14 DAY TRIAL // Remember the Google Chromebook Pixel? The device launched back in 2013 with a 12.85-inch IPS display and a resolution of 2560 x 1700 pixels.
Powering the whole setup was an Intel Core i5 Ivy Bridge chip with Panther Point PHC and fitted with 4GB of RAM.
The original device sold for a $1,299 / €954, thus making it by far the most expensive Chromebook ever released.
However, people who were looking for a high-end Chromebook model that pushed the boundaries loved the Pixel. And many were left craving for a successor.
The next-gen Google Pixel is going to be quite distinct
Well, we failed to see Google announce one at the I/O event this summer, but maybe not everything is lost. A report coming out of DigiTimes claims that Google is about to finish the development of the next-gen Pixel in Q1 2015.
However, given that we are in 2015, the successor will be a bit different. According to sources deep inside the upstream supply chain, Google is prepping a 2-in-1 Chromebook which is supposedly developing with Quanta Computer.
What’s more interesting is that the device is actually going to be a dual-boot machine. In tablet mode, the hybrid will run Android, but when users will snap the keyboard Chrome OS will take the reins.
The dual-boot dream lives on
Google has been pushing the convergence between Android and Chrome OS and has talked extensively about the topic this summer at their I/O conference. On the same occasion, the search giant introduced a few Android apps optimized for Chrome OS.
Chromebook popularity is slowly growing, but the US is the main market driving sales. However, with the integration of Android, Google expects to see Chrome OS notebooks achieve a better grasp of the international market.
While Google is prepping the dual-boot 2-in-1 assault, Microsoft is not sleeping in its shoes either. The tech giant is expected to launch new super affordable products bundling Windows 10 during the second half of the year.
Going back to Google and its next-gen Chromebook Pixel, if the development of the product is finished by this quarter, we might expect to see the new model towards the middle of the year too.
