Samsung’s New Chromebook 2 Gets Official

Samsung’s new Chromebook is now official. The biggest upgrades include the form factor featuring the faux leather stitching made famous by its Galaxy Note 3 and a new 1080P 13-inch display on the higher end $399 model. Both still use Exynos 5 Octocore processors, both come compete with 8.5-9 hours battery life claimed by Samsung. These machines also have wake times of less than one second and cold boots in less than ten.

Another improvement is the Hangouts video chat experience enhance by a 720P front side camera paired with improved mic and 2x 2W speakers.

Available in April, the 11.6-inch Samsung Chromebook 2 will be available for an MSRP of $319.99, while the 13.3-inch model is $399.99.

Lenovo Announces Two New Chromebooks

+Lenovo has announced two new laptops to join the ThinkPad brand that run on Google's Chrome OS. The official series is known as 11e and is breaken down into four laptops, two of which are Chromebooks and two of which are +Windows laptops.

Being that schools are the target, Lenovo has fortified them with “rubber bumpers, reinforced ports, and stronger hinges are included to protect the system from the hustle and bustle of the classroom.”The ThinkPad 11e Chromebook is just your average Chromebook. The ThinkPad Yoga 11e Chromebook has four modes to position it in laptop, tablet, tent, and stand depending on what you are doing adjusting is easy with the different modes. The non-Yoga model will have an 11.6-inch HD LED display while its flexible partner will feature a touchscreen for wider viewing angles.

Google Announces ‘Chrome Apps’ For Windows

Chrome has offered ‘Apps’ bookmarks to web pages for Mac and PC users for a awhile. There is even a Chrome App store.  Today Chrome is getting serious about desktop apps.  In a post on the company’s blog, Google says that improved access to the computer, including USB/Bluetooth, full screen mode, desktop notifications, less ‘chrome’ (Tabs, bookmarks, browser bar, etc) and power off features will make the Chrome apps act more like real apps. So real, in fact, that most people won’t be able to tell the difference.

Today Google is unveiling a new kind of Chrome App, which brings together the speed, security and flexibility of the modern web with the powerful functionality previously only available with software installed on your devices. (Think apps designed for your desktop or laptop, just like the ones for your phone and tablet.) These apps are more powerful than before, and can help you get work done, play games in full-screen and create cool content all from the web. If you’re using Windows or a Chromebook, you can check them out in the “For your desktop” collection in the Chrome Web Store (Mac & Linux coming soon).

Netflix Support Officially Arrives On Samsung ARM Chromebook

Netflix subscribers who also own a new Samsung Chromebook on ARM can now enjoy Netflix on there Chromebook. The streaming movie giant is now officially supported on this Chromebook, around five months after the device was released.

Up until today, users who attempted to stream Netflix from the ARM-powered Chromebook were greeted with a message that Netflix was working with Google to provide access to the service “soon.” But “soon” has turned into “now,” which honestly doesn't come as much of a surprise: Google included a brand new Netflix plugin for the Samsung Chromebook in a dev release last month. Still, it was a frustrating waiting game – one that many people are now glad is over.

The hold up was due to the need for Google and Netflix to work out some DRM issues – issues that are solved by Silverlight on Windows and OS X, and by NaCl technology on Intel-powered Chromebooks. For the ARM Chromebook, DRM will be handled by that new Netflix plugin and some HTML5 magic.

Source: OMG!CHROME!

Google Chromebook Pixel Gets Official

The new Google Chromebook Pixel has just been put up on the Play Store for purchase. They have two versions available. One is Wi-Fi only with 32GB of storage, the other is Wi-F, LTE and has 64GB of storage.

Google Chromebook Pixel Specs

Screen

• 12.85″ display with a 3:2 aspect ratio
• 2560 x 1700, at 239 PPI
• 178° extra-wide viewing angle
• Gorilla® Glass multi-touch screen

CPU

• Intel® Core™ i5 Processor (Dual Core 1.8GHz)
• Intel® HD Graphics 4000 (Integrated)

Memory

• 4 GB DDR3 RAM
• 32 or 64 GB Solid State Drive

Battery Life

• Up to 5 hours of active use (59 Wh battery)

The battery life isn’t stellar, but looking at what the Pixel offers and does, one wouldn’t expect it to be that incredible anyways. As if those small little bits of tech specs aren’t enough, the Pixel also has a backlit keyboard, fully clickable etched-glass trackpad and an HD webcam.

The 32 GB Wi-Fi only version sells for $1299.00. That price does come with a few little perks though. Google also is giving you 1 TB of Google Drive storage for 3 years. They are also giving you 12 free GoGo inflight Wi-Fi access.

The 64 GB model with LTE inside retails at $1449.00. All the same specs, it just has LTE and more internal memory. You get the same 1 TB Drive and 12 sessions of GoGo Wi-Fi, but you are also giving 2 years of Verizon mobile broadband. Granted it is only 100 MB’s per month, but it is included, just like the CR-48′s had. 

A video of the Chromebook Pixel in action follows below.

Source: Google Play Store

Google Said To Be Launching IaaS Cloud Services At Google I/O

Sources at GigaOm state that Google will be releasing their own IaaS (infrastructure as a service) cloud solution next week at Google I/O. This move would extend their current cloud services, like app engine, cloud connect, and storage, and allow users to rent virtual servers from the folks in Mountain View, bringing them in close competition with cloud giant Amazon.

In this scenario, two things come right to the front of our minds ChromeOS and Google Docs (Drive). Both services could be great front-ends for a cloud infrastructure that's set up by the user, especially in the enterprise. Imagine a corporate portal that you connect to as soon as you fire up your Chromebook, and your own IT department manages it all. Then imagine you can also connect with your Android phone. This could be a really big deal™.