Samsung Chromebook
Latest
Samsung plans to stop selling laptops in Europe
Is the PC dead? Well, that depends on who you ask. Still, no one can deny that people's habits have changed drastically over the past few years, namely due to the rise of smartphones and tablets. Samsung, for example, has found huge success selling mobile devices worldwide, but it doesn't look like the company is having the same luck with laptops, at least not in Europe. PC Advisor first broke the news earlier that Samsung was planning to exit the laptop market (Chromebooks included) in The Old Continent, and the South Korean electronics giant has since corroborated this report. "We quickly adapt to market needs and demands," Samsung said in a statement. The Galaxy brand maker did say "this is specific to the region," adding that it isn't "necessarily reflective" of the state of its distribution strategy elsewhere. You can read Samsung's official comment in full after the break.
Leak suggests leather-wrapped Samsung Chromebook is on the way
Take one @evleaks image, add a familiar looking faux-leather finish and a Chrome logo, and what do you get? Well, a new Samsung Chromebook on the way would be our guess.
Engadget laptop buyer's guide: winter 2014 edition
CES has been over for a month now, which means it's high time we update all our buyer's guides with some of the new stuff that was just announced. In the coming weeks, we'll have fresh tablet and phone picks, but today, we're all about the laptops. Whether you're in the market for an Ultrabook, convertible, gaming rig or a Chromebook, we've got a suggestion that should fit the bill. Read on to see what made the cut -- and what's been dropped from our guide since last fall.
MMObility: The Chromebook 'All-In-One' project - The pros and cons wrap-up
Well, it's been pretty much a month since I first got my hands on this Samsung Chromebook. In that time they have become a very successful product, and I've witnessed a lot of new 'Bookers falling in love with the device. I wanted to set out to see if I could use one device for pretty much every aspect of my digital life, from work to play. I've had help from my wife along the way, as she quickly got used to how easily the device worked. I've pushed it in every way that I could think of. I've watched videos on it, plugged things into it, written on it and used it to play games. So, what do I think now? Does this little notebook fill every need? Well, yes and no. It's definitely able to do what I want it to do, but I want it to do some pretty specific things. I also wanted to show that gaming, especially massively multiplayer gaming, is accessible from the 'Book. Why? The truth is that I wanted to illustrate how MMO games not only come in all shapes and sizes, but that there are many different communities all over the world that enjoy very successful browser-based, "low-tech" MMOs. As far as Massively is concerned, this experiment was an attempt to sneak in some very cool MMOs under the guise of "cool new gadget."
MMObility: The Chromebook 'All In One' project - Introduction
For the next five MMObility columns, I'll be taking a look at my new Chromebook, a device I have dreamed of owning since it was first announced some time ago. I've decided to name it the "All In One" project, representing the ability of a Chromebook to do almost anything, all within the confines of a browser. Today's Chromebooks are much different beasts than the first CR-48s that were sent out for testing and reviews. The current flagship Chromebook, the Samsung Series 3 XE303C12 model that utilizes an SSD and a processor that you would normally find within a tablet, is well-built, instantly and silently updated, fun to use, and best of all, pretty darn inexpensive at $249.00 US. Over the course of these columns, I will cover gaming on the device. Yes, gaming, as in MMORPGs. I've been a massive browser fan for a long time, so I already have access to a list of at least 100 different MMOs that run on very basic tech. I will be listing these games over the next few weeks while explaining how they work. Don't worry, techies; I'm covering the guts and tweaky stuff on my personal blog at Beauhindman.com. This will be a two-pronged attempt at using the Chromebook in real scenarios, something that is often missing from tech reviews. So let's get started!
Samsung Chromebook review (late 2012)
More Info Google launches 11.6-inch ARM-based Samsung Chromebook: $249, 6.5-hour battery, 1080p video Hands-on with Google's $249, ARM-based Chromebook Samsung Chromebook Series 5 550 review Whenever we review Chromebooks, we always come to more or less the same conclusion: it's a neat idea, a computer where everything is done online, but it's not worth the money. That was back when Chrome OS devices were priced at $500, competing with netbooks that could run not just the Chrome browser, but all manner of Windows apps. Ditto for tablets, which can be tricked out with many thousands of apps on both iOS and Android. But what if we told you the price had been slashed to $249? Then could you see yourself pulling the trigger? That's the gamble Google and Samsung are taking with the new Chromebook, which retails for $249 with an 11.6-inch display, 6.5-hour battery and a more compact design. All told, it's as good a piece of hardware as any netbook you'll find, only cheaper. And good luck finding a tablet-and-keyboard combo for less than $250. There is one major change this time around, though, and that's the Chromebook's dual-core ARM processor, instead of something from Intel's Celeron family. The performance isn't likely to be as good, but will that matter if all you're running is the Chrome browser? Will the lowered price be enough to lure in parents, travelers and other folks looking for a cheap second laptop? Let's see.
Googler loads Ubuntu on an ARM-based Samsung Chromebook, gives solace to the offline among us
Samsung's ARM-running Chromebook is barely out of the starting gate, and it's already being tweaked to run without as much of an online dependency. By a Google employee, no less. Not content to rely solely on Chrome OS, Olof Johansson has loaded Ubuntu on the Chromebook by partitioning an SD card, mixing OS components and booting from USB. The technique unsurprisingly requires being more than a little comfortable with a Linux command line as well as playing fast and loose with the warranty. It also won't be cheap or quick -- commenters note that you'll ideally have a partitioning-friendly SD card, and running a desktop OS from a slower kind of flash storage creates an inherent bottleneck. Anyone who likes the Chromebook's $249 price, but isn't as enraptured with the cloud as most of the team in Mountain View, might still want to try Johansson's step-by-step process for themselves.
ARM-powered Chromebook lands at Play store for $249
Samsung's brand new ARM A15-based Chromebook is now available direct from Google at the Play store. The $249 WiFi only laptop was already available to pre-order through Amazon, but now you can go straight to the source, and Mountain View promises to have one of the light-weight machines in your hands within 3-5 business days. If you're more interested in the 3G-equipped version of the 11.6-incher, you'll still have to take your business to Amazon for now. Though, there's still no word on when the $329 laptop will be released. To order this affordable web-browsing machine now, hit up the source.
Google demos Coreboot on Chromebook prototype, hints at Ivy Bridge support (video)
Well what do we have here? Our friends over at Netbooknews spotted this Samsung Chromebook prototype at IDF Beijing 2012. Better yet, Google was using the machine to demo Coreboot -- a fast boot open source BIOS replacement for Linux systems -- after recently adding support for Intel's Ivy Bridge platform to the project. Are Coreboot-enabled Ivy Bridge-based Chromebooks on the way? We'll have to wait until Google I/O to find out. In the meantime, there's a video waiting for you after the break -- come on, we know you're secretly big Chromebook fans just like us!
IRL: Logitech Y-R0026 Bluetooth keyboard, Apple MacBook and a Virgin America flight with the Series 5 Chromebook
Welcome to IRL, an ongoing feature where we talk about the gadgets, apps and toys we're using in real life and take a second look at products that already got the formal review treatment. In this, the last IRL until after we get back from CES, we've got a tale from Brian, who spent his Virgin America flight home to the west coast playing with his first Chromebook. Meanwhile, Andy defends the idea of spending $130 on a Bluetooth keyboard, and Mr. Christopher Trout explains why he's loathe to recycle his three year-old MacBook, even if it has devolved into a glorified media hub. Before we turn around and give you wall-to-wall coverage of all the new stuff, meet us past the break to spend a few minutes with some oldies-but-goodies.
Samsung Series 5 Chromebook now shipping in Arctic White -- Titan Silver edition still to come
We already knew it was coming -- Samsung hasn't been particularly shy about its teasing -- but the big day has finally arrived, and the Series 5 Chromebook is now officially shipping to those eagerly awaiting the Google-powered laptop. If you weren't among the high-end coupon clippers who snatched one up during the surprise sale at Gilt a couple of weeks ago, you can now pick up a Chromebook of your own. At least for now, however, it looks like you'll have to settle for a white exterior -- the "Titan Silver" (also known as black) edition is still in pre-order mode at both Best Buy and Amazon.
Samsung Series 5 3G Chromebook gets iFixit teardown, lays bare its telling internals
It's already made an early debut, just to sell out in a matter a hours, and now Samsung's answer to the Chromebook, the Series 5, is getting some attention of a more destructive sort. The folks over at iFixit have proven once again that ripping apart consumer electronics is not only therapeutic, but also enlightening, this time putting Google's ultraportable under the knife. On top of the specs we already have, this Chromebook's inner workings reveal 2GB of non-upgradable DDR3 RAM (the CR-48 apparently packed upgradable RAM), Intel NM10 graphics, a Qualcomm Gobi WWAN board, an Atheros AR9382 802.11n WiFi chip, and a 16GB SanDisk SSD. If you want even more intimate details (and have some cash to burn) you can wait to rip into the Chromebook yourself -- or you could to do the practical thing, and click on the source link below.
