LG’s all-in-one Chromebase will bring Chrome OS, unfortunately, to the desktop

<img alt="LG Chromebase, front and side" class="attachment-full wp-post-image" height="353" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/chromebase-lg-front-side-640x353.jpg" style="border-style: none; color: #333333; font-family: ProximaNovaRgRegular, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;" width="640" /><br /> <div style="color: #333333; font-family: ProximaNovaRgRegular, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> In a weird and not entirely pleasant twist of fate, LG has announced a Chrome OS… kiosk. Well, technically it’s an all-in-one PC, but given Chrome OS’s minimal feature set, it is essentially a kiosk. Called the Chromebase, there’s no word on pricing or availability yet, but given its chunky appearance and circa-2005 rounded bezels we’re probably looking at somewhere in the region of $300 to $400.</div> <div style="color: #333333; font-family: ProximaNovaRgRegular, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> LG’s Chromebase, which will be shown off at CES 2014, is an all-in-one (AIO) with a 21.5-inch 1920×1080 IPS display, Intel Celeron CPU, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of solid-state storage. A fairly wimpy spec, but it sits firmly within Chrome OS’s minimum hardware requirements. The paltry supply of RAM may be an issue if you like to keep more than a few tabs open, but LG will probably offer a 4GB model for an extra $50 if you think you’ll need it. With a Celeron CPU, the Chromebase won’t exactly blitz through page loads, and you can expect a fair bit of slowdown if you try to do more than one non-basic tasks at the same time.</div> <div style="color: #333333; font-family: ProximaNovaRgRegular, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> LG envisions the Chromebase as a secure kiosk-style computer for schools, hotels, call centers, and other settings that don’t require the feature set provided by a full Windows PC. Chrome OS is very secure, and cloud-based profiles — all of your bookmarks, add-ons, and apps are automatically synced when you log in – make it ideal for situations where dozens or hundreds of people might use the same computer. The Chromebase might also make sense as a family computer, though given the wimpy processor and lack of apps and games, your kids probably wouldn’t be too happy to receive a Chromebase for Christmas.</div> <div style="color: #333333; font-family: ProximaNovaRgRegular, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/chromebase-lg-back.jpg" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="LG Chromebase, back" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-173077" height="632" src="http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/chromebase-lg-back-640x632.jpg" style="border-style: none;" width="640" /></a></div> <div style="color: #333333; font-family: ProximaNovaRgRegular, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> There are some other important questions about the Chromebase’s hardware spec, too. The LG press release doesn’t mention if the display is a touchscreen or not — a significant point, if the Chromebase is destined for kiosk use. Chrome OS has received a few touchscreen tweaks over the last year, which I assumed were for touchscreen Chromebooks — or perhaps, at long last, a Chrome OS <em>tablet</em> — but maybe they were in preparation for the Chromebase. The Chromebase will come with a mouse and keyboard, 2x USB 2.0 sockets, a single USB 3.0 socket, and an RJ45 LAN socket (probably Gigabit).</div> <div style="color: #333333; font-family: ProximaNovaRgRegular, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> Curiously, the Chromebase has an HDMI input socket, meaning you can use it as a standalone screen — say, as a second display for your Windows PC, perhaps. It’s hard to come up with a valid usage scenario for such a setup, though. Maybe you use Chrome OS when you just want to bring up a website quickly, but boot your real PC when you want to do some gaming or Photoshop work? Given how quickly Windows 8 and OS X come out of standby, though, such a scenario seems tenuous at best. Still, having an HDMI input is better than not having an HDMI input. (See: HP Chromebook 11: Finally, a Chrome OS laptop with the right specs at the right price.)</div> <div style="color: #333333; font-family: ProximaNovaRgRegular, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> The fact remains that <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/tag/chrome-os" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;">Chrome OS</a> occupies a weird mid-ground between fully-fledged mobile OS like Android, and a desktop OS like Windows. Chrome OS, which was initially conceived by <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/tag/google" style="color: #b1700a; text-decoration: none;">Google</a> as a mobile, browser-based, always-connected-to-the-cloud operating system, always seemed a bit ahead of its time. Browsers still don’t have native-level performance (and they churn through battery life), and mobile connectivity is still nowhere near good enough or cheap enough. As a result, Chrome OS has been forced to adapt, and the end result is essentially a secure but featureless OS that’s usually strapped onto cheap, weak hardware — because, let’s face it, no one would buy a Chromebook if it cost more than $400.</div> <div style="color: #333333; font-family: ProximaNovaRgRegular, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <i>Via: <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/173075-lgs-all-in-one-chromebase-will-bring-chrome-os-unfortunately-to-the-desktop">ExtremeTech</a></i></div>

LG’s all-in-one Chromebase will bring Chrome OS, unfortunately, to the desktop

In a weird and not entirely pleasant twist of fate, LG has announced a Chrome OS… kiosk. Well, technically it’s an all-in-one PC, but give...

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Google expand Chromecast in 2014 ?

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiooupiqhZh6Gl3buXyjeAvE4RgaJXtZAEbeu284tnU8oLzZxzJshBlWN50aBmdZj-FesNpSFusQaWUmVFX1G-EQzKQyp4e0zIuU0AAXqqwxsfulnG43fr7U0U7LGacMRTnyTsXe5VgzU6N/s1600/chromecast_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiooupiqhZh6Gl3buXyjeAvE4RgaJXtZAEbeu284tnU8oLzZxzJshBlWN50aBmdZj-FesNpSFusQaWUmVFX1G-EQzKQyp4e0zIuU0AAXqqwxsfulnG43fr7U0U7LGacMRTnyTsXe5VgzU6N/s640/chromecast_1.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="adAvoidedButFlowable" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 31px; margin-bottom: 25px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The search giant is planning to bring its streaming dongle to a number of international markets, according to Google's product management VP Mario Queiroz in <a href="http://gigaom.com/2013/12/13/chromecast-in-2014-an-open-sdk-big-international-plans-and-maybe-even-new-devices/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(33, 155, 214); background-color: whitesmoke; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; padding: 1px 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">an interview with <em style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Gigaom</em></a>. He added that people will be "pleasantly surprised" by the scope of the expansion.</span></div><div class="adAvoidedButFlowable" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 31px; margin-bottom: 25px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The idea is to persuade app publishers around the world to make their apps Chromecast-compatible, so that users will be able to access more content using the device.</span></div><div class="adAvoidedButFlowable" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 31px; margin-bottom: 25px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"There will be an expectation from consumers that any and every app will be 'castable,'" Queiroz said.</span></div><div class="adAvoidedButFlowable" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 31px; margin-bottom: 25px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To that end, an open SDK will be launched during 2014. Right now a preview is available to developers, but it's not yet possible to distribute apps with the functionality.</span></div><div class="adAvoidedButFlowable" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 31px; margin-bottom: 25px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source : <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-12/15/chromecast">Wired UK</a></span></i></div>

Google expand Chromecast in 2014 ?

The search giant is planning to bring its streaming dongle to a number of international markets, according to Google's product managemen...

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Acer C720 Chromebook lineup expands with lower price of entry

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSW124KX-JduMP8HNzIh69vTAoze9Vr68HAgwPfYOXI_YvsAvNB_2IXdlkUt4OWpUZlHfo2n-gKtaaLRAf0l7WaZQcByh8yf7LwZvWN4RrmzDHHONVvtF9fnXYDqeE2ChefpwzkXOdy7Zq/s1600/193793_AcerChromebookC720forwardangle-540x416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSW124KX-JduMP8HNzIh69vTAoze9Vr68HAgwPfYOXI_YvsAvNB_2IXdlkUt4OWpUZlHfo2n-gKtaaLRAf0l7WaZQcByh8yf7LwZvWN4RrmzDHHONVvtF9fnXYDqeE2ChefpwzkXOdy7Zq/s400/193793_AcerChromebookC720forwardangle-540x416.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://itrumors.blogspot.com/search/label/Acer" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s ease; background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s ease; vertical-align: baseline;">Acer</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"> rolled out the C720 Chromebook lineup back in October. At the time that meant the </span>C720-2800<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"> which had a price tag of $249.99. Well, flashing forward a little more than a month and there is now a second model in the lineup. This latest is the C720-2848 and it brings a similar set of specs with a lower price point.</span></span><br /><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Acer C720-2848 <a href="http://itrumors.blogspot.com/search/label/Chrome%20OS" style="-webkit-transition: 0.2s ease; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.2s ease; vertical-align: baseline;">Chromebook</a> is priced at $199.99. This one sports and 11.6-inch ComfyView HD display with a resolution of 1366 x 768 and similar to the earlier model, it is powered by an Intel Celeron processor based on the Haswell architecture. In other words, this one should still hold the same mix of performance and battery life. Acer suggests the C720-2848 will be able to provide up to 8.5 hours of run time.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Other specs for the C720-2848 include 16GB of SSD storage, 2GB of RAM, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, HDMI and a dual speaker setup. There will also be one each of USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports. The model will weigh in at 2.76 pounds and measure in at 0.75-inches thick. Similar to other Chromebook models, both from Acer and other manufacturers, the C720-2848 will come with some extra perks.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These extras include 100GB of Google Drive storage (free for two-years), Google Play Music All Access and 12 free Gogo Inflight passes. That all having been said, the Acer C720-2848 Chromebook is available beginning today and can be found with retailers to include Best Buy and Amazon.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Looking forward, this model will also be available direct with Acer, however the notebook is not expected to arrive in the Acer Store until December. There wasn’t specific mention of Play Store availability, but based on previous Acer Chromebooks, we expect this one will be sold direct with Google.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 14px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Source : <a href="http://androidcommunity.com/acer-c720-chromebook-lineup-expands-with-lower-price-of-entry-20131115/">Android Community</a></span></i></div>

Acer C720 Chromebook lineup expands with lower price of entry

Acer  rolled out the C720 Chromebook lineup back in October. At the time that meant the  C720-2800  which had a price tag of $249.99. Well, ...

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Acer drops Chromebook price to $200

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZzBzzuOpxU26dV1hWwTEoxxY6cWlwEX-_EUGxGq0JBST2kKjnFvswOG-E2uHOB2N9f9xwzZVti-4f0i-tgBDn0_brF1RfG73dgcUzffWxW8wL0diNlV9UtT0rLl8UnBDATIEGuZg8laH7/s1600/id-2064000-acerchromebook2-100068532-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZzBzzuOpxU26dV1hWwTEoxxY6cWlwEX-_EUGxGq0JBST2kKjnFvswOG-E2uHOB2N9f9xwzZVti-4f0i-tgBDn0_brF1RfG73dgcUzffWxW8wL0diNlV9UtT0rLl8UnBDATIEGuZg8laH7/s1600/id-2064000-acerchromebook2-100068532-large.jpg" /></span></a></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Acer is trying to push down the prices of Chromebooks, announcing a new laptop with Chrome OS priced at $200.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Acer Chromebook C720-2848 has an 11.6-inch screen, and is targeted at those who do most of their computing on the Web. The lightweight laptop offers 8.5 hours of battery life and runs on an Intel Celeron processor based on the Haswell microarchitecture.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A new wave of Chromebooks, running the latest version of Chrome OS, have hit the market starting in October. The latest Chromebooks are priced above $200, and the new Acer laptop and could spark a price war.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The low price will hopefully make Chromebooks attractive to more buyers, an Acer spokeswoman said in an email. Most laptops today have Windows.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Chromebook C720-2848 weighs only 1.25 kilograms, is extremely thin, and boots up in a matter of seconds, Acer said. It has 16GB of solid-state drive storage and 2GB of DRAM, with 100GB of free Google Drive online storage for the first two years.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The screen can display images at a resolution of 1366 x 768-pixel resolution.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Other features include a webcam, 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, and USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports. An HDMI port allows the laptop to be connected to high-definition TVs.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The laptop is available immediately in the U.S. Information on worldwide availability was not immediately available.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Source : <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2064000/acer-drops-chromebook-price-to-19999.html">PCWorld</a></span></i></div><div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.7em; margin-bottom: 0.7em;"><br /></div>

Acer drops Chromebook price to $200

Acer is trying to push down the prices of Chromebooks, announcing a new laptop with Chrome OS priced at $200. The Acer Chromebook C720-2848 ...

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