About Chromebook

Chromebook


Chromebook


Samsung Series 5 Chromebook
Product type
Personal computer - Notebook
Owner
Google
Introduced
June 15, 2011
Website
www.google.com/chromebook/

A Chromebook is a personal computer running Chrome OS as its functioning scheme. The apparatus are conceived to be used while attached to the Internet and support submissions that reside on the Web, rather than customary submissions that reside on the machine itself.
The first Chromebooks for sale, by Acer Inc. and Samsung, were broadcast at the Google I/O seminar in May 2011 and began shipping on June 15, 2011. Lenovo, Hewlett Packard and Google itself went into the market in early 2013. In addition to laptop models, a desktop version, called a Chromebox, was introduced in May 2012.
Chromebooks are primarily sold online, both directly from Google and from the company's retail partners. By 2012, schools had become the largest class of clientele. That October, Google broadened its trading scheme to include first-time computer users and households seeking an added computer. Critical answer to the device was primarily skeptical, with some reviewers, like Joey Sneddon and David Pogue, unfavorably comparing the value proposition of Chromebooks with that of more fully featured laptops running the Microsoft Windows functioning system. That accusation dissipated in reconsiders of appliances from Acer and Samsung that were priced at $200 and $250, respectively. In February 2013, Google announced and started boats the Chromebook Pixel, a high-end appliance priced at $1299.
In October 2012, Simon Phipps, writing in InfoWorld, said "the Chromebook line is probably the most thriving Linux desktop/laptop computer we've glimpsed to date". assesses of overall success are blended. As of May 2013, the Samsung sequence 3 Chromebook has directed Amazon's register of best-selling laptops, a place it established when it launched in October 2012. But in April 2013, NetMarketShare, in its first week of supervising worldwide usage of Chrome OS, described that Chromebooks accounted for only 0.023% of world wide web traffic, which was just 0.7% of the traffic developed by Windows 8 PCs.

Design

Chromebooks are transported with Google Chrome OS, an operating system that utilises the Linux kernel and the Google Chrome web browser with an integrated newspapers contestant. With limited offline capability and a asserted boot time of eight seconds (actual boot time varies depending on hardware, e.g. the Acer C7 is asserted by Google to boot in 18 seconds), Chromebooks are mainly conceived to be used attached to the Internet. Instead of installing customary applications such as phrase processing and instant messaging, users add world wide web apps from the Chrome Web Store. Google claims that a multi-layer security architecture eliminates the need for anti-virus programs.
Support for many USB devices such as cameras, mice, external keyboards and flash drives is encompassed, utilizing a characteristic alike to plug-and-play on other functioning systems. Like the prototype Cr-48, Chromebooks have a focused keyboard entire with buttons for unfastening and commanding multiple browser windows, as well as a Web seek button which replaces the caps lock key (caps secure being triggered by pushing both shift keys together).
An investigation of the Samsung sequence 5 constituents by iFixit in June 2011 approximated that the unit cost about US$322 in components and US$12 in work charges. With a retail price of US$499.99 and boats, trading, research and development and retail margins to account for this shows that the earnings margins on the Chromebooks are rather slim, needing a large output run to make a profit.

Models

Cr-48 prototype

At a December 7, 2010, press briefing, Google broadcast the first Chromebook, the Cr-48 laptop, a reference hardware design to test the Chrome OS functioning scheme. The machine was named after Chromium-48, an unstable isotope of the metallic component Chromium. The laptop's conceive smashed conference by restoring the caps lock key with a dedicated seek key.
The Cr-48 was intended for testing only, not retail sales. Google addressed accusations that the operating scheme boasts little functionality when the host device is not attached to the Internet, illustrated an offline version of Google Docs, and announced a 3G design that would give users 100 MB of free data each month, with added paid designs accessible from Verizon.
Google circulated about 60,000 Cr-48s to testers and reviewers in early December 2010. Reviewers resolved that while the task held promise, it still had some distance to proceed before being prepared for market. The last of the Cr-48s were transported in March 2011.
The Cr-48 notebooks featured some unused hardware constituents, encompassing a Bluetooth 2.1 controller. The USB port could support a keyboard, mouse, Ethernet adapter, or USB storage, but not a printer, as Google OS boasts no print stack . supplementing farther hardware outside of the before cited pieces will expected origin difficulties with the operating system's "self understanding" security form. Users rather than were encouraged to use a protected service called Google Cloud Print to publish to legacy publishers attached to their desktop computers, or to attach an HP ePrint, Kodak Hero, Kodak ESP, or Epson attach printer to the Google Cloud publish service for a "cloud cognizant" printer connection.

Commercial machines

Google initially entitled some development partners employed on hardware for the functioning scheme, with other ones entitled in the press, including Acer, Adobe, Asus, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas devices, Toshiba, Intel, Samsung, and Dell.
The first two commercially accessible Chromebooks, manufactured by Samsung and Acer, were announced on May 11, 2011, at the Google I/O developer conference. Retail charges began at $349, with a ship designated day of June 15 for the joined States, the joined Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain. Retail partners in the joined States included Amazon and Best purchase. Google furthermore broadcast a monthly payment design for enterprise and education customers at $28 and $20 per client per month, respectively, for a three-year contract, including replacements and upgrades.
Functionally alike to the Cr-48, the Chromebooks were accessible in both Wi-Fi and 3G versions from both manufacturers. The Samsung Chromebook had a 12.1 inch 1280×800 screen and a Mini-VGA port. The Acer Chromebook had an 11.6-inch (290 mm) computer display and HDMI output. Both versions encompass an HD webcam and two USB 2.0 ports. Neither Chromebook, nor subsequent forms, featured an optical computer computer disc propel, as both data and most submissions are intended to reside in the cloud. Applications are downloadable by the Chrome Web shop.
Samsung presented the first ChromeOS desktop appliance called a Chromebox, in May 2012.
forms equipped with 3G/4G LTE connectivity obtain 100-200 MB of wireless facts and figures per month for two years. For models released on or after May 2012, 100GB-1.09TB of Google Drive cloud storage and 12 GoGo WiFi passes are encompassed. The two lowest cost Chromebooks emerged in the drop of 2012: the $249 Samsung sequence 3 and the $199 Acer C7. The following February, Google presented the most exorbitant appliance, their Chromebook Pixel, with a beginning cost of $1299.

 

Chromeboxes

Chromeboxes are the desktop variants of Chromebooks. categorised as small form-factor PCs, the apparatus normally feature a power swap and a set of docks: local locality network, USB, DVI-D, DisplayPorts, and audio. As with Chromebooks, Chromeboxes provide work solid state memory and support world wide web submissions, but need an external monitor, keyboard, and pointing apparatus. Samsung issued the first Chromebox.

Sales and marketing

Since late 2010, Google's Chromebooks start has been going by Rajen Sheth, best renowned as the "father of Google Apps". His strategy for marketing Chromebooks has centralised on the total cost of ownership, which, he said, can be "dramatically" reduced by lower upkeep, management and security charges, even if hardware charges stay unchanged.
Chromebooks began trading through online passages, including Amazon and Best purchase in the U.S., and in some European nations starting June 15, 2011. The first machines sold for between $349 and $499, counting on form and whether 3G was encompassed. Google also offered a monthly fee scheme for enterprise and learning customers at $28 and $20 per client, per month, respectively for a three-year agreement, encompassing replacements and upgrades. Verizon offered 100 megabytes of wireless facts and figures per month, with an added gigabyte at $20 per month.
Google's early marketing efforts relied mainly on hands-on know-how: giving away Samsung appliances to 10 Cr-48 navigate program participants along with the name Chromebook Guru and loaning Chromebooks to travellers on some Virgin America air travel. At the end of September 2011, Google launched the Chrome Zone, a "store within a store", inside the Currys and PC World superstore in London. The shop had a Google-style gaze and seem with splashes of hue all around the retail store front. Google said it was designing to open more Chrome Zones in the UK over the next couple of months.
In addition to these marketing strategies, Google Chrome has conceived some "Chromebook minis" that demonstrate the alleviate of use and alleviate of the apparatus in a comical manner. For demonstration, when the question "How do you back up a Chromebook" is asked, it is implied to refer to data backup, but rather than, displays two hands impelling a Chromebook back to the end of a table. This is followed by the declaration, "You don't have to back up a Chromebook," displaying how all facts and figures is stored on the world wide web.

On November 21, 2011, Google broadcast price decreases on all Chromebooks. Since then, the Wi-Fi-only Samsung Series 5 was reduced to $349, the 3G Samsung sequence 5 was decreased to $449, and the Acer AC700 was decreased to $299. By January 2012, financial sales for Chromebooks were flat, with the exception of the education market. Google had put almost 27,000 Chromebooks in schools across 41 states, including "one-on-one" programs, which assign a computer for every scholar, in South Carolina, Illinois, and Iowa. As of August 2012, over 500 school districts in the joined States and Europe were using the apparatus, as well as universities, companies and government amenities.
By January 2013, Acer's Chromebook sales were being driven by "heavy Internet users with educational institutions", and the platform comprised 5-10 percent of the company's U.S. shipments, according to Acer leader Jim Wong. He called those numbers sustainable, contrasting them with reduced Windows 8 sales which he accused for a fall in the market. Wong said that the company would address trading Chromebooks to other evolved nations, as well as to companies. He documented that whereas Chrome OS is free to license for hardware vendors, it has needed greater trading expenditure than Windows, offsetting the authorising savings.
Over the summer of 2013 sales of Chromebooks bigger to 3.3% of the market, while sales of Windows and apple fruit laptops declined. Between June 30 to September 7, 2013 computer sales in general were down with chromebooks the only class that were increasing, with 175,000 flats sold.

Reception

Cr-48

The Cr-48 prototype laptop gave reviewers their first opening to assess Chrome OS running on a device. Ryan Paul of Ars Technica composed that the machine "met the rudimentary requirements for world wide web surfing, gaming, and individual productivity, but falls short for more intensive tasks." He praised Google's approach to security, but marvelled if mainstream computer users would accept an operating scheme whose only submission is a browser. He thought Chrome OS "could apply to some niche audiences": people who just need a browser or businesses that rely on Google Apps and other Web submissions. But the functioning scheme was "decidedly not a full-fledged alternate to the general reason computing environments that actually boat on netbooks." Paul composed that most of Chrome OS's benefits "can be discovered in other software environments without having to forfeit native applications."
In reconsidering the Cr-48 on December 29, 2010, Kurt Bakke of Conceivably Tech wrote that a Chromebook had become the most frequently utilised family appliance in his house. "Its 15 second startup time and dedicated Google client anecdotes made it the go-to apparatus for fast searches, internet message as well as YouTube and Facebook activities." But the apparatus did not restore other five notebooks in the dwelling: one for gaming, two for the kids, and two more for general use. "The biggest accusation I heard was its lack of performance in blink applications."
In ongoing checking, Wolfgang Gruener, furthermore composing in Conceivably Tech, said that cloud computing at cellular data races is unacceptable and that the need of offline proficiency turns the Cr-48 "into a ineffective brick" when not attached. "It's difficult to use the Chromebook as an everyday apparatus and give up what you are utilised to on a Mac/Windows PC, while you surely relish the dedicated cloud computing capabilities occasionally."


Commercial machines

reconsidering the Samsung sequence 5 specifications, Scott Stein of CNET was unimpressed with a appliance with a 12-inch screen and just 16 GB of onboard storage. "Chrome OS might be lighter than Windows XP, but we'd still prefer more media storage space. At this cost, you could furthermore get an 11.6-inch (290 mm) Wi-Fi AMD E-350-powered ultraportable running Windows 7." On the other hand, MG Siegler of TechCrunch composed a mostly favorable reconsider, admiring the improvements in speed and trackpad sensitivity over the CR-48 prototype, as well as the long electric battery life and the detail that all models are priced underneath the iPad. 

In June 2011 iFixit dismantled a Samsung Series 5 and resolved that it was vitally an improved Cr-48. They rated it as 6/10 for repairability, predominantly because the case has to be opened to change the battery and because the RAM portion is soldered to the motherboard. iFixit documented that the "mostly-plastic construction" sensed "a little cheap". On the in addition to edge they stated that the computer display was easy to eliminate and most of the components, encompassing the solid state drive would be very simple to restore. iFixit's Kyle Wiens composed that the Series 5 "fixes the foremost shortfalls of the Cr-48 and adds the polish necessary to strike lust into the heart of a very wide buyer groundwork: sleek examines, 8+ hours of electric battery life, and optimized performance."
In an item published on ZDNet in June 2011, entitled "Five Chromebook concerns for businesses", Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols faulted the devices for lack of virtual personal mesh capability, not supporting some Wi-Fi security methods, in specific Wi-Fi defended get access to II (WPA2) Enterprise with Extensible Authentication Protocol-Transport Layer Security (EAP-TLS) or Cisco’s Lightweight Extensible Authentication Protocol (LEAP). He furthermore documented that its document supervisor does not work, the need to use the undocumented crosh shell to complete rudimentary jobs such as setting up a protected shell (SSH) network connection as well as grave deficiencies in documentation.
In one of the first customer reconsiders, the town of Orlando, Florida described on their initial testing of 600 Chromebooks as part of a broader study associated to accessing virtual desktops. Early indications show promise value in decreasing IT support charges. End users have demonstrated that the Chromebook is very simple to journey with and starts up quickly. One asserted that "If I just need to stay attached for crises, I take my Chrome," but when traveling for enterprise she would still take her laptop. Orlando does design to extend to use the Chromebooks.
Shortly after the Samsung sequence 5 Chromebook was released to the public in July 2011, the review location Chromebook rankings applauded the Series 5 and its 8-second boot-up time, asserting that "You can literally proceed from a freezing appliance to seeking the internet in about 10 seconds. It’s one thing to glimpse it recounted, but it’s another to know-how it first-hand." They also lauded the sequence 5 for its "exceptionally long electric electric battery life" that exceeded the electric battery life of the Acer AC700 Chromebook. 

Reviewing the Samsung sequence 5 Chromebook in July 2011, Benjamin Humphrey of OMG! Ubuntu! resolved that while the device is "a lovely part of hardware and a flawless start to the Chromebook lineup", it doesn't handle some of the basics: exact replicate and paste in the document supervisor or playback of widespread localized formats. He noted Chrome OS's six-week release cycle that had currently addressed some of his anxieties and suggested that most persons should contain out until later in the year "to let the programs mature a bit more. If you’re easily after a tablet with a keyboard however, the Series 5 might just be the flawless purchase. 

In May 2012, Samsung presented the Chromebook sequence 5 550, costed at US$449 for the Wi-Fi form and US$549 for 3G.
Reviews usually interrogated the worth proposition. Dana Wollman of Engadget wrote that the Chromebook's keyboard "put thousand-dollar Ultrabooks to disgrace" and suggested better brandish value than on many laptops trading for two times as much. But the cost "seems to exist in a vacuum—a location where tablet apps aren't growing more sophisticated, where Transformer-like Win8 tablets aren't on the way and where there aren't some solid allowance Windows appliances to select from."
Joey Sneddon of OMG! Chrome! in May 2012 furthermore found obvious error with Samsung's pricing, contending that $500 is impractical. "People approaching to ChromeOS will be made to make forfeitures – but more money for less hasten is unlikely to be one of them. I can’t help but seem that Samsung have costed the Chromebook to fail."
Joe Wilcox of BetaNews composed that "price to presentation and how it compares to other choices" is "where Chromebook crumbles for many potential buyers." He documented that the new forms deal for more than their predecessors, and while the price-performance ratio is quite favorable compared to the MacBook Air, "by the specs, there are abounding of lower-cost options."

Series 3, C7

In October 2012, the sequence 3 Chromebook was presented at a San Francisco happening with the Samsung Chromebook XE303. The device was priced at $249 and was narrower and lighter than the Chromebook 550. Google marketed the sequence 3 as the computer for every person, due to its simple functioning system (Chrome OS) and inexpensive price. goal markets encompassed scholars and first-time computer users, as well as families looking for an additional computer. 

The smaller cost verified a watershed for some reviewers. New York Times technology columnist David Pogue turned around his earlier thumbs-down decision on the Chromebook, composing that "$250 changes everything." The cost is half that of an "iPad, even less than an iPad Mini or an iPod feel. And you’re getting a laptop." He composed that the Chromebook does many of the things persons use computers and laptops for: playing flash videos, and unfastening Microsoft agency articles. "In other phrases, Google is correct when it asserts that the Chromebook is flawless for schools, second computers in homes and businesses who establish hundreds of machines." 

Joey Sneddon of OMG! Chrome! furthermore applauded the charge on the sequence 3 Chromebook on October 18, 2012, showing that Samsung had at last got it right. "We weren’t alone in admonishing the charges of the Samsung sequence 550 Chromebook issued previous this year. They were priced above and beyond the ‘tipping’ issue of casual consumers, and sat solidly in the enthusiast land" resulting in sales underneath Google's anticipations. Acer's second lifetime Chromebook was also missing in activity, he wrote. But not prepared to give up, "Google and Samsung are back with a newer, cheaper, ARM-powered Chromebook." 

CNET's reconsider of the sequence 3 Chromebook was even more favorable, saying the appliance mostly consigned as a computer for scholars and as an added computer for a household—especially for users who are currently utilising Google world wide web applications like Google Docs, Google propel, and Gmail. "It's got workable if not standout hardware, its electric electric electric electric electric battery life is good, it switches on rapidly, and the $249 cost tag means it's not as much of a firm pledge as the $550 Samsung sequence 5 550 that reached in May." The reconsider subtracted points for presentation. "It's fine for numerous jobs, but power users used to having more than a couple dozen browser tabs open should guide clear."

Chromebook Pixel

In February 2013, Google introduced and transported the 32 GB Chromebook Pixel, whose $1299 price was more than six times that of the smallest cost Chromebook, the Acer C7. The Pixel drew praise for its exterior design and high resolution computer display, said to have the highest pixels-per-inch of any laptop. But early reviews interrogated the worth of a high-end laptop that only supports world wide web submissions, when similarly costed appliances (like Apple's MacBook Air) furthermore support conventional submissions. The Pixel departed from Google's scheme of making inexpensive appliances, and some observers speculated that the business was less involved in sales than in burnishing the Chromebook family's general reputation with a faster, more stylish apparatus.
In April 2013, Google began boats a 64 GB 4G LTE model for $1,449, which includes 100 MB of facts and figures each month for two years from Verizon Wireless.

Chromeboxes

In reconsidering the first Samsung Chromebox desktop PC issued in May 2012, Joey Sneddon of OMG! Chrome! recounted it as a "tough sell". Google, Samsung and Acer, he composed, have currently had a strong time trading the Chrome OS concept. He expected Chrome OS on a PC to meet similar obstacles, with success "far from certain. And if the steep charge by TigerDirect holds true then Samsung may find themselves with an uphill labour on their hands in profiting the apparatus traction with consumers."


Android laptop

In April 2013, Intel said that its embayment Trail chips will be utilised in a series of cheap touchscreen laptops primarily running Google's Android operating scheme. The move would conceive a direct competitor to Chromebooks (as well as Windows 8 laptops) using Google's other operating scheme.


Trademark argument

In June 2011, ISYS Technologies, founded in Salt Lake town, sued Google in a Utah locality court, claiming privileges to the name "Chromium", and, by default, Chromebook and Chromebox. The match sought to stop Google and its hardware and marketing partners from trading Chromebooks. The suit was later brushed aside, and, as part of an unrevealed town between Google and ISYS, ISYS forsaken its trademark efforts.