14 DAY TRIAL // We have talked about the mythical Chrome OS tablet not so long ago, just before Acer’s press conference in New York, as it was speculated the tech manufacturer will release a device along these lines.
But it didn't happen. That doesn't mean all is lost. Based on new information reported by GigaOM, Google might be under way to change the user interface of Chrome OS devices.
A dozen or so of code references in the Chromium issues tracker reveal Google might be working on something entitled Project Athena.
Details are pretty sketchy about the topic for the time being, but what Athena will do basically is to allow users to interact with windows and apps in Chrome OS by virtue of touch.
So, it makes sense to start speculating Athena could go on to be implemented in the elusive Chrome OS tablet we have been hearing of, for quite a while. Sure, it could turn out that Google is just looking to reconfigured its Chrome OS interface for touchscreen laptops (Chromebooks), but this sounds a little bit disappointing.
Talk of the Athena code reference showed on Google+ thanks to Brandon Lall, who talked a little of the specifics of the mysterious project.
According to this info, Athena will come with a touchscreen or virtual keyboard and might bundle with Google Now-reminiscent feats, like using a card-based interface in order tho support a certain range of activities.
Athena will also support extensions and something called Ares will act like the home/launcher screen. So it makes sense to assume, Athena would be the next-gen iteration of Ash, the windows manager for Chrome OS that appeared back in 2014.
The code doesn't provide any info related to what devices are going to be supported, so take the tablet part might prove just pure speculation.
However, even Lall points out that Athena could end up going on a tablet or phone and listen to this, even a wearable of sorts. How did a wearable come into discussion? There’s mention of support for a gyroscope and accelerometer, which is not something you’d expect to find on a Chromebook.
Touch is at the center of this endeavor and there will be dragging up from the bottom edge for “overview mode” and split-screen mode in case of dragging right from the left edge.
So, are we getting closer to seeing a Chrome OS tablet in the wild? The concept has been teased ever since 2010 when Google itself showed a design concept of such a product. How long before it actually becomes a reality? We can’t really say.