Jun 16, 2011 07:46 GMT  ·  By

Just as announced a month before at the Google I/O summit, earlier today both Amazon and Best Buy started shipping the Samsung's Series 5 netbook which was specially designed to run the Chrome OS cloud operating system.

Samsung is just one of the two companies chosen by Google to be their launch partners for the consumer release of Chrome OS, the other one being Acer.

The Series 5 netbooks produced by the Korean company are available with two different configurations as well as in a range of different colors, although not all of these are available at this time.

As far as the hardware specifications of the netbooks are concerned, these are almost identical apart from the connectivity options as one model includes both WiFi and 3G support, while the cheaper unit has to make do with just Wi-Fi networking.

Both of these are powered by an Intel Atom N570 processor, which packs two computing cores running at 1.66GHz as well as a GMA 3150 integrated graphics core, which is paired together with 2GB of system memory.

The rest of the configuration includes a 16GB solid state drive, a 1MP webcam as well as a 6-cell battery pack, which can provide up to 8.5 hours of use, according to the manufacturer.

Alongside its 0.79-inch thin chassis, Samsung has placed two USB 2.0 ports, a 4-in-1 memory card reader, a headphone out jack as well as a special port for an optional VGA dongle.

The screen measures 12.1-inch in diameter, features LED back lighting, and it also packs an anti-reflective coating as well as a 1280x800 resolution.

As mentioned earlier, the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is available through both Amazon and Best Buy, but the former only has in stock the $499.99 WiFi plus 3G model with a white lid. The Wi-Fi model retails for $429.99.