At the top of yesterday’s Android Show, Sameer Samat, Google’s president of the Android ecosystem, teased a “bit of a surprise” that would cap off the announcements. Most people expected it would be Aluminum OS, the much-anticipated great unifier of Android and ChromeOS.
But instead when Alexander Kuscher, senior director of laptops and tablets, came onscreen with a laptop in front of him, it was for the introduction of the Googlebook.
The Googlebook is still mostly a mystery
While Kuscher spoke in generalities instead of specs, we were told that the Googlebook is a Gemini-centric laptop line. It replaces the cursor with what it’s calling the Magic Pointer that directs Gemini’s attention to all actions taken by users.
Designwise, the distinguishing feature of a Googlebook is the Glowbar, a glowing linear rainbow that resides on the top of the laptop. As for what it does, for now Google only says it will be “both functional and beautiful.”
Chromebooks will continue (for now)
Given the shift to all things AI across Android, many surmised and even feared that Chromebooks would become a thing of the past. Google put out a post today that seemed designed to assuage concerns from businesses and schools that Chromebooks are on their way out, yet it fanned speculation about the lifespan of the laptop line.
In the post, Google touts Googlebooks, and plainly states a shift, saying, “How people interact with apps, agents and data during their workday is fundamentally changing.”
A pitch for an agentic AI world is followed with, “Chromebooks remain a reliable, long-term investment, and you can continue to confidently purchase and deploy them to your businesses and schools.”
While it says that ChromeOS will receive 10 years of automatic updates, it also says, “When the time comes, we’ll provide multiple pathways to transition over to the new experience.”
That certainly sounds like there’s a countdown for Chromebooks. And while it brings up larger issues for AI in schools, it also raises questions about how much of a choice consumers will get when they want the benefits of a cloud-based device without AI taking the wheel of their every move.
AP contacted Google for clarification about the plans for Chromebooks for both personal and enterprise users. We’ll update this story if we hear back.
