google Cloud Print API. The printing job is sent to the cloud, and the cloud talks to a “cloud-aware printer,” or to a cloud-aware PC, which then talks to a legacy printer. The main catch, as Jazayeri admitted, is the unfortunate fact that “cloud-aware printers don’t exist yet.” But still will exist in our future someday! This uses a Linux kernel derived from Ubuntu. Last month, Google Group Product Manager Mike Jazayeri wrote on a company blog that “some preliminary designs” were being introduced, based on the Chrome OS, that would allow any application “on any device to print on any printer.”
But Will Chrome take over Android?
According to some industry analysts, Chrome will become Google’s focus for netbooks and smartbooks because it is better suited for devices with keyboards and other input peripherals, while Android will be used for tablets and smartphones. Last year, Google CEO Eric Schmidt told The Wall Street Journal that he resisted developing the Chrome browser and operating system, but eventually changed his mind after seeing an internal demonstration of a Chrome-based netbook that booted up almost immediately and stored its data in the cloud, rather than locally on a hard drive. Schmidt has said he expects Chrome netbooks to run between $300 and $400, about the price for Windows -based netbooks. He also suggested there is “a great deal of commonality” between Chrome and Android, and “eventually they may merge even closer.”
Which other manufacturers are working on Chrome OS?
Samsung Australia confirmed earlier this year that it will launch a Chrome-based netbook in 2010, and ASUS and Lenovo are expected to do so as well. Dell has shown a demo of Chrome OS on a netbook. There have also been reports of Chrome support for devices running Nvidia‘s Tegra 2 processors, which are designed specifically for powerful, mobile products that are optimized for web access. Google has said that Chrome OS-based netbooks will begin appearing by year’s end, and the release date for the OS itself is sometime in the latter part of this year.
Tags: based computer, input peripherals, linux kernel, netbook, operating system, printing job