How the Pixelbook Go became our Family Computer

My favorite “unnecessary” Star Trek tech is in the Holodeck.

A Starfleet officer calls out “Arch”, and an archway with a touchscreen appears in the holographic simulation. It’s an utterly silly 1990’s idea of how we’d interact with computers hundreds of years in the future. When you think about Trek Tech, there’s really no need for such an elaborate mechanism to appear. A free-standing touch panel is all you need, but you’re also standing in a holographic environment, so why not make any kind of control surface you’d want out of the same “hard light” hologram magic?

That mini-nerd rant aside, the Pixelbook Go has become our family’s “Arch”. And we love it. Continue reading “How the Pixelbook Go became our Family Computer”

Pixelbook GO review: I love it for reasons Google might not like…

There are a TON of great options when shopping PCs and Laptops. Differentiating features are really nuanced. The Pixelbook Go is a fun take on a mid-ranger laptop with solid hardware specs. It’s the software that will make or break the consumer experience.

Who is the Pixelbook Go for? That was a trickier question to answer than I thought it would be… Continue reading “Pixelbook GO review: I love it for reasons Google might not like…”

Google Pixelbook Go: The future of mobile computing?

Pixelbook Go first impressions!

More than just reading off specs, I have a serious question for viewers.

What DO we want for the future of mobile computing?

Lot’s of tech reviewers are quick to point out the flaws of less popular products. I refuse to believe that the future of tech is “whatever Samsung and Apple decide to make”.

With that idea in mind, are there any good ideas here that we hope will evolve? Continue reading “Google Pixelbook Go: The future of mobile computing?”

Google Sneaking Chrome OS onto Windows 8 Computers?

chrome os running on a windows 8 touchscreen hybrid laptop somegadgetguy

So all the hemming and hawing from the Chromebook faithful, that Chrome OS was SO much more than JUST a fancy browser slapped onto low power laptop hardware. It would seem like that’s not entirely true… In a good way…

The newest dev channel update of the Chrome browser for Windows 8 appears to essentially be the entire Chrome OS. When used within the ModernUI interface users have full access to the entire suite. Microsoft opened the door for this by allowing browsers other than IE to interface with the “Metro” ecosystem. Now you can have all the benefits of Google’s cloud OS on your Windows 8 machines. Loading it onto my hybrid also opens up some interesting possibilities. We haven’t seen Chrome OS on a proper slate tablet yet. That’s been Android territory, yet swiveling my Lenovo Twist into slate mode affords me a perfectly usable Chrome OS experience using a combination of Google’s UI and Microsoft’s virtual touch controls and keyboard. It’s kind of meta…

An app launcher at the bottom left gives you access to Chrome app, and Google favorites GMail, Search, Docs, and Youtube are docked at the bottom too. Performance has been solid for me after a couple hours of tooling around, but many are complaining of occasional crashes. Also, if you’re not running a lot of RAM, Windows 8 is very aggressive about shutting down Metro apps if you’re doing a lot of multi-tasking. In all though the experience has been very enjoyable, and updates to browser touch support make Chrome OS on Win8 almost as smooth as Microsoft’s native offerings.

It’s a pretty twisted end run around the traditional PC market. Now legit Chromebooks will face more competition from traditional PC’s in offering up the same OS, but still giving users access to legacy Windows software. This takes any potential risk out of using Chrome OS. Thinking generationally, a user could pick up a Windows Hybrid today, load up this new Chrome Browser, spend all their time in Chrome OS, and by the time they’re ready to shop another system, decide to walk away from Microsoft’s offerings altogether…

As a side note, now would be the time for Google to start unifying their app base. Bringing the variety of Android Apps to Chrome’s ability to handle things like documents and office software could put a serious hurt on Microsoft while they’re trying to unify their UI across all screen sizes.

Plus, Microsoft would have to compete for people’s attention on computers people already purchased. Wow.

New ChromeBooks unveiled at the Intel Developer Forum sporting Haswell

chromebookPeople who track computer sales estimate that nearly a quarter of all computers sold under $300 are ChromeBooks. Google’s browser based cloud OS is eagerly chewing into the market formerly occupied by Windows based netbooks. It’s easy to see why, as ChromeOS runs smoother on lower powered hardware than stripped version of Windows.

Today at the Intel Developer Forum, new ChromeBooks took the stage featuring Intel’s newest processor architecture named Haswell. Haswell takes Intel a significant step forward in offering up powerful mobile solutions which use less power to get work done. They’re already being utilized in the new ultraportable Windows Hybrids from manufacturers Sony, Asus, and Lenovo. Now we’re set to see Haswell parts ship in Chromebooks from Acer, HP, Asus, and Toshiba.

This move should bring a performance boost to the ChromeOS ecosystem as previous ChromeBooks used more tablet-like hardware, but hopefully this increase in power wont come at the expense of battery life.

Hit the Google Chrome Blog for the full scoop!