Google Presents Chrome OS and Mystery Motorola Android 3.0 Tablet

At a press conference held just a couple of days ago, search-engine giant Google presented its upcoming operating system, Chrome OS, along with the Android 3.0 Honeycomb mobile OS running on a brand new touchscreen tablet.

Google finally promised its eager fans that the Chrome OS would see the light of day in 2011, and then gave a brief overview of its cloud-based operating system primarily designed for the mass consumption of web-based services such as YouTube, Picasa, GMail and Pandora.

Chrome OS is being billed as the operating system version of Google's Chrome web browser which, according to the firm, already has 120 million users. Chrome OS is above all designed to be mass-market product with broad appeal, not just an OS for computer geeks or hardcore Google fans. Google will no doubt be targeting business users too, for whom an entirely cloud-based system has a host of advantages.

OS in the cloud

Google says its Chrome OS will bring lightning-fast start-up to the hardware running it, as was the case with the notebook used to demonstrate the firm's new baby. Connection to a Wi-Fi or 3G network is a must, however, as all of the tools in the OS are stored online. Users will also be able to get hold of free and paid-for Chrome Web Apps via the Chrome Web Store. Note that these applications will be different and completely removed from the apps found in Android Market.

As with all major Google announcements, the presentation was accompanied by plenty of explanatory videos, which although a little less slow than usual, are still made in the trademark educational style.



As expected, Google has headed for the cloud by building its OS in the web. However, it's still not entirely clear whether, or what parts of, the new OS can be used offline. In fact, whether writing and reviewing a text document, browsing or editing photos, using chat services or any other kind of multimedia, everything will take place in the cloud and none of the program data or files will actually be stored on the device's hardware. This won't do anything to reassure security conscious users, but webaholics will almost certainly see the appeal of the web-based system's speed and practical nature.

When working on files stored in the cloud, each tool will automatically save each action or change the user makes as and when they're made. Plus, as everything is stored online, any user session can be accessed from any computer and several sessions can be hosted on one computer, including a 'guest' session.

No Internet, no OS?

As you can see in the video below, Google is keen to convert us all to cloud-only computing. However, the video shows the web-based OS being used on board an aeroplane, even though Wi-Fi is currently only available on a handful of flights operated by an even smaller number of airlines—and it's likely to stay that way for a good few years yet! So in the absence of any information concerning offline operation, we're having trouble seeing how you could use a device running Chrome OS to edit cloud-based documents in places where there's no Internet or 3G connection available.



Google showed off a notebook computer designed to be distributed to users as part of its pilot programme, which is unfortunately only open to US residents. The laptop has already started being sent out to both consumer and business users taking part in the trial.

There's no information on the notebook's manufacturer and the product simply goes by the name of Cr-48. It has a 12.1-inch screen, an Intel processor, a webcam, as well as 3G and dual-band Wi-Fi n connectivity. Interestingly, the trial product is a notebook and not a netbook or a touchscreen tablet—a choice that although perhaps not significant, still seems to go against the grain of the current trend for super-small portable devices.
The notebook's keyboard has been designed for web browsing, with handy new buttons such as 'Search', 'New tab' etc. Google is also boasting an 'Instant-on' feature for fast product start-up with no files or programs for the machine to load up.



For 3G connectivity, Google has already reached an agreement with Verizon to provide coverage for products running on the Chrome OS in the US. There's even word of providing two years' free 3G access, before switching users over to a paid-for subscription. It just remains to be seen whether Google and app developers will allow at least some of their tools' functions to be used offline.

Android Honeycomb and a new tablet

Google then turned its attention to the new version of Android. With version 2.3 Gingerbread now out, Google has already started work on Android 3.0. This edition has been christened Honeycomb, and will mark a break with previous versions of the mobile OS, notably thanks to its improved compatibility with movies and videos, and its optimisation for touchscreen tablets.

Andy Rubin, creator of the Android mobile OS, then showed off a previously unseen Motorola tablet to demonstrate Android 3.0 in action. Pretty much nothing is known about the tablet in question, other than it has a 10-inch screen and a dual-core Nvidia processor (probably a Tegra 2).

This should pave the way for several manufacturers (including LG) to launch head-first into the mass production of certified Android tablets—the first of which are likely to be presented at the upcoming CES technology fair in Las Vegas.


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