14 DAY TRIAL // While Windows is running rampant on the laptop market as always, Google's Chrome is making overtures of its own, and it looks like top-tier PC makers are planning to use it in some of their new notebooks.
Google has been promoting its Chrome operating system as an alternative to Windows and Android for quite a while now.
Its main feature is that it is browser-based and, instead of storing files one the PC itself, saves them in the cloud, so that they can be accessed from anywhere at any time.
The same goes for a great many applications, not just browsers, but also image and document editors, among other things.
So far, only a handful of mobile computers have adopted the OS, most of them belonging to the entry-level segment (netbooks).
Apparently, June may be the time of arrival for a full new collection of such products on the part of Sony, Samsung, ASUS and Acer.
Acer and Samsung were supposed to launch Chrome OS notebooks during the first half of the ongoing year (2011), but it may just be that this won't happen.
Mass sales aren't expected to commence before the coming of the second half of 2011, although prices may be convenient once they do.
For example, ASUS has not just Chrome OS but also dual-OS models in the making, their selling points expected at under $300, much lower than tablets, which sell for around $500 or more.
Sony is another outfit that started on Chrome notebooks, while HP and Dell have not yet decided on whether or not to join the fray.
All in all, there is a very real chance for Chrome machines, with or without an extra OS installed, to be officially showcased at Computex, Taipei, 2011. They should use Intel or NVIDIA processors and display with diagonals of 10 to 12 inches.