What you need to know
- Googlebook pre-orders will officially open on September 21 at 9 a.m. ET, Google has confirmed.
- The first Googlebooks are expected from brands including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo.
- Googlebooks will focus heavily on Gemini, with features like Magic Pointer and AI-generated custom widgets.
Google has revealed that you’ll finally be able to pre-order the first Googlebooks starting next week.
At The Android Show earlier this year, Google had its “one more thing” moment when it teased its next category of premium laptops called Googlebooks. Google says these are a new category of laptops built for the “intelligence system” era, but at the time, the company didn’t reveal much about the devices or when you’d actually be able to buy one.
Now, Google has started emailing users confirming that Googlebook pre-orders will open on September 21 at 9 a.m. ET. The company hasn’t revealed exactly which models will be available to pre-order next week, but we’re expecting devices from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and other partners. It’s also unclear when the first Googlebooks will actually start shipping.
Google has also set up a new website that currently shows the Googlebook branding, a few teasers, and the September 21 pre-order date.
The company is highlighting some of the key Googlebook features on the page as well, with a heavy focus on Gemini. One of those is Magic Pointer, which lets you access Gemini directly through the pointer on your Googlebook. You’ll also be able to create your own widgets simply by describing what you want.
Google is also positioning Googlebooks as the perfect companion for Android phones. Users will be able to open apps from their Android phone directly on a Googlebook, as well as access files stored on their phone from the laptop.
Googlebooks will be the first laptops built on Google’s new Android-based technology stack rather than ChromeOS. Interestingly, Google still hasn’t revealed the official marketing name for the operating system that will power Googlebooks, but we expect to learn much more as pre-orders open.
It’ll also be interesting to see how Googlebooks fare in an increasingly crowded laptop market, especially with new RTX Spark-powered laptops on the way and RAM prices continuing to rise.