Chrome OS

Google's Chromebooks have developed a strong foothold in the education sector. The balance of affordability, support for web apps, Android apps and Google Classroom has made a compelling value proposition for many schools. There are also an increasing number of Chromebooks that offer touchscreen support in the form of convertible laptops and 2-in-1 devices. In many cases, this also means support for styluses which typically aren't bundled with the device to help keep costs down.

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Chromebooks have seen a massive surge in sales since last year as many schools, families, offices switched to remote or at-home arrangements. This class of devices has always been designed and marketed for such situations, where most of the work and even play happens on the Web, either directly inside browsers or using Web Apps. Things have definitely changed a lot over the past few years, with Chrome OS gaining a lot of capabilities that might also require even more hardware power. Thankfully, that muscle is just around the corner from Qualcomm's newest Snapdragon Compute platforms, just in time for the potential arrival of Steam.

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Although Google is perhaps best known for Android as far as operating systems go, it does have a number of platforms under its name. Chrome OS is perhaps one of the most sophisticated because of the number of other operating systems it can support, including Linux and Android. In some aspects, however, Chrome OS feels like it's still catching up to what some of its peers already have. With the latest version 96, Google Chrome OS is getting quite a few of those, including an almost unique ability to control an external camera.

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Although it isn't exactly the one Google OS to rule them all, Chrome OS has long been able to run both of Google's preferred platforms and then some. It did take a while before it could properly handle Android apps and, even then, there are still a lot of rough edges thanks to the wide variety and quality of those apps. Years after there have been tablets, many Android apps still live in a phone-only world, but that's, fortunately, changing with Google's latest push for big-screen Android devices and, of course, Chromebooks.

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Google just revealed a new version of Android called Android 12L, with an eye for large displays. They've delivered a message that on one hand says Android 12L is "a special feature drop", and on the other says Android 12L is "an OS optimized for large screens." Google also suggests that Android 12L "refines the system UI" of Android 12, making Android 12 ready for the future of the next wave of large screen and transforming screen devices.

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Chromebook shipments have skyrocketed in the past year and a half, thanks or no thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and the shift to remote work and schooling. Unsurprisingly, there are a few manufacturers that are now trying to capitalize on that newfound popularity of the platform before demand dries up. Of all the PC makers, however, LG has been noticeably absent on that scene for years, but that might be changing now that the existence of a certain LG Chromebook has been sighted.

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Google practically has two major computing platforms, three if you consider the Web, and, once upon a time, these two didn't meet. Today, Chrome OS can almost be considered that one Google OS to rule them all, and its integration with Android is only about to get even deeper. There has been development afoot in a wider bridge between Chrome OS and a connected Android phone, and tomorrow might see a new feature that will finally let you mirror your Android phone's apps on your Chromebook.

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The majority of today's consumer tech products are unsurprisingly designed for the majority of people that don't have physical or mental handicaps. That's not to say, however, that these are the only people who deserve to have all that power at their fingertips. In fact, they should even be the ones whose lives are made even better by modern devices and software, correcting and augmenting what would normally be huge obstacles to leading functional and productive lives. Chromebooks are often portrayed as devices designed specifically for those purposes, and Google is presenting some features that make its Chrome OS platform more accessible to people with disabilities.

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There have been a couple of new PCs announced in the past few days, and, given Microsoft's latest launches, it's no surprise that they all revolve around Windows 11. Acer does have new Windows 11 PCs to show off, but it is casting its net a bit wider. It has even more new Chromebooks joining its growing army of devices running Google's web-centric OS, and this year's lineup aims for almost every user need and design inclination.

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Google never had a great relationship with tablets. It wasn't until the disaster that was Android 3.0 Honeycomb did the mobile platform acknowledged the tablets that had long existed before it, and even then, it took a few iterations for Android to stop feeling awkward on large screens. Google itself would only make two and a half tablets under the Nexus brand, a forgettable Pixel C, and the only Pixel Slate in existence that ran Chrome OS instead. There is now some speculation that Google might be ready to take another whack at it, but a Google Android tablet might actually make little sense for the company because it doesn't mesh well with its ultimate goal.

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Google has long had two major platforms (three if you count The Web, more if you also count Fuchsia and other custom operating systems), but Android and Chrome OS haven't exactly crossed paths until recently. Fortunately, Google has been working on bridging the two, more than just running Android apps on Chromebooks. An upcoming feature might be Google's biggest push in that direction, figuratively and literally, with a "Push" function that will let Android phones, particularly Google's Pixel phones, stream their screens to Chromebooks.

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It's time for Lenovo's annual Tech World event, and, of course, it has plenty of new products to show off. Those range from its Yoga line of Windows-powered laptops to a variety of Android tablets. One new device that stands out is the new Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook, a.k.a. the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5 in other markets. More than just the only Chrome OS device on the new list, it also gives Lenovo's popular 2-in-1 tablet a spec upgrade and, for better or worse, a matching price bump.

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