Asus weighing up Chrome versus Android

Asus chair Jonney Shih has informed ZDNet UK his company has prototype Android and Chrome OS smartbooks and is currently deciding whether to release an ARM-based device to complement its Intel-based Eee PCs. They are still not sure if users would sacrifice Windows compatibility for a lower-cost subnotebook running a Linux-based OS on a non-Intel compatible ARM chipset. In addition, they need to choose between Google's two operating systems, Android and Chrome OS.

Android is targeted towards smartphones while Chrome OS is cloud-centric and based on the Chrome web browser. The former is faster but is suited more for smaller screens while the latter has multi-windowing.

Does Chrome OS Spell the End of Desktops?

Extremetech presents an interesting discussion on the possible effects of Chrome OS in hastening the end of desktops.

While there's still another year before Chrome OS is finally released, Google has made the code open source and available now. The OS has been designed for low-power computers (read: netbooks), using flash memory for super-fast boot-up times and running exclusively cloud-based apps. Thus it requires little local storage and minimal hardware - the perfect description for the portables that have increasingly become lighter, less inexpensive, and more appealing to end-users.

In fact, laptops have already outsold desktops starting last year, even before cloud computing started to take hold. But with Chrome OS and other recent innovations like Nvidia's RealityServer (cloud computing for 3D) becoming not only available but more efficient, could desktops finally become obsolete?

You can read the entire discussion here.

Chrome OS for Dell Mini 10v: It's Easy

From Gizmodo -

Dell has compiled a version of Chrome OS that works on the Mini 10v. Except for the erratic wifi, everything works fine. You will just need an 8GB flash drive to load the image into the 10v, and boot right into Chrome OS.

How To Run Google Chrome OS From A USB Drive [Windows]

Makeuseof.com has posted a tutorial on making a Chrome OS bootable USB thumb drive. But before you rush over to download the OS, you should know that it is still in the very early stages of development so there are a lot of stuff that don’t work. It is also very simplistic by design, as it is intended for use on netbooks. In fact, when you launch Chrome OS, all you get is pretty much a web browser.

At any rate, you will need a 4GB drive, a computer that allows booting from a USB drive and has a network adapter. And a bit of luck. And of course, Chrome OS.

Loongson netbooks to use Google Chrome OS

Netbook board with the Loongson 2F chip -



From Shanzai -

While Loongson CPU-based netbooks and nettops have been selling well in its native China, it has yet to establish a foothold in the international market. Part of the problem is its inability to run Windows. But the MIPS based Loongson 2F architecture has enough processsing power for ultra-compact smartbook and possibly all-in-one desktops, and the right OS, in the form of Google Chrome, might just be the remaining missing piece for it to go international.

In fact, Loongson-based netbooks like the Lemote Yeelong and the Fullong Mini are designed to work with open source software like Linux. Unfortunately they are currently bundled with the mediocre Lemote Loonux OS. So a move to Chrome OS will certainly help.

Nvidia Working on Chrome OS Tegra Devices

Per JK on the Run Nvidia has confirmed it is working closely with Google on putting the Chrome OS on Tegra devices. According to Nvidia's guy, they are using a two-pronged approach: Windows Mobile and Google Android support in smartphones; Windows CE and Google Chrome OS in smartbooks or netbooks.

The Nvidia Tegra platform is basically envisioned to provide more processing power to portable devices especially high-def media playback while consuming less battery power. With the right OS and hardware design, Tegra thus can potentially become a powerful player in the portable scene.

Eee PCs rumored to ship with Moblin in October, Chrome OS on the horizon

From Engadget -

Per netbooknews.de the first Asus Eee PC pre-installed with the open source Moblin OS is rumored to hit the market in October. Asus is also reportedly considering making Moblin an option for all its notebooks in the future. In addition, it is also reportedly working with Google to deploy the Chrome OS as well.

ARM Cortex + Google Chrome = Your Next Netbook?

From Extremetech -

While very few consumers are familiar with ARM, it is actually the processing power being popular devices such as the Palm Pre and the Amazon Kindle, and a lot more. In fact a whole lot more. ARM has shipped 14 billion processors to date, 4 billion of them alone in 2008.

ARM has traditionally focused on low-power mobile devices, but it has discovered its Flash-decoding chips can also work in netbooks, set-top boxes, HDTVs, UMPCs, etc. However since Windows can't run on ARM processors and Linux has not exactly been accepted as an OS for netbooks, ARM-based mobile computing devices have not exactly caught on.

That is not to say ARM chips are not capable. Its Cortex-A8 can last through 6 hours of video playback or more than 9 hours of web browsing. In fact a 65-nm, 600-MHz Cortex-A8, which is in the Palm Pre and the Amazon Kindle, can render pages in less than 5 seconds, comparable to a 45-nm, 800-MHz Intel Atom. And the next gen 45-nm Cortex-A9 (due out later this year) will render pages in less than 3 seconds, faster than an 1.6 GHz Intel Atom. In terms of power consumption, 65-nm Cortex-A8 SoCs are already 50x more efficient than Intel's forthcoming 45-nm Moorestown on standby mode.

And while Intel is the sole provider for its Atom, ARM-based chips come from six semiconductor partners: TI, Freescale, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Samsung, and Marvell. This encourages price competition, with ARM talking about $199 unsubsidized models and even $150 netbooks.

But hardware can only do so much without software, and this is where ARM has had problems since Intel's close partnership with Microsoft seems to have precluded compatibility with Windows so far. But Google's Chrome OS appears set to conquer just exactly the above-mentioned market segment. And Chrome OS works with ARM chips. So if users start liking Chrome, ARM will have a steady partner in achieving market success.

Who wins? Netbooks, smartbooks, and Google's Chrome OS

From Ars Technica -

Based on a partial list of hardware manufacturers that support the Chrome OS - Acer, ASUS, Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, and Toshiba, it seems likely that Chrome will emerge as the OS of the so-called smartbooks (netbooks that use ARM processors instead of Intel's Atom) and as a complement to Windows on netbooks.

Currently, ARM-based smartbooks have insufficient power to satisfy even netbook users, whose own Atom experience have already toned down their expectations. In addition, there is no ideal OS for the smartbooks yet, with Android being more of a mobile phone OS at this time. However, the next generation of ARM processors, the Core A9, due in 2010, should be a more robust processor and a more heavyweight (in terms of multitasking, performance, stability, and APIs). With the right OS, a Core A9 smartbook should be able to do cloud computing just fine. And that OS will likely be Chrome.

When this happens, users can have both Chrome OS and Windows on Atom-based netbooks. For Google apps and surfing, they can quick boot to Chrome; for all others they can boot up Windows.

Instant-on Linux vendors respond to Chrome OS

From Ars Technica -

In response to Google's Chrome OS, instant-on Linux-based HyperSpace maker Phoenix Technologies plans to launch a new version that will use some components of Intel's Moblin platform. HyperSpace, first introduced in 2007, can be used by itself on a netbook or shipped alongside a conventional Windows installation. It provides a simple user interface and an assortment of applications.

However Phoenix, which commercially licenses HyperSpace to OEMs, will have to deal with Chrome OS being available for free. The company believes though the technical advantages and greater maturity of its platform, makes it a better value for hardware manufacturers.

Meanwhile, another instant-on Linux platform provider, DeviceVM, which makes Splashtop, has also responded to Google's announcement of Chrome OS. Sergei Krupenin, DeviceVM senior director of marketing, suggested Chrome OS validates the need for instant-on computing, emphasizing the fact that Splashtop is available today whereas Chrome OS is still on the drawing board.

While it is too early to determine how the instant-on Linux OS market will turn out, Google's entry "legitimizes" this segment, providing it a new momentum. Hopefully, it will gain widespread use and boost Linux's bid for mass adoption.

Bill Gates on Google's Chrome OS

From CNET -

Bill Gates is surprised people are acting like there is something new with Google Chrome. After all, it is just another Linux packaged in another form. He also finds it interesting Google is vague about its new operating system while simultaneously questioning the actual definition of a browser. (Google has a browser named Chrome as well.)

In a separate interview, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer suggested that Windows, rather than a browser-centric OS was the right approach, noting half of PC use is spent doing work outside the browser. Both he and Gates also noted that Google now has two operating systems--Chrome OS and Android, and might be committing the same mistake Microsoft previously did with Windows 95 and NT.

Mike Arrington is wrong: Chrome OS won't matter.

Uploaded by mrhogg -

Intel Is Working With Google on Chrome OS

From PC World -

Intel, one half of the Wintel duo (Microsoft Windows being the other half) that has dominated the PC world for the past few decades, has been working with Google on the Chrome operating system for some time.

The Chrome OS, to be launched in H2 2010, is intended for desktops, laptops and netbooks, all devices dominated by Windows, so supporting Chrome could actually put Intel in an awkward position with Microsoft.

On the flipside, Intel has also been seeking more support for putting its microprocessors, such as the Atom, into smaller devices. Simultaneously, Intel has been working on its own mobile OS for small computer devices, a Linux-based OS called Moblin. It was designed for netbooks and handheld computers Intel calls MIDs, or mobile Internet devices.

Google CEO Schmidt Didn’t Want to Build Chrome Initially

From WSJ Digits -

Google CEO Eric Schmidt said Thursday evening that he resisted the idea the Chrome OS before giving in to Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page after the duo hired some Firefox developers who built a demonstration of Chrome that changed Schmidt's mind.

Chrome is described as an anti-operating system — one that is basically indistinguishable from a browser. Netbooks loaded with Chrome will boot up almost instantaneously and will store data on the Internet instead of a hard drive. It is being positioned not as a competitor to Microsoft Windows but one that will expand the market for netbooks, rather than eating into Windows’ share of the netbook market. Although Chrome will be free, Schmidt said it will still boost Google’s business.

Google Chrome OS to attack Microsoft Desktop Dominance in 2010

From I4U News -

Google has announced Google Chrome OS, an open source, lightweight Linux-based operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. The company will open-source its code later this year, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available in the second half of 2010.

Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips.

Intel doesn't view Chrome OS as a threat to Moblin

From Engadget -


According to Michael Chen, director of Intel's embedded sales group/ultra mobility group in Asia-Pacific, Intel isn't worried at all that Google has introduced an operating system that will rival its own Moblin.

"Our long-term goal is providing hardware for devices with different operating systems... more competition will drive up more innovations and that's good for consumers."

In fact, Intel is looking forward to providing chips for machines based on Chrome OS. That could very well be since the new OS, per Google's own announcement, will support x86 and ARM architectures.