Google Chromebook

The highlight of the Day Two keynote (video) was the launch announcement of the Google Chromebook. In June the Chromebook -- a netbook with cloud-based applications built specifically for the enterprise and education -- will hit the streets, with Samsung and Acer as partners. The Chromebooks will be available to businesses for $28 per user per month and to educational institutes for $20 per user per month.

The Google Chrome Book is making headlines with it’s simplicity. This may be the first desktop with a legitimate offering to replace Microsoft’s stronghold on schools, business, and enterprise computing. The Chrome Book loads directly into a web browser. The days of the desktop, as Google believes, is numbered.


The Chromebooks, with 11.6-inch (Acer) or 12.1-inch HD displays (Samsung), will be available to consumers from $349 for the Acer to $429 (WiFi only) and $499 (3G) for the Samsung.

Both Android and Chrome are built on Open Source platforms which provides both developers and users more flexibility and control in customizing or optimizing devices using the operating systems. The I/O conference is not only a showcase for developers who have found ingenious ways to create applications, robots, cars, etc, that rely on Google tools in some form or fashion.