The American division of Samsung and Google have announced two new products running Chrome OS – the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook laptop and the Series 3 Chromebox. The 12-inch laptop features a full-sized keyboard and is less than an inch thick.
With a 7-second boot up time, the Series 5 Chromebook is packed with all the latest stuff; a 1.3GHz, Intel Celeron 867 dual core processor, a 16GB SSD and 4GB of RAM. Those who want a bit more in terms of connectivity can opt for the in-built 3G wireless feature from Verizon Wireless, providing a special mobile broadband service for two years.
“This is the next step in our journey toward an always-new computing experience focused on speed, simplicity and security,” Caesar Sengupta, Director of Product Management at Google, commented. “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.”
Meanwhile the Series 3 Chromebox also boasts of a 16GB SSD and 4GB of RAM, but processing power comes from a 1.9GHz, Intel Celeron B840 dual core chip. There will be no hassle of cluttered cables with the mini PC’s built-in 2 x 2 WLAN Wi-Fi. Its 6 USB ports will also come in handy when connecting a Bluetooth-enabled keyboard and mouse. In addition, users can connect to monitors up to 30-inches in size as well as an HDTV.
The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook price is set at $449.99 (approx. Rs. 25,280) for the Wi-Fi model and at $549.99 (approx. Rs. 30,900) for the 3G one. The Series 3 Chromebox is expected to retail at $329.99 (approx. 18,550). Both new products come with built-in cloud storage capability and will be available starting today, May 30 only through certain online retailers including Amazon and Best Buy.
