Google Unveils Chrome OS, Notebook Pilot Program

Today in an event in San Francisco, Eric Schmidt and other Google executives took the wraps of Chrome OS and revealed that notebooks running the new sysetm will be available in mid-2011.

Google also launched a pilot program for consumers: sign up at youtube.com/googlechrome and you can apply to get a 12.1-inch non-branded netbook running the new OS.

Google promises that notebooks based on Chrome will start up in less than 60 seconds, resume from sleep almost immediately, and--critically--will come with built-in cellular wireless connections. The company is also partnering with Verizon to provide a wide variety of low-cost cellular plans, including daily and 1GB use plans.

In demos, the OS itself looks like...the Chrome browser taking up the entire desktops.

10:30 PT: Vice president of product management Sudar Pichai is taking the stage. When they launched the Chrome browser, they almost thought of it as an OS. Focus on speed, simplicity, and security.

10:33: Chrome has 120 million active daily users. That's 300% growth since January. Why? Biggest reason is speed.

10:35: Brian Rakowski is taking the stage to do a demo of the Chrome browser's speed, using Google Instant in the Chrome "omnibox" (the address bar/search pane at the top). So far, no news...just a cheerleading session for a 2-year-old browser. So where's the OS? Where are the netbooks?

10:38: Now he's demoing Chrome's super-fast PDF reader using the Chrome comic book. It is pretty slick--a 20 page PDF shows up immediately. The 1,990 page PDF of the health care reform bill? Also shows up immediately. That's far better than PDF on Firefox/Windows.

Not ARM based

Google has announced its Chrome Cr-48 notebook on Tuesday but it didn’t go into details about the CPU. Well now we know.

It is not ARM based as many, us included, have suggested. It is actually Intel Atom based.

We don’t have a lot of details like the clocks and we don't know whether it’s a dual or a single core, but you can imagine that it runs around the usual 1.6GHz clock or close to that.

From ZDNet:

Google's Chrome updates: Browser, Web store and notebook OS will redefine "cloud computing"

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By Sam Diaz | December 7, 2010, 1:02pm PST

Google today unveiled new features for its Chrome browser and offered a sneak peek at what’s coming with Chrome OS, a new Web-only operating system that was first announced last year and will be launched in notebooks from Acer and Samsung by mid-next year.

The company covered a lot of ground during an event in San Francisco today - but it was clear that everything that Google is doing here is centered around the Web.

Gallery: Google brings Chrome OS into focus

Starting with the browser, Chrome is all about getting faster. One of the coolest features was a one-up on Google Instant, the quick search feature that fills in the search query based on what the user is typing. Taking it to a new level, the browser will load the pages that you, the specific user, visit most frequently. For example, start typing ESPN and the ESPN page will load as soon as you type the “E.” LIkewise, a “Z” might load ZDNet for regular readers of the this site.

The company also announced the Chrome Web store, a marketplace for Web-based apps similar to those built for a tablet like the iPad. On stage, a demo of a Sports Illustrated app called Snapshot, which will provide stories, photo slideshows and other rich multimedia features that provide more of iPad experience than a traditional browser experience.

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