Lets consider this official that 2010 is the year of tablets. The Crunchpad in its new form ‘Joo’Joo‘ has already been announced and the talk about an Apple Tablet never dies. All the chatter and constant rumors of big reputed companies working secretly on tablet devices makes me wonder if this would do to the portable computing scene what netbooks did?
While all hopes of redefining the tablet experience lies on Apple, we now hear that Google is rumored to be working on a tablet computer along with HTC since over a year. While the Google Chrome OS is a reality and a tablet booting straight to a browser is real aswell (the CrunchPad / JooJoo); it makes this rumor sound very real that Google might be working on its own Tablet.
So may it be the iSlate or a Chrome OS powered Google Tablet, the food for thought is how will this fit into our routine lives trying to survive between a desktop/notebook and a smartphone. I don’t know many people who own both – a netbook and a notebook; for the same reason having a super smartphone and a tablet together would mean overlapping functionalities.
Dell is cashing in on the hype around Google’s Chrome OS which promises to change the way we look at netbooks. While there is still time for the official version of Chrome OS (expected in 2H 2010), Dell has made available a compatible version for its Mini 10v netbook users.
The 10v compatible version is available for download here (instructions here). Though no virtual OS installation/support is available Chrome OS, you can load the 8GB image file on a USB to get this working. The users must be cautious though as this OS has gone through minimal testing and might bring in some issues. The WiFi connectivity is one of the features which can be troublesome.
“The day broadband is down at my place, I hardly switch it on my computer.” – that’s what I said back in July and with today’s preview of Chrome OS, that’s exactly what inspires Google to work on this project. We are about to use Netbooks as NETbooks finally.
Here are a few notes from what Google revealed about the Chrome OS today:
Accept for a fewrandomtweets I had nothing much to say on the Google OS yet. But after all the buzz yesterday (Read Google Vs Microsoft, Google OS vs Windows), I see very clearly that Google announced something, people saw something else. I have read the original Google blogpost (followed up by a Faq’s today) over and over again and I see no mention of
a) This being a full fleged OS
b) Competing with Windows OS anytime in the near future, (rather bringing in a new approach to netbooks)
So if you are still unclear about what I am speaking, Google just dropped a bomb yesterday with the announcement of the Google Chrome OS. Its not that we didn’t hear about it before, but it was always believed to be an extension of Android, instead of an all new platform…
today, we’re announcing a new project that’s a natural extension of Google Chrome — the Google Chrome Operating System. It’s our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be. Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks.
While Microsoft boldly claims to control 96% of netbook market (along with the majority in desktop OS market); Google still (more…)
Mac users have been waiting for a Mac version of Google Chrome for a long time now. Finally a Mac version of Chrome is now available for download. However Google does not recommend downloading the Mac version of Chrome to general public.
Chrome for Mac is in its early development stage and not yet ready for general users. Thiis Mac version of Chrome is uncomplete and is recommended for developers only.
Still, if you wish to give it a try, the installation is simple and the looks of Chrome resembles that of Safari 4 to keep the Apple feel on your Mac OS. Some aspects of chrome are faster than the Safari or Firefox. But, the Flash based pages like YouTube do not work and you cannot edit the settings easily.
Google sure knows how to spend money on Adwords while promoting its products. A very cute Video AD is being played across tech sites. Thats something I am noticing since a few days back, but this one is placed really well. Came across this one while browsing my Feeds on the Google Reader. Video below …
If you are one of those (like me) who is trying to settle in with Google Chrome as his regular browser, you would certainly like a few tweaks for your new favorite. Here are some cool hacks for the Google Chrome:
