When Google introduced Chromebooks 15 years ago, the company positioned them as laptops built for the web. Now the company is launching a new kind of laptop that’s… built for Android. Earlier this year the company introduced its new Googlebook platform, and now the first five models are available for pre-order with prices ranging from $899 to $1349. They should be widely available starting October 4.
While that might seem steep (because it is), one thing that I think often gets lost in the conversation about Chromebooks is that while Google’s first major push into the laptop space was often associated with the dirt cheap laptops that PC makers built around the platform, Google never said that all Chromebooks were supposed to be inexpensive.
In fact, Google sold a few of its own Chromebooks over the years, and they tended to be premium devices with better build quality and performance than you’d get from the entry-level models that sold for $200 to $400. It looks like Google and PC makers are trying to avoid associating Googlebooks with “cheap laptops” right out of the gate, with the first crop of models all featuring speedy processors, high-quality displays, backlit keyboards, and other premium features.
Whether anyone wants to spend the kind of money you’d pay for a decent Windows or macOS laptop on a computer that runs and Android-based operating system still remains to be seen. But it sure seems like Google is banking on the idea… and PC makers are at least hedging their bets. Worst case scenario, they can repurpose the designs as Windows laptops.
Fun fact though: with Googlebooks currently positioned as premium laptops, the Dell XPS Googlebook actually caries a higher starting price than Dell’s latest XPS 13 laptop with Windows, which is positioned as an affordable laptop.
Google positions Android as an open source operating system, but the company has ultimate control over what gets released to AOSP, and now Google is making some of its newest APIs exclusive to Google Pixel devices, at least until Android 17 QPR2 is released.
Winamp is making a comeback… again. Next year a new version will roll out that supports local music, internet radio, podcasts, and “personal” cloud-based subscription. It’ll also have a subscription streaming tier powered by Deezer.
MediaTek’s new Dimensity CX C10 Max chip for Googlebooks combines 8 CPU cores, 11-core graphics, and a 55 TOPS NPU. It’s similar to the Kompanio Ultra chip for Chromebooks, but so far now Googlebooks powered by the new chip have been announced.
The Dell XPS Googlebook is a 2.2 pound laptop with aa 13.4″ 2.5K LCD display, a Snapdragon X Elite processor, and a $999 starting price for a model with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
The cheapest Googlebook is the $899 Acer Googlebook 14, with an Intel Core Ultra 325 processor, 16GB LPDDR5x RAM, a 512GB SSD< and a 2880 x 1800px, 120 Hz display, 5MP webcam, and 40 Gbps USB4.
