Category: Chrome OS

For you Amazon shoppers who are looking to get your hands on the new Google Pixelbook, you can now pre-order it on the site.  During the presentation on the new Chromebook, Google mentioned that it would be available at retailers like Amazon and Best Buy so it isn’t surprising.  In fact, the listing for the Pixelbook clearly states it is being sold by Google through their Amazon storefront.

Don’t look for any special pricing either.  The i5 equipped Google Pixelbook with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage is $999, the same price as it is directly from Google.  And while pre-orders are now available, shipping won’t happen until October 31st, just like the Google Store.

At the Google event this morning, the all new Google Pixelbook was announced.  The premium Chromebook experience is the first Made By Google Chromebook since 2015 and the specs are pretty amazing.

The new Pixelbook is equipped with an Intel i5 processor or i7 processor and 8GB or 16GB of RAM and has three different storage options:  128GB, 256GB and 512GB.  The display is a 12.3″ with 2400 x 1600 resolution.  That gives it a 3:2 ratio which is what was on previous generations of Pixel Chromebooks.

The new Pixelbook is a 2-in-1 design with the tablet portion folding back behind the keyboard to give it a tablet only feel.  Like other similarly designed Chromebooks, the keyboard becomes inactive when you are in this mode to prevent erroneous key presses.

Pricing will put the new Google Pixelbook in the premium category for sure.  The 128GB with 8GB of RAM model will be $999, the 256GB model is $1399 and the 512GB model is a wallet shattering $1749.

The updated ASUS Chromebook Flip C101 is now available for pre-order from both ASUS directly as well as Amazon.  The 10.1″ WXGA Rockchip powered Chromebook is only $299, a great price point for a budget but well appointed Chrome OS device.

The display on the Chromebook Flip C101 renders at 1280 x 800 and is powered by the Rockchip 3399 OP1 processor and Mali-T860MP4 graphics processor.  It has 4GB of LPDDR3 RAM and 16GB of storage.  That storage can be expanded thanks to the MicroSD card slot but given that Chrome OS leverages Google Drive for storage, that may not be a big deal.

Google Cloud Print is a handy feature that can be found in Android and Chrome OS that allows you to quickly and easily print to printers that are configured and enabled to leverage the cloud-based printing solution.  The vast majority of printers on the market today will work with Cloud Print but, if you haven’t invited users to use your printers at home or in your small office, they won’t see them as a printing option.

This seems to be the most common problem I find for users who are trying to get a printer configured to work with their Chromebook or phone.

This tutorial is aimed at those who have Android, Chrome OS and a compatible Google Cloud Print printer at their home or small office.  Most enterprise Android & Chrome OS users will not have to worry about this as printers are managed through your G Suite administrator.

For the second time in four days, the Chromium team within Google has released a minor update to Chrome OS.  The updated version is build 60.0.3112.114 (Platform version: 9592.96.0).  That’s the same build number as the release on September 15th but the Platform version has incremented.  Like the release last week, it is for all devices except the Acer Chromebook 15 (CB3-532) and the Samsung Chromebook 3.

The update is more-or-less a copy of the release last week when it comes to what is addressed.  There are no new features but rather a collection of small security fixes, performance improvements and other bug fixes.  What exactly was addressed or fixed has not been released.

This morning, the Chrome team within Google has begun pushing out a minor update to Chrome OS for the majority of devices.  The new update is build 60.0.3112.114 (Platform version: 9592.94.0) for those keeping score at home.  It is coming to all devices except the Acer Chromebook 15 (CB3-532) and the Samsung Chromebook 3.

The update is predominantly made up of security fixes and bug fixes in the platform with a handful of feature enhancements too.  The release notes on this update were vague as to what was addressed or fixed, but that is common for Chrome OS releases that are small in nature and midstream from the main releases every 6 weeks or so.