Back at CES 2020 — January was just a different world, wasn’t it? — I was able to spend some time with one of the most exciting Chrome OS products in years, the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet. Now, a few months later, that product is officially launching for $279. Is it any good? We’ll have a review soon, but here are a few first impressions after a weekend with the product.
Last month, Google Stadia expanded its feature set on the web by enabling support for 5.1 surround sound, but unlike Windows and Mac, this support was not available on Google’s own Chrome OS. Now it looks like Google is bringing 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound support to Chrome OS specifically to improve gaming on Stadia.
For years, Chrome OS has used a simple, straightforward app to let you thumb through photos on your Chromebook. Over the past few months, Google has been working on an all-new “Gallery” app for Chrome OS, with some built-in editing tools. Let’s check it out!
Samsung’s Galaxy Chromebook stole my heart back at CES 2020, but my dreams were quickly crushed when reviews revealed the machine had just awful battery life. Now, Samsung is admitting its mistake and says it wants to improve.
With everyone — including students of all ages — working from home, video conferencing apps like Zoom have become essential parts of daily life. However, the Chromebooks that many students have handy were hindered by not being able to install the Chrome extension for either Zoom or Hangouts, but that has just changed.
Update 4/22: Even more extensions are coming soon to Chromebooks with Family Link.
Samsung’s Chromebook Pro helped usher in a new era of Chromebooks, but over time it’s missed out on some things. The biggest complaint of many has been the lack of Linux app support on the Samsung Chromebook Pro but, now, it looks like that’s finally arriving.
After rolling out to Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux, version 81 of Chrome OS is now available. The most notable feature in Chrome OS 81 is new gesture navigation for touchscreen devices.
With Chrome 81, Google is introducing Android 10-like gesture navigation for the Chrome OS tablet mode. It’s also introducing other tweaks to optimize the touch experience, starting on the Lenovo Chromebook Duet.
Since the Google Pixelbook was released in 2017, the market for a premium Chromebook has steadily grown. The latest contender for the crown of best Chromebook is Samsung who today released their Galaxy Chromebook, which seems to have it all — high-end specs, a 4K AMOLED display, and built-in stylus, all packed into a gorgeous, ultra-thin build. Now that it’s out in the wild, we can find out from early reviews whether or not the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook is too good to be true.
Back at CES 2020 — probably the only major tech event we’ll see in 2020 — Samsung debuted its completely unexpected high-end Galaxy Chromebook and, starting today, you can finally buy it.
As a firm mainly offering devices for the business and education sectors, the brand new CTL VX11 Chromebook might fit the bill for homeschooling at under $210.
One of the biggest hardware hits of CES 2020 was a premium Chrome OS laptop from Samsung. The Galaxy Chromebook is now officially launching and hitting store shelves on Monday, April 6.
Last week, Google announced that it was pausing browser releases in light of the coronavirus. The company now has a revised update schedule, with the next major version of Chrome and Chrome OS coming in two weeks.
Without a doubt, Virtual Desks are the best feature to launch for Chrome OS power users over the last year, allowing you to organize your thoughts, apps, and tasks into separate “desks.” However, the classic Alt-Tab shortcut to quickly swap between your most recent windows does not currently respect the separation of your desks, but that’s about to change.
Last week, it was announced that Google would be pausing its standard update schedule for Chrome and Chrome OS, instead keeping version 80 running well with bug and security fixes. Now we’re learning that, due to these delays, there won’t even be a version 82 of Chrome or Chrome OS.
Chrome 81 for desktops and Android was supposed to start rolling out on Tuesday as part of the normal six-week update cadence. Google announced today that it’s “pausing upcoming Chrome and Chrome OS releases.”
The “Made for Google” program ensures cases, chargers, and other accessories are compatible with Pixel phones and laptops. The Chrome OS team is now starting a similar certification effort called “Works With Chromebook.”
The two most essential apps when using a Chromebook are without a doubt the built-in Chrome browser and the Files app. While Chrome gets regular improvements and tweaks in each update, Files has stayed relatively the same as of late. Chrome OS 82 is looking to shake things up by bringing Google Material Theme components to the Files app.
Despite the constant advancements of the cloud, there’s still plenty of times when you need to work with paper documents, which hasn’t always been easy from a Chromebook. Google is working to fix this with a native Chrome OS app for printing and scanning.
After a delay of approximately three weeks, Chrome OS 80 is beginning to roll out. Google this morning detailed headlining features like Ambient EQ for Samsung’s Galaxy Chromebook, but there are a slew of other changes.
One of the hallmark features of Chrome OS devices is their ability to run Android apps, currently handled by a version of Android Pie. Now that the Android 11 Developer Preview period has begun, Google has publicly begun work on bringing Android 11 to Chrome OS.
With recent releases, Google has been better at covering major Chrome OS features. For March, the company detailed Ambient EQ introduced on the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook and confirmed that it’s coming to other Chromebooks, while Netflix for Android now supports picture-in-picture.
One of the most exciting things coming in the Chrome OS world right now is the Galaxy Chromebook, but Samsung wasn’t keen to share its release date back at CES. Now, a product listing might be revealing that information and it’s not too far off.
Nvidia’s game-streaming service GeForce Now launches today on multiple platforms, but by the year’s end, it will be available on Chromebooks and more Android TV devices, too.
