You would think that installing a zero cost operating system on a netbook would help keep the price low. But while there’s no licensing fee associated with Google’s upcoming Chrome OS, it turns out that netbooks running Chrome OS might actually be more expensive than the cheap, ubiquitous Windows netbooks flooding the market today.

That’s because Google has outlined firm hardware requirements for Chrome OS netbooks. While the company hasn’t publicly announced those requirements, we already know that Google expects Chrome OS netbooks to have “high resolution” displays and there’s a rumor going around that Google is working on its own netbook with a 64GB SSD and integrated 3G modem. And that kind of hardware doesn’t come cheap. And it’s possible those hardware requirements could drive up the cost of these netbooks to the point where it’s actually cheaper to get a Windows netbook — which is capable of running thousands of apps that won’t run on Chrome OS, and all the web-based apps that will be included in Chrome.

Eee Times reports that Google’s hardware requirements also included “high performance graphics, accelerometers, and other sensors.”

Of course, it’s possible that Google has a few tricks up its sleeve. PC makers could partner with wireless broadband providers to subsidize the up front costs of Chrome OS netbooks so that they’re as cheap or cheaper than Windows mini-laptops with WiFi only. And while you’ll never be able to run Microsoft Office on a Chrome OS netbook, odds are that you will be able to synchronize your bookmarks, history, passwords, and other settings between the Chrome browser on your desktop and your Chrome OS netbook which could make for a more seamless computing experience. But how much are you willing to pay for a feature like that?

On the other hand, people are running pre-release versions of Chrome OS on netbooks today. While Google may want to set a high bar for hardware requirements, it’s clear that the OS is capable of running on a standard netbook with a 1024 x 600 pixel or lower resolution display and an Intel Atom N270 processor. So if price becomes an issue, there’s nothing stopping Google or PC makers from lowering the bar a bit.

via Netbook Choice

Samsung is the latest PC maker to jump on the Google Chrome bandwagon. A Samsung rep in Australia says the company will launch a netbook with a 10.1 inch display and Google Chrome OS later this year.

There’s no word on what kind of CPU will power the device, but it’s expected to have 3G and WiFi capabilities, 2GB of RAM, 64GB or more of storage, and a batter that runs for up to 12 hours.

Normally I’d say that’s a giveaway that the netbook will use an ARM-based processor such as a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip. But several of Samsung’s Intel Atom N450-powered netbooks are supposed to get more than 10 hours of battery life, so you never know.

via Netbook News.de

Google has said that its upcoming Chrome operating system is designed primarily for netbooks at launch. And that makes sense, since it’s basically an OS built around a web browser. Sure, you can play music, movies, and store some files. But ultimately, the goal is to provide you with the tools to quickly and easily access millions of web sites and web apps. In other words, Google doesn’t really expect you to use Chrome OS as a your primary operating system if you need to run resource-intensive desktop apps. But it’s a light weight operating system that’s ideal for low power computers that you use on the go.

But that doesn’t mean Chrome OS is only for netbooks. Yesterday we spotted evidence that Google was at least considering porting the OS to work with tablet-style computers. Now it looks like there’s evidence that Google is thinking about other platforms, including full size laptops, desktops, and even large screen displays or projectors.

The key differences seem to be that some devices will have a full screen user interface while others will have tiled or overlapping windows, allowing you to see more elements at once. For the most part, devices with smaller screens, such as tablets and netbooks get the full screen UI, while larger notebooks and desktops get tiled windows. Large screen devices like commercial displays get a full screen UI.

As far as I can tell, these are only concepts for now. When Google officially launches Chrome OS later this year, it’s expected to be targeted squarely at netbooks. But who knows what could be in the plans for next year? I also wouldn’t be surprised to see Google expand into the tablet space if the iPad and other tablets take off over the next few months.

via Netbook Tech

When I got a look at Freescale’s tablet reference design the other day, it was running a modified Linux distribution based on Ubuntu. It seemed reasonably responsive and it was capable of playing HD video. But it’s not the only operating system you can run on the tablet. Charbax from ArmDevices.net got a briefing with the folks from Freescale this week and he’s posted a video of several prototypes running Google Android, the modified Ubuntu, and Google Chromium OS, which is the development version of Chrome OS.

The Google Chrome Operating System isn’t expected to be ready for release until this Fall, but the OS is open source, which means anyone can download it and try it now. Still, this is the first time I’ve seen the operating system running on a tablet with an ARM-based processor.

There’s no touchscreen support yet, so Freescale had to plug in a mouse and keyboard in order to navigate. But the OS seems relatively responsive and the browser had no problems with most web content. Flash isn’t working yet, but Freescale is working on it.

Freescale doesn’t plan to sell these tablets itself. Rather, the company is hoping to see manufacturers build products based on the reference design, using Freescale’s ARM-based processors. The goal is to create a framework for a tablet that could be sold to the end user for around $199. Pop in a 3G module and partner with a mobile broadband provider willing to offer a subsidy, and the up-front price could go even lower. It’s not clear if the product will ever come to market, and if it does, it’s not clear whether it will run any of these operating systems. But Freescale has demonstrated this week that it certainly can run all three.

You can check out the Chromium portion of Charbax’s video below, or hit up ArmDevices.net for an overview of all three operating systems.

Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a rumor going around that Google isn’t just developing an operating system for netbooks (which we already know is true), but that company is also in the process of developing an actual netbook. While Google isn’t exactly known as a hardware maker, this rumor falls into the plausible category, since Google is also widely reported to be developing a cellphone running Android OS. And as Apple has demonstrated time and again, if you want your operating system to run smoothly on hardware, your best option is to design the hardware.

This weekend the rumors got a little more interesting as British site IB Times listed the rumored specs of the upcoming Google netbook:

• Display: 10.1 inch HD ready multit-touch screen
• CPU: ARM-based processor
• Storage: 64GB SSD
• Memory: 2GB
• Connectivity: WiFi, Bluetooth, 3G, Ethernet
• I/O: USB, webcam, 3.5mm audio jack, flash card reader
• OS: Google Chrome OS

IB Times also says the netbook could be subsidized by wireless carriers and sell for under $300.

All told, it sounds like one heck of a machine. And to be honest, I’d say it’s far more powerful a device than you need for running web-apps alone. Then again, anyone who has spent some time watching movies, editing documents, and performing other tasks in a web browser can tell you that more RAM and memory is always better than less. But I wouldn’t be surprised if people picked up this netbook in hopes of hacking it to run a different flavor or Linux or of tweaking the open source Chrome operating system to run native apps instead of the web-only apps Google plans to offer.

When Google officials introduced the operating system recently, they stated that netbooks designed to run Chrome OS would be larger than today’s netbooks and have full sized keyboards. At the time, I figured this meant the netbooks would have screens larger than 10 inches, but it’s possible that Google reps, like a lot of other people, still think of netbooks as 7 to 9 inch devices with cramped keyboards even though the vast majority of mini-laptops released in the last two years are much larger and more comfortable to type on. Anyway, if the rumored specs are true, the Google netbook will have a 10 inch screen and likely won’t be much larger than the average netbook on the market today.

Of course, we’re still dealing with rumors and speculation here, so please pass the salt and I’ll take a grain. I suggest you do the same.

via Netbook News.de

For a company who’s CEO thinks netbooks are about as useful as steel wool underpants, Dell sure is pumping out its fair share of Google Chrome OS news.

Yes, Doug from Dell has been hard at work (though arguably not as busy as Hexxeh) and has now released an updated version of the Chrome OS build originally released for the Mini 10V. The new version adds support for Dell’s Mini 9 and Latitude 2100 systems.

It’s also been trimmed down to 300MB – which Chrome tells me will download in about 25 minutes. That’s a nice improvement over the 8GB all-day job they released the first time around. Of course, Hexxeh’s latest build is smaller and probably supports all these Dell models anyway and there’s a torrent available.

Probably worth noting: your Dell may boot in 15 seconds, but if it’s running a Broadcom wireless card you’ll have to wait 5 minutes before the connection manager sees it.

Dell has also shared a video clip, in case you want to see how speedily Chrome OS boots on the three systems. Check it out after the break).

Hey, isn’t it too bad they didn’t bother to see how fast Moblin, xPud, or Jolicloud boots on them?

Read the rest of this entry »

If you downloaded the earlier build of Hexxeh’s Diet Chromium OS only to find that your wireless NIC wasn’t supported, I’ve got some good news for you.

Tonight, there’s a new build called “Cherry” which includes support for RALink and Broadcom wireless adapters. With Intel and Atheros adapters already supported you should now be able to run Diet Chromium on just about any netbook and have full hardware support.

It’s a small change, and likely involved little more than dumping the contents of the /lib/firmware folder from a Ubuntu 9.10 install into Diet Chromium before creating the new image file. You can, of course, do this yourself – but getting them baked in is much simpler. So go on – grab the new torrent [torrent] and take it for a spin! Direct download links are also available on Hexxeh’s site.

The instructions on my last post still work if you need to dump the image to a USB flash drive or SD card.

Jolicloud might not have Google’s marketing clout or the giant Google fanboy base which Chrome OS is going to, but they can still put up a good fight. If Tariq Krim and company stick to their guns and respond to the community, Jolicloud could very well garner some mainstream success in the netbook OS business.

With any netbook OS, one main focal point is boot time. Just how long will this custom-tailored system take to go from powered off to a full menu of applications?

Chrome OS, of course, is eschewing everything local except the bare essentials. The Diet Chromium version I shared yesterday took about 15-20 seconds to boot an Acer AOD250. Can Jolicloud compete with that? Sure it can.

From the official Twitter account, their developers shared a video showing Jolicloud booting in 13 seconds on an Asus Eee PC 901. That’s a pretty respectable startup time, especially when you consider that Jolicloud will 1) include some local apps and 2) will run on a much broader range of hardware than Google Chrome OS.

Remember, Google’s ultimate vision is a three or four second boot time – that’s something which will be hard to accomplish if Chrome OS rolls driver support for a number of different display adapters, chipsets, and wireless NICs. If Jolicloud can shave a few more seconds from the 13 captured here, I think they’ll show everyone just how serious they are about being competitive.

Check the video after the break!

Read the rest of this entry »

Remember yesterday’s post about the official Google chart enumerating Chrome OS-friendly hardware? Well, forget that, because there’s something better.

Since Chrome is built on Linux and the Chromium OS source is freely available, it’s fairly easy for some (not yours truly, unfortunately) to dig in and hack the code into something more usable. Enter Diet Chromium OS.

Built by developer Hexxeh, Diet Chromium is about 1GB when expanded and only a 300MB download. That’s less than 5% the size of Dell’s enthusiast build, and it will run on a heck of a lot more than a Mini 10V.

Like what? Like your favorite notebook, or even a  full-sized laptop. I was able to run it flawlessly on my 15.4″ Acer Aspire 5100 via a USB flash drive. Read the rest of this entry »

You can’t run out and buy a machine with Google Chrome OS just yet – and you wouldn’t want to anyway, since it’s still in the very, very early stages of development. Still, if you’re anxious to try Chrome OS out but aren’t into compiling source code and tinkering in a Linux terminal window Google has posted a chart that may be of interest to you.

The chart details which systems have been “officially” tested by developers and reveals what hardware works and what doesn’t. Several models are listed, but I’ve simplified things a bit. Listed below are models on which everything works – 802.11 wireless, ethernet, touchpad, and suspend/resume.

• Acer AOD250*
• Acer AOP531h*
• ASUS Eee PC 1008HA
• ASUS Eee PC 900
• ASUS Eee PC 701
• Gateway LT2000*
• Toshiba Satellite A205-S5000 (15.4″, you can score one for about $350 on eBay)

* these models ship with both Atheros and Broadcom 802.11 adapters. The Atheros works out-of-the-box with Chrome OS, Broadcom does not.

Check the full chart at the Chromium developer site.