Chromebook

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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As of the second quarter of this year, MediaTek has managed to keep its top spot in the mobile application processor (AP) market. Its continued success can be credited to its strategy of targeting affordable 5G phones and flooding the market with innumerable chipsets. Smartphones, however, are no longer the only hot consumer electronics these days as Chromebook sales continue to surge. Expanding its portfolio to capture that lucrative market, MediaTek is doing what it does best and is giving the Chromebook market a new 5G processor to address other tiers in that market.

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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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The amount of digital content we create these days also means there's an equally large or even larger amount of content we acquire day in and day out. Once upon a time, that would have resulted in a desktop or workspace cluttered with icons, but these days that translates to innumerable files, downloads, screenshots, and everything else. Although not exactly an organizational tool, Chrome OS' Tote feature lets you quickly access the most important or at least most recent items on your Chromebook, conveniently ignoring the growing clutter in other parts of the system.

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Google has forayed into a range of industries previously and it’s now planning to manufacture its own silicon for the forthcoming Chrome OS-powered notebooks. Google’s growing focus on developing in-house chipsets isn’t new, this year however, it’s only become more evident than ever before. Especially after an official teaser of Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, which will be powered by a custom system on a chip (SoC) that is named the “Google Tensor”.

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Many see Google, and technically many other companies, as always copying Apple's strategies, especially the successful ones. At the height of the Apple M1 hype, Google was rumored to be working on its own ARM-based silicon, one that would take on the Apple A series of processors that launched back in 2010. Of course, the M1 silicon was destined not for phones but for Macs, and now Google is reportedly eying a similar strategy that would see future Chromebooks running on Google-branded processors as early as 2023.

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Chrome OS has become a sort of "one OS to rule them all" in the past years. In addition to the usual native Chrome OS apps and web apps, it has also gained support for Linux and Android apps. With no small amount of work, it can even run Windows software to some extent. That, however, doesn't mean that the experience of apps from those other platforms is on par with full-blooded Chrome OS apps, and Microsoft seems to be using that to justify ending official support for the Android versions of its Microsoft Office and Outlook apps on Chrome OS starting September.

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HP today announced a new smattering of Chromebook and Chromebook-adjacent devices. Leading the day's reveals is the HP Chromebook x2 11, but it's joined by the HP Chomebase 21.5-inch All-in-One Desktop and the new HP M24fd USB-C monitor. While that monitor might seem like the odd device out, it actually comes with Works With Chromebook certification, so it fits the theme of today's reveals quite nicely.

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