Google's Chrome OS-based netbook specs leak out
By Darren Murph 
posted December 28th 2009 7:40AM
posted December 28th 2009 7:40AM
We've already seen that early builds of Google's Chromium OS can be hacked onto existing machines, but those Chrome OS netbooks that the software giant has planned for next year have remained curiously elusive until now. According to both IBTimes and Netbook News, the company is in talks with a number of outfits in order to bring at least a few sub-$300 options to the market that are well suited to power through its first non-mobile operating system. For starters, we're told that the 10.1-inch machine will be ARM-based, while NVIDIA's Tegra platform (likely the second generation) steers the graphical ship. There's also promise of a multitouch panel (1,280 x 720 resolution), 64GB SSD, WiFi, 2GB of RAM, integrated 3G connectivity, Bluetooth, an Ethernet jack, an undisclosed amount of USB sockets, webcam, 3.5mm audio jack, a multi-card reader, a 4- or 6-cell battery and optional GPS. Wilder still, a $200 configuration could very well pop up, and it looks as if (at least initially) Google will sell the device(s) directly through its own website -- much like Fusion Garage has done with the Joojoo tablet. 'Course, it'll still take some arm twisting to get the low-end crowd to try anything not labeled "Windows," but if anyone can do it, it's the company that inexplicably kept Gmail in "beta" for over five years.
You will not be able to do 99% of the operations you do on your computer that don't involve the internet. the computer becomes a paperweight when not connected. Sorry but the Chrome browser and the Chrome OS are nothing to get excited about. Go look up chrome OS applications. they advertised shortcuts to websites as "applications." If that isnt pathetic i dont know what is.
plus you are stuck to using the chrome browser. Most people arent a graphics designer, so its no suprise seeing people ignore the uglieness that chrome is. Even ie8 has a cleaner interface, way better than that horrid blue color chrome has or the ugly button design. no i dont care if you can "change the theme" it doesnt make a single difference when the entire thing is just a mess.
Any graphic designer will tell you the horrible button designs on chrome. looks like it was designed by fisher price.
@Troll Any graphic designer?
@Troll
you are an idiot
@Troll I 4 1 agreeee
@Troll: That's why is so popular, it doesn't focus on esthetics but rather on productivity and user friendliness.
@(Unverified)
They've forgotten about Google's future Chrome-based tablet device to be announced right after Apple announces theirs. Google doesn't want to be left out of anything.
@Troll
If you are a graphic designer and believe IE8 looks better than Chrome, you must be unemployed. Hence your spite.
@Troll
He is not totally wrong. Your attacks are not looking at the larger utility of a Chrome based computer. I got a version of Chrome to run on my Lenovo S-10, and I realized the same thing: Without Internet access, it would be a paperweight. On the otehr hand, Google Docs can edit ocuments locally. Still, Chrome is more of an application which runs web based applciations than a real OS that interacts with the whole computer as an intermediatry between human, application and the hardware.
Still, I would get a Chrome based netbook if it was cheap enough.
@(Unverified) There's something really intriguing about a rumor, it's a half full half-empty concoction that drives people crazier on what's real from not. Anyway, the rumored specs is already predicted its not something like so 'unreal'. And another look: http://bit.ly/google-chrome-netbook-rumor-overview
Please don't feed the Troll...
At least he/she/it selected an appropriate username!
yes, please!
I don't quite get the target audience of those machines. Students I suppose? But then as a student you often have to install a "real" application for some course work.
A small lightweight and cheap machine would sound ideal for traveling (don't care a lot if it gets damaged or stolen) but when traveling you often/most of the time don't have an internet connection, or at least not an affordable one.
@astrath exactly - even if you do 90% of your things with online apps, the remaining 10% will be sorely missed after about half an hour...
I mean, I can't have any locally stored music on this? No non-streamed movies for longer commutes? Or how would you sync an iPod with this, or transfer music to your phone? Or how would you do any work that's beyond simple word processing?
Just a few examples of *really* important things for almost everybody that ChromeOS simply doesn't do as far as we know...
@astrath I predict that Google's Chrome OS netbook is intended to demonstrate what Chrome OS can do, and will have offline, HTML5 webapp-based functions. Google is always ahead of the curve with webpage design. I mean, in a particular way. For instance, Google was one of the first to design a mobile version of their search portal and continue to have the best designed mobile pages; Google has some of the best mobile web services available; and they have a useful service for converting desktop formatted websites into mobile website format.
So, Google had a big hand in the constitution of HTML5, which is the basis for their confidence in an all-browser OS. But they also know that they will have to implement HTML5 webapps themselves. I think that's why they're moving ahead with their own netbook, just like they've been more and more involved in showcasing Android.
@astrath
I'd get one for browsing the internet. I already have a Windows Netbook but if this Chrome OS version addresses certain issues then I'm all for it.
Thing is I never use the netbook for anything other then browsing the Web, I have a PC desktop, I have a mac, etc for everything else. If it browses the web better then a windows Netbook I'm all for it.
Plus I'd buy a one for my elderly parents, which only use their PC to surf the net, but always manage to get viruses and other crap to mess it up (If they move to Chrome OS then I can stop being their technical support).
Current Netbooks are stripped down notebooks that run slower. Its functional but its not necessarily fast.
The Chrome OS should run and function a lot faster then Windows merely because its far more streamlined and barebones. Running on ARM means that battery will be longer and that the CPU will be a fraction of the price of an x86. They've indicated that they would like to use that costs savings on putting a better screen in the device.
Being faster and instant on/off should make it a far better internet browsing experience then the average netbook. I think there is a market if they price it right.
@NewL
"I mean, I can't have any locally stored music on this? No non-streamed movies for longer commutes?"
Web browsers have been able to access locally stored files for as long as they've existed. Chrome is no exception. I'm not sure what kind of access you will have to the 64GB SSD, though. Will it be used entirely for caching online data, or will there be a partition available for storing local music and videos?
"Or how would you sync an iPod with this, or transfer music to your phone?"
Playing back content from a phone (Motorola Droid) under Chrome OS has already been demonstrated. I assume they will provide some form of write access also. Would be pretty useless, otherwise.
"Or how would you do any work that's beyond simple word processing?"
Clearly this is where Google needs to put a lot of effort. It's not enough to just support online apps, you also have to provide it.
@cobaltage
It will be interesting if the move forward with HTML 5 before it's finalized. I know they'd rather move that direction since they've indicated a preference to use that over Gears, but there is always a risk when getting ahead of standards. Just look at the Microsoft IE6 situation.
@FitFan I don't see any downside if Google did jump the gun on HTML5. If this is a Google branded netbook, anything Google does with the OS is just for this particular device, and so just for this particular build of Chrome OS. Users might pick it apart and whatnot, but any specific elements implemented on this build of Chrome OS wouldn't necessarily extend to any other build, unlike what you're referring to with MS.
What use is the 64GB SSD for if none of your data is stored locally? I can't imagine the OS takes more than 4GB.
@Olivier plenty of stuff for Google Gears to store, I guess? And what if you don't want Chrome OS?
@Olivier cache
@Olivier The 64GB SSD is there because they're saving money on the chipset (relative to an x86 CPU chipset) and can get a good deal on 64GB SSDs in bulk. You can get an x86 CPU with Windows, a 120GB 5400RPM HDD, and X hours of battery life; or you can get an ARM-architecture CPU with Chrome OS, a 64GB SSD, and 2X hours of battery life.
In other words, it's for pr0n.
@(Unverified) Google Gears is no longer being supported, and instead HTML5 is being pushed - So i guess something else would need to fill up all that lovely space - Media such as music maybe? :)
@Olivier
Let's also consider that by next-year 64GB shouldn't be as expensive.
http://www.inspectrumtech.com/DP/NANDFlashSpotPrice.aspx
Right now a 32GB Flash spot price (price of flash by a manufacturer) is $31 average. On average (in bulk) a 64GB flash should cost a manufacturer ~$62 today. Next year in late-2010 when this is released 64GB should be much cheaper.
However, rather see a $149 netbook using ARM+4GB SSD.
@Monkey Fetish
It's also important to realize that there are different kinds of Flash memory. The type you see in typical consumer electronics is NOT the same type that's used in SSDs.
@Jeff Kibuule
Actually NAND Flash prices I quoted are the 48-60nm Flash MLC (Multi-level cell) NAND which is what is used in SSD drives.
Chrome OS does not store user's data locally, right?
So what's the purpose of the 64G SSD?
@mianmian
Hopefully choice to use other OS's too.
If it was able to dual boot Android and Chrome OS it would be the machine of the forever for me.
@ChazClout what would you need ChromeOS for when you can have Android? as ill-adapted as Android is for a normal notebook form-factor, it's still a LOT more capable than Chrome"OS"...
@mianmian
Just because you are not supposed to store stuff manually on the SSD doesn't mean that the OS won't cache stuff. Google already said that offline functionality will be there through a Gears-like cache mechanism. Also by the end of 2010 low-end 64GB SSDs will be pretty cheap and it will be pretty much the standard minimum module size for the "normal" netbook market too (economy of scale for the manufacturers, also this way they can easily "rebrand" their Chrome OS netbooks and reuse the hardware, e.g. put another OS and sticker on it and sell it under their own name ;).
@mianmian I think it can play local media files, too.
10.1-inch is too small. Should be at least 13"
@URPradhan I agree. It's best for notebooks to have full sized keyboards ...and that works best with 12" or larger display. I thought a full sized keyboard was a requirement for the chrome platforms.
@dorbolo I agree 12" is ideal as long as the netbook is really thin and light. I hope tegra 2 and 64Gb SSD can enable this.
@URPradhan
I can't believe it either.. That's what she freaking sai..
I can see some hackers out there modding Windows onto these. If the specs are true, it's a nice cheap price for what you're getting.
@Putzy09 I very much don't think so. Porting Windows to ARM isn't a "hack", it's a pretty big undertaking even for gigantic companies like Microsoft.
Not to mention that no current, native Windows app would run in on an ARM-based system unless it is ported as well. And what is Windows without it's apps?
@NewL Yeah, I see your point.. didn't think as I posted in the first place.
Like the man said, if it ain;t Windows, then I don;t wann know.
I just CANNOT go through the PAIN of watching yet another OS grow up.
Windows 7 is the best that there ever has been on a Home/Office PC.
About the last thing I need is that horrid GoogleMail conversation display email in my PC. Yes, I use Gmail but I get it via Outlook which disp0lays my email correctly.
No thank you.
Lack of conversation display is the main reason why I stopped using Outlook 2007 in favor of Gmail.com
@(Unverified) win7 taskbar and windows explorer is awful and way worse than xp.
@Chefgon
Your statement is full of fail.
View --> Arrange by --> Conversation to view messages in conversation mode in Outlook 2007.
ARM cpus? So I can't install pretty much anything else onto it if I desire?
I'm out.
@r3loaded ARM doesn't restrict you - it's ChromeOS' philosophy that doesn't allow you to install native apps.
@NewL Of course ARM doesn't restrict you from installing whatever you want, it's just that there's practically nothing much else outside of the OEM world that can be installed onto it - Windows and Ubuntu come to mind.
@r3loaded - I do think there's a Ubuntu port for ARM. And you could try things like Mer (an completely open-source variant of Maemo)...
@r3loaded what are you doing in a tech site? do u even know the power of risc arm cpus?
@r3loaded
The solution is quite simple. Grab a GNU/Linux distro compiled for ARM (Fedora, Gentoo, Ubuntu, Angstrom,et cetera...)
Grab the source of your favorite OSS application.
Open the console. CD /directory/of/the/source
Type Make arch=arm, or simply Make (Add flags for optimizations if you desire)
then Install.
There you go. you have something like a million apps to choose from. Except if you want games. I doubt you would be able to play them in a ATOM+GMA500 setup.
@r3loaded As others have said, you can pretty much get a "full" Ubuntu (or many other Linux distros) on to an ARM netbook if you want. It can do anything the distro can on an x86 platform, save for x86-specific things (virtualization, WINE).
Does "Touch Panel" mean "convertible tablet"!? That'd be AWESOME. Especially if they do, in fact, incorporate Dalvik (Android runtime) into Chrome OS.
As for "it'll still take some arm twisting to get the low-end crowd to try anything not labeled 'Windows'", the non-Windows netbooks did just fine (even with luddites), until Microsoft started sabre rattling to get the vendors in-line. The problem isn't the users. It's the back-alley deals and back-room handshakes that are the problem.