Google and Intel Unveil a New Generation of Powerful Chromebooks
IMAGE: MASHABLE, KARISSA BELL
Google and Intel announced several new Chromebooks from Acer, Asus, Dell, Lenovo and Toshiba at a press event in San Francisco Tuesday.
Google also said Chromebooks will soon have Google Now integration and the ability to play Google Play movies and TV shows offline.
"Our strategy is about computing and ensuring any device that computes does it best with Intel," Navin Shenoy, Intel vice president and general manager of the mobile computing group. "We will embrace multiple operating systems."
Chromebooks are laptops that run Google's Chrome OS and are similar to netbooks in that they're usually less powerful than a typical laptop. The Intel chips that power this next generation of Chromebooks are more powerful than in most previous models.
Most of the new designs include Intel Celeron processors based on Intel's "Bay Trail" line, whose efficient design enables a battery life of up to 11 hours.
InteIntel also showed off a pair of "high performance" Chromebooks with the latest Intel fourth-generation Intel Core i3 processors. The Dell Chromebook 11 and Acer C720 Chromebook are variations of existing models with the new chips.
Accer's C270 will start at $350 and will be available "early in the back to school season," and the Dell will be available "later this year" and will start at $349. While Dell has targeted schools and students with its previous Chromebook offerings, the company said the new high-performance model will target small and medium businesses.
Asus announced two new models: an 11.6-inch C200 and 13.3-inch C300, both of which will go on sale this summer.
Additionally, LG's new Chromebase, the Chrome OS-powered desktop computer, will go on sale later this month in the US for $349. HP's Chromebox, a similar product, will go on sale in the US in June.
Lenovo showed off the N20 and N20p Chromebooks, which the company is billing as the company's first consumer Chromebooks.
All of Intel's new Chrome devices will be powered by the company's first conflict-free microprocessors, Shenoy said. The minerals used in the chips — tin, gold, tantalum and tungsten — only come from mines that are certified "conflict free," which means they don't benefit armed groups within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) or neighboring countries.
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