6 May 2014 Last updated at 15:54 ET
Faster Chromebook laptops revealed by Google and Intel
BBC News
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27297814
New computers running Google's Chrome operating system from Lenovo,
Acer, Asus, HP and Toshiba have been shown off at an event in San Francisco.
In addition, Dell announced it would offer its existing Chromebook
laptop with a faster processor.
The move is designed to build on rising demand for the web-oriented tech.
According to research firm NPD, Chrome OS computers accounted for 24% of
sales of sub-$300 (£177) PCs in the US over the first three months of
the year.
It said many consumers were purchasing them as a budget second or third
computing device, while schools and universities viewed them as a cheap
replacement for ageing Windows XP computers that Microsoft no longer
supported.
However, NPD added that competition in this commercial sector was likely
to become tougher.
"None of Chrome OS's competitors really expected anything last year, so
they weren't really prepared for it," said Stephen Baker, the firm's
vice president of industry analysis.
"But everybody is prepared this year, and I think it will be a bigger
challenge to gain share in volume."
Even so, Google executive Caesar Sengupta - who spoke at the launch
event - was keen to highlight the platform's success at retailer Amazon,
where eight of the current 20 bestselling laptops are Chromebooks.
In addition, he noted that nearly 10,000 schools had now equipped
themselves with Chrome OS computers - about double the number that had
been the case six months ago.
Limited laptops
Chrome-based computers tend to be cheaper than comparable
Windows-powered rivals, in part because Google does not charge
manufacturers to include its software.
They are designed to use web apps and online storage in most cases,
rather than run programs off their hard disks.
Since their launch in 2011, Google has been adding features, the latest
of which include voice commands and ability to play certain videos while
offline.
But some programs remain unavailable, such as the full version of
Photoshop, iTunes and many video games.
Intel chips
The newly announced Chrome OS hardware all runs on chips manufactured by
Intel, which co-hosted the news event.
It was keen to highlight the inclusion of its Bay Trail-M chips in some
of the laptops, which it said offered an extra hour of battery life
compared to last year's versions, were faster and could be fanless, and
therefore thinner.
The chipmaker also announced that US manufacturer CTL planned to release
a Chromebook based on an Intel-design later this year.
But it made no mention of Samsung, the manufacturer of the bestselling
Chromebook model. The South Korean firm uses its own ARM-based Exynos
processors.
Developing economies
Last year a total of 2.9 million Chrome OS-powered computers were
shipped, according to the tech consultancy Gartner.
That was a fraction of the 280 million Windows-powered PC and the 12.5
million Mac OS computers delivered to retailers and customers.
But by 2016, Gartner forecasts that computers running Google's system
will have leapfrogged Apple's hardware to take second place behind
Microsoft's ecosystem.
"There's a couple of reasons - one is the number of vendors who are now
pushing a [Chromebook] device," explained Ranjit Atwal, research
director at the firm.
"The second thing is the appeal they have in developing markets given
their price points.
"You're looking at large-screen notebooks for less than $200 with a good
software ecosystem around them - that's a compelling proposition. The
only inhibiting factor is connectivity."
Although Chromebooks can run software while offline they sometimes offer
reduced functionality - such as being able to view but not edit entries
in Google's Calendar app.
The computers also tend to have smaller hard disk sizes than their
Windows/Mac equivalents - users are instead urged to rely on cloud storage.
While this helps keep their cost low, it again restricts their appeal in
areas where broadband coverage is limited.
More details about the new models - and forthcoming Windows-based rivals
- are likely to be announced at Taiwan's Computex trade show next month.
--
=================================================
George Antunes Voice (713) 743-3923
Associate Professor Fax (713) 743-3927
Political Science Mail: antunes at uh dot edu
University of Houston
Houston, TX 77204-3011
_______________________________________________
Medianews mailing list
[email protected]
http://etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews_etskywarn.net
