Google Intros 2nd-Gen Chromebook, Chromebox
Google and Samsung have launched second-generation Chrome OS products.
On Tuesday Google announced the launch of two new 2nd-generation Chrome OS products: the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook laptop and the Samsung Series 3 Chromebox desktop. They're based on Intel Core processors and feature support for hardware accelerated graphics, a built-from-scratch multi-touch trackpad, and a boot time of less than seven seconds.
"This is the next step in our journey toward an always-new computing experience focused on speed, simplicity and security," said Caesar Sengupta, Director of Product Management at Google. "This next-generation hardware from Samsung based on Intel processors and hardware-accelerated software delivers nearly three times the performance of the first-generation Chromebooks. With a new, app-centric user interface rolling out today and thousands of available web apps, we couldn’t be more excited about this evolution."
The Chromebook arrives in two flavors: Wi-Fi only (XE550C22-A01) and Wi-Fi + 3G (XE550C22-H01). The tech specs include a 12.1-inch screen (1280 x 800), a dual-core Intel Celeron 867 processor clocked at 1.3 GHz, 4 GB of SoDIMM RAM, a 16 GB SSD, an integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 GPU, a built-in 1MP HD webcam, 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity, and a battery life of up to 6 hours. Ports include 2 USB 2.0, a 4-in-1 memory card slot, a DP++ port (2560 x 1600), Gigabit Ethernet and more.
The Series 3 Chromebox (XE300M22-A01) can be connected to up to two 30-inch displays simultaneously. It packs a dual-core Intel Celeron B840 processor clocked at 1.9 GHz, 4 GB of SoDIMM RAM, a 16 GB SSD, 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity, Gigabit Ethernet and an Intel HD Graphics 3000 GPU. Ports include six USB 2.0, two DP++ display out ports (2560 x 1600) and a combined headphone/microphone jack.
"The new Samsung Series 5 Chromebook and Series 3 Chromebox provide the rapid, convenient and ever-improving computing experience that was so well-received in our first Chromebook," said Todd Bouman, vice president of marketing at Samsung Enterprise Business Division. "As the world’s first Chromebox, the Series 3 provides users with the Chromebook’s ease-of-use in a compact desktop product, which easily integrates with their existing accessories."
Google's blog on Tuesday talks about the updates in Chrome OS including a revamped media player and a built-in photo editor and uploader so that users can easily play and manage personal media collections. Google Drive is now seamlessly integrated with the File Manager and will support offline access with the next release of Chrome OS in six weeks. Google Docs offline support is also rolling out over the next few weeks.
"We’ve released eight stable updates over the past year, adding a number of major features and hundreds of improvements to all Chromebooks through our seamless auto-update mechanism," Google adds. "There’s a lot more on the way, so all you need to do is sit back and enjoy the benefits of the (always) new computer."
The company added that it's expanding the Chrome Zone experience centers in the United States, available for hands-on trials in select Best Buy stores in the coming weeks. The new Chromebook and Chromebox can be purchased now through Google's online retail partners in the U.S. and U.K., and in other select countries over the coming weeks.
As for pricing, the Wi-Fi only Samsung Series 5 Chromebook 550 costs $449.99 USD, whereas the Wi-Fi + 3G model costs $549.99 USD. The Chromebox is a mere $329.99 USD.

What a mid-90s Microsoft mentality.
"Never Obsolete"
... makes you think a bit
either make this a streaming service, where the laptop is mearly an access point, and the hardware is just a means to an end, or dont make it at all.
imagine if you could do something like onlive, but for a desktop computer. install whatever you want on their end, it makes your computer vurtural, and when needed, could use several times the power you would normally get in a notebook.
this thing is to underpowered to be a stand alone device, and is to over powered to be just a gateway...
if google really wants to move forward, they should make these cloud devices, they would be cheap, and possibly use a subscription of 50-100$ a year, but you would have the equivilant power of a 2000$ desktop when you need it.
Who would buy this crap?
Maybe I misunderstood the whole chrome OS from the beginning, but I thought it was a cloud based deal. I remember seeing adverts for it showing a chromebook being destoyed, a new one being unboxed and getting logged-into continuing to work without missing a beat. Seems like an "access point" type of system to me.
Celerons? They would have done better to couple these with amd's lower to mid end A4's or A6's they would have given them better battery life too, especially if theyre trying to push them as media and web devices, they obviously arent meant for the high end. In the end they probably would have gotten better deals on the chips too.
Nobody is going to want to pay full price for outdated parts.
My initial thoughts also was "Why not AMD APU's?" but then I realized most of the web still ignores GPU, especially on Linux. Even Google's MapsGL doesn't support AMD GPU's on Linux platforms (I have the c-60 on my netbook). Chrome OS is the web-browser on top of a bare linux kernel. The dated "Stars" CPU architecture doesn't help the Llano APU's either. However, there is a case to made for Trinity though. Even if GPU acceleration is limited on Linux platforms, the enhanced Bulldozer modules in Trinity would still offer solid performance at a lower cost vs Intel. Particularly so with Linux, because thread scheduling isn't much of issue with Linux from what I've heard. In short, Bulldozer runs better on Linux vs Windows.
Either way, Google should have waited for the newer hardware before releasing the second generation of Chromebooks. It would have had been much more appealing and cost effective.
the save features are more or less cloud based. but thats it.
what i want to see is the laptops cost 200$ and just be full on onlive like things, where all the processing is done away from the computer.
now i apparently got negitive votes because ill assume that they thought i meant all computers should be like that. i dont, i hate the idea of cloud based computing, but for the case of chromebooks, i think its the only way the product could be viable.