Category: Chrome OS

Based on a new commit in the Chromium source code for Chrome OS, it looks like a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845-powered device may be in on its way.  The commit refers to a new board that is powered by the 845, which was reveled earlier this month.  During that event, Microsoft committed to having an always connected Windows laptop based on the Snapdragon 845 and it would seem that previous challenges between Qualcomm and Google have been overcome.

The new commit clearly calls out the “qc845” processor on the “cheza” board with references to it made in the chipset-qc845/profiles/base/make.defaults section of the notes.  It calls out the ARM processor 64-bit kernel configuration and architecture. 

#CHROMEOS_KERNEL_SPLITCONFIG=”chromiumos-qualcomm64″
CHROMEOS_KERNEL_CONFIG=”arch/arm64/configs/defconfig”
CHROMEOS_KERNEL_ARCH=”arm64″

Further, the notes call out the “qc845” as the processor to be used.

Like any laptop, there are times when you will want or perhaps need to reset your Chromebook.  In Chrome OS terms, that is called a Powerwash and as the name implies, it completely wipes any apps, accounts and data on the device and restores it to the factory default.

The easiest way to perform a Powerwash on a Chromebook is to go into the Settings and execute it from there.  However, if your Chromebook is corrupted and you can’t open Settings, what do you do?  Simple:  perform the wash by using keyboard commands.

Long time Chrome OS users will know this trick but for those of you who are new to the platform, this may not be known.  That’s where this How To comes into play.  I’ll outline the keystrokes you need to use in order to reset your Chromebook.

It should be noted that in this How To, I’m assuming you are not using a Chromebook tied to a corporate or education account.  In those cases, your Admin must reset the devices.

Amazon has a great last minute promotion for those of you who are looking to pick up a Chromebook as a gift or for yourself.  Now through Christmas Eve, December 24th, if you purchase an eligible Chromebook from Amazon, you will receive a $50 Amazon Gift Card.

The list of devices that are eligible is pretty solid with most focused on the mid-to-high end market of these devices.  You can check out the full list over at Amazon, which includes:

• Acer Chromebook 14
• Acer Convertible R 13 Chromebook
• ASUS Chromebook Flip C302
• Dell Chromebook 11
• Google Pixelbook
• HP G1 Chromebook
• Samsung Chromebook Plus
• Samsung Chromebook Pro
• Toshiba 13.3 Chromebook

All of these device are capable of running Android apps which makes them an even better platform for all around use.

After the release of Chrome 63 for Android and desktop browsers, Chrome OS is now getting the treatment.  Chrome OS build 63.0.3239.86 (Platform version: 10032.71.1) was released last yesterday (December 15, 2017) and will be coming to the majority of Chromebooks over the course of the next few days.  Google did not release a specific list of devices that were not getting the update.

Oddly, Google did not release any details on what is improved or new in this update.  The only statement in the announcement is that it contains “a number of bug fixes and security updates”.  That could well mean that the focus is simply on overall stability but it is likely that, like the desktop browser, the Flags page is now in Material Design.

I have not received the update this morning but will verify any changes in an update to this post as I find them.

While the growth rate of Chrome OS in the United States K-12 education sector has slowed, it is still the dominant platform according to the latest sales analysis from Futuresource.  The consulting firm released their quarterly K-12 market analysis and it points to Google’s platform holding a commanding 59.8% market share for the third quarter of this year.  That’s up 2% over the second quarter and is up 2.1% over 2016.

The numbers certainly show that the penetration of the platform into the K-12 market has slowed significantly, thanks both to market maturity as well as an influx of competition from both Apple and Microsoft.  Both companies have made strategic investments into getting a piece of the education pie in the US but both still have a long way to go.  Microsoft’s Windows platform is a distant 2nd place at 22.3% market share while Apple sits at 17% if you combine both MacOS and iOS.

As part of Black Friday sales today, Amazon has lowered the price on the Asus Chromebook C302 today.  Both the Intel m3 and m5 models are down by $50.  The m3 powered model is down to $449 today while the m5 unit is down to $619.  Aside from the processor, you are looking at the exact same specs for both variants.

The Asus Chromebook C302 has a 12.5″ display that has a resolution of 1920 x 1080.  It has an Intel Core M processor clocked at 2.2 GHz so it has a lot of horsepower under the hood.  Couple this with 4GB of DDR3 RAM and 64GB of storage, you have a Chromebook that can handle being your every day computer needs.