14 DAY TRIAL // Without a doubt, this has been one of the busiest weeks in quite a while for Google, the search-engine giant revealing not only a new Android handset and OS upgrade, but also its first-ever Chrome OS netbook, the Cr-48, which will be available in a limited edition through the company's open-beta-like Pilot program. And, in fact, that's exactly the topic we'll tackle as follows, since the people over at Digitimes seem to have come up with some more specific figures as to just how many Cr-48 netbooks will be offered by Google for free to the eligible Pilot program participants.
So, it seems that the company in charge of manufacturing these first Chrome OS netbooks, Inventec, has shipped no less than 60,000 units to Google, which means that there will be plenty of Cr-48's to go around, both internally and for the external “beta-testers”.
Unfortunately, the wide majority of consumers, who'd otherwise be extremely interested in getting their hands on one of these brand-new Chrome OS netbooks, won't be able to do so until the first half of 2011, when the first consumer-grade products, manufactured by the likes of Acer and Samsung, will make their way onto shelves.
And even the, rumor has it that initial consumer-bound shipments won't be particularly impressive, since Acer's apparently not rushing to manufacturer too many Chrome OS units of its own, probably waiting to see just what kind of a reception this new platform will get from consumers.
Anyway, we'll have to admit that while Google's approach to the official introduction of its Chrome OS netbooks might not be exactly what everyone had expected, it's nevertheless quite an OK one, given the fact that it will allow the company to further refine the operating system before pushing it in large numbers on the market, not to mention the fact that it will also get the world a chance to get acquainted to the Chrome OS machines (we're expecting quite a lot of reviews coming from members of the Pilot program in the near future).