Google unveils the new Cr-48, laptop for testing Chrome OS

Google has gone and stuck its finger in many pies over the past few years, with remarkable success. From web search, to mail, apps and cloud computing, TV, Chrome, and Android, Google is now poised to release Chrome OS. Chrome PCs won’t be available until mid-2011, but there are some other interesting bits info that came along with the announcement.

The Cr-48 is a laptop designed for the last phases of Chrome OS testing. It has a 12.1-inch display, a full-size keyboard, oversized clickpad, global 3G, 8+ hours of active use, 8+ days in standby, webcam, SSD, and is supported by Intel Atom. That’s about it for specs, but don’t worry, despite its clean simple design, you can’t buy it, ever apparently.

Chrome OS is still in beta, so Google has launched a wide scale testing project of the new OS with the use of the first ever Chrome OS laptop. The sleek and simple laptop (I swear that if Muji ever made a PC, it would look like this) will be distributed for testing through Google’s Chrome OS Pilot Program. The program will start by using some businesses as guinea pigs, and some units will seek the help of the public for testing. As I mentioned, they are not for sale, but if you want to try one out, you can audition via YouTube (youtube.com/googlechrome). You can also register for the program here: http://www.google.com/chromeos/pilot-program.html. (only for US residents)

With any bugs hopefully exterminated, Chrome OS will be made available to the masses with releases of Chrome models by Acer and Samsung due out mid-2011. Google claims that they will not be marketing hardware. Chrome is designed to run on a variety of devices, including tablets, but Google hasn’t stipulated whether Chrome will take over as the standard for tablets, as opposed to Android.

The caps lock key has been replaced with a search key, which seems useful enough, and an all-around improvement for online computing and socializing, and apparently, there is a “jail-break” mode built right in. The OS currently supports all keyboards and mice, though storage devices are not yet supported, and the users will have to rely on Cloud Print for printing, avoiding the need to install drivers. Sounds like there is still work to do before we reach mid-2011.

Google unveils the new Cr-48, laptop for testing Chrome OS « Akihabara News