Pinboard (guardiantech)

Chromebook desktop versus Windows desktop: can you tell the difference? >> EIUTC

guardiantech — 2014-03-17T21:51:32+00:00

Tom Grissom:

The Chromebook is fine for lighter duty tasks but I much prefer Windows 8.1 for heavier editing tasks I routinely complete be it word processing, image editing, audio editing for podcasts, or editing video screencasts for YouTube. When the real work needs to be done I reach for a Windows 8.1 device with the complete power of all the Office applications, not apps.
Part of this may be out of old habits but I do not think so. I have given the Chromebook a thorough testing over the past three months and would say it meets about 80% of my needs. It is the other 20% that I have to find workarounds for or resign myself to switching devices.
I do like the Chromebook for light duty tasks, is boots lightning fast (7 seconds) and the updates are much smaller and faster than Windows updates. I do however have equivalent Windows devices that boot nearly as fast and offer more functionality. Given that my Windows 8.1 devices also run the Chrome browser I am not really giving anything up when using Windows, in fact, I gain functionality while still having access to all the Google goodies via the Chrome browser.

Samsung cuts target notebook shipments to 7 million units for 2014

guardiantech — 2014-01-28T11:50:51+00:00

Samsung Electronics has set a goal of shipping 7m notebooks globally in 2014, a reduction of 41.67% from the 12m units shipped in 2013, and will no longer launch conventional notebook models except Chromebooks in 2015, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.
Samsung aimed to ship 17m notebooks in 2013 but actually shipped 12m units, the sources said.

Possible pinch of salt (and Samsung may be feeling the effects, like LG, of the Korean government changing its policy on buying PCs). But that's a notable shift towards Chromebooks if correct.

Google and HP recall HP Chromebook 11 chargers due to fire and burn hazards; charger can overheat and melt >> CPSC.gov

guardiantech — 2013-12-17T18:39:16+00:00

The CPSC is the Consumer Product Safety Commission:

This recall involves chargers that were sold with the HP Chromebook 11. The charger is black with outlet pins, measures 1¾ inches by ¾ inches, and has a 6-foot long cord with a micro-USB connector on the end. The model number of the charger is MU15-N1052-A00S, which is stamped on the face of the battery charger that has the outlet pins.
Incidents/Injuries
Google has received nine reports of chargers overheating and melting during use. There is one report of a small burn to a consumer and one report of minor property damage to a pillow from an overheating charger.

Chrome steals a march on Windows >> BBC News

guardiantech — 2013-10-10T17:09:59+00:00

Against this background [of falling PC sales] though, the Chromebook is surging ahead. Gartner reckons two million will be sold this year, over five million in 2014, and 12 million by 2016. Now that will still leave the Chrome OS with just over 3% of a PC market where margins will grow ever slimmer and profits will be harder to find.
But for Google that's not really the point.

Good to have some estimates in there. The 2016 figure equates to 3m per quarter, amid PC sales while will probably still be anywhere north of 60m (more likely 70m) per quarter. This year's equate to 500,000 per quarter. A helpful reality check.

Google and Intel announce new Haswell Chromebooks >> Engadget

guardiantech — 2013-09-11T19:51:14+00:00

Intel has just announced a new line of Chromebooks that run on Haswell. Chromebooks have previously run lower-powered processors like ARM and Atom, though the Pixel did break the mold by running on a dual-core 1.8GHz Intel Core i5. Upcoming Haswell Chromebooks include new iterations from Acer and HP, along with Chrome OS newbies ASUS and Toshiba. Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Chrome and Android, came on stage to say that Haswell will offer superb battery life without compromising performance.

Mr Pricing and Ms Availability didn't turn up. Perhaps that might imply that these aren't really for consumers, but for businesses.

Chromebook review: living with Chrome OS was hell >> Digital Trends

guardiantech — 2013-08-26T19:41:14+00:00

Jeffrey van Camp loved it for 7 minutes. But he used it for 7 days. Dropbox didn't work, zip files wouldn't unzip, Office documents didn't open by obvious methods:

I really want to like Chrome. I kept finding ways to make it work for me throughout the week, but the workarounds just kept getting more ridiculous. No one that isn’t a total geek is going to search for workarounds so they can open a Word document and edit it on their Chromebook. There are free programs like OpenOffice that can open any Office document. Why? In fact, a high school near me is giving every student a Chromebook this fall. They’re going to have to read all their books using it and do all their work. I feel terrible for those kids. This is an OS marketed toward schools, but it lacks functionality that Windows had in the 1980s. Give the kids something that can play Oregon Trail, at least. Chromebooks are no fun.

Acer to expand Android, Chromebook offerings >> WSJ.com

guardiantech — 2013-08-09T05:25:29+00:00

Chairman J.T. Wang said "the Windows camp has to do something to reestablish or reinforce confidence among PC users. People are reluctant (to buy) and are holding (off) their purchasing decisions."
Both Acer's president and chairman declined to say what kind and level of support Google and Microsoft are offering Acer for it to shift its product mix.
For the current quarter ending Sept. 30, Acer's mobile device shipments, including notebook PCs, tablets and smartphones, may register on-quarter growth of between zero and 5%, company President Jim Wang said.
"For the PC industry, I haven't seen light at the end of the tunnel," he said. "First, we have to sustain our market share and protect our bottom line…and by doing tablets and smartphones right, we can be prepared for the day after tomorrow."

Second quarter of losses in a row. Acer hopes that Android + Chromebooks could be up to 30% of revenue in 2014. In Q2, Chromebooks made up "close to" 3% of Acer shipments.

How Google plans to rule the computing world through Chrome >> Tech News and Analysis

guardiantech — 2013-05-23T15:36:34+00:00

Kevin Tofel:

if you’re a Chrome user today, you’ll be more immersed in the Chrome ecosystem a year from now, even if you don’t have an “official” Chromebook. This all depends on how well Google pulls off its strategy to upend the desktop computing world, but so far, it seems to be on track.
Bear in mind the apps in this vision will be truly cross-platform as they’ll run on any Windows, Mac or Linux computer with Chrome installed. If it can get developers on board — and those I spoke with at Google I/O are ready to embrace the effort — Google will have a thriving desktop platform built on top of the platforms created by others. But it will be a desktop that’s far more agile, with new features added within days or weeks, not months or years.
Welcome to Chrome, my desktop today and your desktop of the future.

It depends more on how much people want web apps that might or might not run offline, and might or might not have a better UI than a native app, on their desktop. Other than that, solid.

Google Chromebook Pixel in PC Laptops & Netbooks >> eBay

guardiantech — 2013-05-16T10:31:18+00:00

Anyone would think that these had been handed out willy-nilly at a conference to people who already had computers because they do development.

First real-world usage figures suggest Chromebooks are struggling >> ZDNet

guardiantech — 2013-04-17T21:13:18+00:00

Ed Bott:

To put things in perspective, as of April 2013 all Chromebooks combined have managed to achieve 7/10 of 1% of the usage of Windows 8 PCs worldwide.
Put another way, that figure suggests that in nearly two years on the market, all of those Chromebooks have achieved a smaller percentage of usage than Windows RT earned as of January 2013, after only three months on the market. Windows RT has been widely considered a disappointment, with OEMs cutting prices for RT-powered devices.
In both categories, those tiny results suggest a fair amount of pain for the OEMs that jumped in early. Google’s gone all-in for its cloud-based OS, and Microsoft is similarly gung-ho about the future of its Windows RT operating system. But it might be another couple of years before the general buying public is really ready for either one.

But one Chromebook was the top seller on Amazon's PC category! Could it be that that isn't a reliable metric for broader sales?

Start Up Tech - All For A Little Over £500 >> Emer Coleman

guardiantech — 2013-03-29T21:18:43+00:00

Formerly of the London Datastore, and Government Data Service, now setting up on her own:

The first thing my mother asked when I told her I was setting up my own company DSRPTN was “but who will do your filing for you?” I had to tell her that I could not remember the last time that I actually filed anything physically. She was also concerned about where my office would be located because it’s difficult to grasp that setting up your own business can be a very easy process and all you really need is a few bits of good kit.

Fascinating choices, especially of carrier.

Chromebook and the low cost of being accessible >> Australian Financial Review

guardiantech — 2013-03-26T06:32:42+00:00

Caitlin Fitzsimmons:

Chief information officer of US-based building company Egan Construction, Jim Nonn, issued Chromebooks to 140 foremen on the Minnesota light rail project about a year ago. In a post on the Google corporate blog, he describes how the low cost takes the fear factor out of the equation.
“The workers love the Chromebooks because they aren’t afraid to use them on the job,” Nonn says. “If one does get damaged, we can swap it for another in a matter of minutes with zero time wasted or data lost.
“We’ve saved so much in moving forward with Chromebooks instead of Windows laptops – about $200 per machine.”

In the Clouds: Inventing Chromebook >> Jeff Nelson

guardiantech — 2013-03-23T22:15:32+00:00

An ex-Googler:

Here's a few interesting tidbits about the invention of Chromebook.
First, Chromebook was initially rejected by Google management. In fact I wrote the first version as early as July 2006 and showed it around to management. Instead of launching a project, the response was extremely tepid. My boss complained, "You can't use it on an airplane." Actually, you could as, under the covers, it was still a bare-bones Linux distribution and could execute any Linux program installed on it.
Second, Google OS was not originally written for Chrome or called "Chrome OS". The first versions were all based on Firefox. When I wrote the first version in 2006, Google had not yet started developing a web browser of its own, nor did the name "Chrome" exist as a Google product. Chrome versions followed in 2007, after internal beta test versions of Chrome started to be passed around inside Google.

Why Google Glass is fascinating; Chromebook Pixel just puzzling >> Chicago Sun-Times

guardiantech — 2013-02-26T22:23:21+00:00

Andy Ihnatko:

This was a good week for the Glass project. I still don’t know that Google has a viable product on their hands. But it’s certainly no longer a pie-in-the-sky concept. The mockery that Glass received from some commentators during its first announcement in April of last year might have been understandable...but now it seems embarrassingly premature.
Google had something else to talk about last week, though. I can’t remember a product that’s baffled me harder or more roughly than Google’s new Chromebook Pixel…
I talked to Google about the Pixel on launch day, asking some of the dumbest and most basic questions I’ve ever dared ask, but I’m still profoundly confused. Today, the Pixel seems to be serving a customer who doesn’t exist. Even a power Chromebook user, I reckon, would be more likely to buy a $1300 Windows notebook and simply run webapps in the Chrome browser, right?

HP's first Chromebook arrives, offers a large screen and a small battery for $329.99 >> The Verge

guardiantech — 2013-02-04T12:43:10+00:00

It's called the HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook, and its distinguishing characteristic is right there in the name: unlike the first wave of Chromebooks with 11.6-inch and 12-inch screens, the Pavilion 14 has a 14-inch 1366 x 768 panel, and a correspondingly large laptop frame. HP hopes the larger keyboard and more spacious experience will contribute to improved ease of use. There's also a correspondingly larger array of ports, including three USB 2.0 sockets and an SD card slot so you can expand the included (tiny) 16GB of solid state storage should you so choose.

1.1GHz Celeron processor, 2GB RAM, integrated graphics. Battery life: about 4hr 30 - compared to six hours for a Samsung Chromebook in The Verge's test. Probably the bigger screen, but hardly an advance.

PC makers aren’t learning from history >> Windows IT Pro

guardiantech — 2013-01-31T13:37:25+00:00

Paul Thurrott (on 29 Jan, 2013):

Windows 8 was also designed to raise the average selling price of a PC to a more profitable range of $600 to $800. Those early Windows 8 tablet devices based on the Atom “Clover Trail” chipset are a netbook in sheep’s clothing, but they cost hundreds more than netbooks ever did. However, the theory is that consumers are comfortable paying $650+ for Apple’s iPad, so they will perhaps pay as much or more for what is presumably a more full-featured PC.
I refuse to believe that Chromebooks make any sense at all for businesses or educational institutions, and that the manageability of Windows RT and Windows 8, combined with still-reasonable pricing, the familiarity of the environments, and the cachet of modern, new tablet form factors, won’t just keep Microsoft in the game but will in fact allow the company to continue to set the pace.

Gauntlet, consider yourself thrown.

I used a Samsung Chromebook for two weeks - here's what I learned >> CITEworld

guardiantech — 2013-01-16T22:18:08+00:00

Ron Miller:

The machine is ideally suited to someone who uses a lot of Google services, which I do, so from that perspective it's a good choice for me. But you can use any cloud-based or browser-based app that works in Chrome. I have to say there are aspects of this diminutive laptop that I've really enjoyed, but the drawbacks were so many, and the hardware so cheap, and I can't see buying one of these as constructed.

The lightness and price are a plus; not being able to create a new spreadsheet or presentation while offline isn't.

Acer C7 Chromebook >> Google Play

guardiantech — 2012-11-14T21:10:33+00:00

£199 and it's in stock! 11.6in display (1266x768), 2GB RAM, and - get this - a 320GB hard drive. That's a lot of (rotating) storage for a Chromebook. (Thanks @gvnmcknz for the link.)

Samsung Chromebook Series 5 550 Review >> Cnet

guardiantech — 2012-06-13T21:41:31+00:00

Here's the biggest problem with the Chromebook: the hardware's fine, and the simplified Web-based OS is clever, and even versatile if you don't mind its limitations. Still, it's a radically reduced subset of what you can get on a Windows or Mac laptop...or even an iPad or Android tablet, for that matter. Yet, it costs more than a new iPad 2, a thinner, keyboard-enabled Android tablet like the Asus Transformer Pad, or a fully featured 11-inch ultraportable laptop like the AMD-powered HP dm1z.
If the Chromebook were $99, this could have been a revolutionary product. As it currently stands, it's merely an invitation to pay a lot of money to be part of a Google experiment. And you're the test subject.

Their verdict: 2/5. The money you pay: $550. Is that how they named it? (Thanks @nazo for the link.)

New Samsung Chromebook & Chromebox review: Chrome OS grows up >> The Verge

guardiantech — 2012-05-31T21:08:05+00:00

David Pierce:

The success of Chrome OS hinges on whether or not you can live and work inside a browser. Personally, I learned fairly definitively that I can't — at least not yet. There are apps that I use every day, like Skype, that simply don't exist in the world of the Chromebook. Other apps like Twitter, IRC, and Google Talk have web-based counterparts, but they're far below the quality of native desktop apps.
I also do a lot of photo editing and uploading, which Chrome OS just isn't suited for; there's a photo editor, but if you want to do more than crop or rotate a photo, you'll need a separate app. There are online photo editors — I used Aviary a lot while using the Chromebook — but they're neither as powerful nor as usable as iPhoto or Lightroom.
I suspect I'm in the minority, though, and for most people Chrome OS would be totally sufficient.

Non-owners of Chromebooks, what say you?

Asustek, HTC back off from new Chromebook >> Digitimes

guardiantech — 2012-05-31T09:51:33+00:00

Some notebook players pointed out that the first-generation Chromebook's sales were significantly impacted by its hardware design and competition from netbooks which have seen average prices already drop to only US$299-399, and users are more familiar with the Windows operating system. As a result, currently, Chromebooks may find it difficult to replace netbooks in the market, the notebook players noted.

First bunch of Chromebooks sold fewer than 200,000, so Acer cashed out. If the Chromebook can't compete with netbooks, then it's a ultra-niche. Same problem that Linux netbooks had: Windows owns the desktop. (Note: link goes behind paywall after time.)

27,000 Google Chromebooks headed to U.S. schools | Deep Tech - CNET News

guardiantech — 2012-01-25T22:37:11+00:00

"This is the right device for student learning," said Bryan Weinert, technology coordinator for the Leyden Community High School District in Illinois. "We plan to deploy 3,500 to students next year. Every single student will be issued a Chromebook they can use at school and at home."

The Chromebooks will replace Netbooks, he said. "We were looking for a device that can be invisible. We want teachers to focus on instruction," not technical support, waiting for laptops to boot, or making sure they're charged, he said.

Oh, yeah, Chromebooks. They were going to destroy Microsoft's business once upon a time.

Google Chrome OS review >> WinSupersite

guardiantech — 2011-06-20T21:28:20+00:00

"Unlike with, say, an iPad, it's unclear if the tradeoffs to the Chrome OS-based systems make a lot of sense for typical consumers. And unlike a typical netbook, you're losing out on a lot of valuable Windows-based functionality.
"I just don't know what to make of it.
There's certainly a lot of promise here, and if you're a big consumer of Google services--especially Gmail, Google Calendar, and Picasaweb (photo sharing)--Chrome OS may eventually make a lot of sense. I say "eventually" because Google will improve its services this summer to support offline usage, a key problem with the system today. And I say "may" because, let's face it, anyone can just run Chrome on a Windows-based netbook or notebook. Why limit yourself only to Chrome OS?"

Amazing how many people review the Chromebook as though its prime audience was going to be consumers. It isn't.

Tablets will not kill desktops and laptops: Google's Sundar Pichai >> The Economic Times

guardiantech — 2011-05-25T22:43:01+00:00

"Even as hardware majors like Dell , Acer and HP are laying big bets on the tablet and mobility devices, Google wants to sell Chromebook in many markets -- European and Emerging markets included. 'Our goal is to redesign end-to-end desktop computing. We are excited about Chromebooks. It is a new way of web based computing with under three minutes of boot,' says Pichai."

Could be quite interesting.