Google and Intel announced four new models of Chromebooks Wednesday, powered by the latest processors based on the Haswell microarchitecture, offering improved battery life and latest designs.
Chromebooks have come a long way since they were launched initially in May 2011. With the growing need for faster and lighter technology, Google fulfilled the needs of many consumers by offering Chromebooks along with its partner Intel. Now, the web giant has gone a step further and extended the Chromebook lineup with four new models powered by Intel's battery-saving, high-speed Haswell chips.
Google and Intel unveiled the new models from Hewlett-Packard, Acer, Asus, and Toshiba at the Intel Developers Forum in San Francisco Wednesday. The integration with Intel's latest processors based on the Haswell microarchitecture promises extended battery life of about nine to 10 hours. This will make it easy for users to work on their Chromebooks while on the road for longer hours.
The Chromebook is a personal computer that runs on Google's Chrome operating system integrated with its own Chrome browser and media player. Chromebooks are designed to perform online tasks with ease unlike the traditional laptops, which may lag behind comparatively. These systems have gained immense popularity for those always-connected techies.
"Intel's latest processors sip less power to improve battery life by more than 2X over previous generations, while offering increased performance," Caesar Sengupta, Chromebooks Product Management Director, wrote in Google's official Blog. "This means these new Chromebooks last almost all day so you can focus on getting things done."
The new range of Chromebooks follow the success of Samsung Series 3 Chromebook that sells for $250 and Acer's $199 C7 Chromebook. The models will have different prices and the expected price for the Wi-Fi only model may be under $300.
The new models cover a wide range of features including portability in the Acer Chromebook, large display and stylish colors in the HP Chromebook14, versatility and portability in the Toshiba Chromebook and ASUS Chromebox.
No detailed information was provided about the specs of the new lineup by Google. The web giant handed the part to the manufacturers to deal with.
HP announced that its Chromebook14 will start with a base price of $299.99. It will feature a 14-inch display, 16 GB solid-state hard drive and one HDMI, USB 2.0, USB 3.0 port each.
More details from other manufacturers will be revealed now that Google has confirmed the new devices will hit the market in the coming months.