The Chromebook Pixel is real.

By +Frank B.
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Grand Master

+Frank B. Subscriber²

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Google announces Chromebook Pixel: a premium Chrome OS laptop ships next week for $1,299

When Google unveiled the very first Chrome OS laptop, the vision was clear: Eric Schmidt told us that Chromebooks would be cheap, disposable products that you could easily replace at will. Today, however, the company's taking a different tack. This is the Chromebook Pixel, the first Chromebook designed by Google itself, and it's unmistakably a premium product. It also just so happens to aiming directly at Apple's MacBook Pro with Retina Display.

Like Apple's notebook, the highlight is the screen: with a 12.85-inch, 2560 x 1700 touchscreen panel, Google says it's the highest resolution display that's ever shipped on a laptop. "You'll never ever see another pixel in your life," says Chrome VP Sundar Pichai. And yet this particular screen has a 3:2 aspect ratio: In order to better fit web content, which often flows vertically down a page, the screen is nearly as tall as it is wide.

While it's a hair thicker than the MacBook Air, it shares many of the design elements that Apple popularized there, too: invisible speakers that fire upwards, through the keyboard, vents hidden in the hinge, and a very thin yet responsive LED-backlit keyboard, custom-made for the machine.

But Google's also clearly trying to improve upon Apple machines, touting rounded edges that don't dig into your wrists, and a etched glass touchpad far finer than the competition. "We experimented with different surface textures under a microscope till we came up with these peaks and valleys that feel really nice under your fingers," said a representative. Google made a big deal about the hinge, too: you can lift the lid without lifting the front of the laptop off the ground. "You get the feel of a luxury car door opening and closing," says Pichai.

And then there's the touchscreen. Google repeatedly told us how smooth and fluid it is to swipe through webpages on the touchscreen on the Pixel, and how it would enable developers to target a broader ecosystem for their apps by allowing their tablet and smartphone creations to have the same experience on the web. If only it were true: the touchscreen response is far from fluid, if Google's on-stage demos and our own hands-on are any indication.

Google will ship two versions of the Pixel, one with Wi-Fi only and one with Verizon LTE: the Wi-Fi model will ship next week for $1,299 and come with 32GB of storage, and the LTE will have 64GB of storage for $1,449.

Developing...

Source: The Verge

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Grand Master

BajiRav

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"You get the feel of a luxury car door opening and closing," says Pichai. <--- Google can't stop copying Microsoft, can they? This is how MS described the hinge on Surface.

"You'll never ever see another pixel in your life," <--- is that why they call it Pixel because I will never see anyone using it? :laugh:

Grand Master

techbeck

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I understand cheap Chromebooks, and think there is a market for them, but this piece of nonsense? A useless touch scree, an unnecessarily high resolution display, and $1300 to run the internet? That's just crazy.

Seems the pixel has more local storage than the current Chromebooks. So I am guessing the Pixel models are designed to do more. And with the new pixel/touch devices...Google has to make a lot of changes to the Chrome OS. So what Chrome looks like currently will probably be different once touch/pixel systems start rolling out.

"You get the feel of a luxury car door opening and closing," says Pichai. <--- Google can't stop copying Microsoft, can they? This is how MS described the hinge on Surface.

Really, who cares. Its a statement, that is all. Many companies make similar statements. This is silly to nit pick about.

Grand Master

threetonesun

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Seems the pixel has more local storage than the current Chromebooks. So I am guessing the Pixel models are designed to do more. And with the new pixel/touch devices...Google has to make a lot of changes to the Chrome OS. So what Chrome looks like currently will probably be different once touch/pixel systems start rolling out.

32GB? That's basically useless.

ChromeOS, today, can compete with Windows RT or iOS, it's a few years away from competing with OSX or Windows.

Grand Master

BajiRav

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Really, who cares. Its a statement, that is all. Many companies make similar statements. This is silly to nit pick about.

It is usually a big thing when shoe is on the other foot, isn't it? ;)

1200USD for that???? and people call the surface pro overpriced.....

"32GB of storage, and is on sale today for $1,299."

AHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH NO..

Really Google, REALLY?

Waits for Google to tout that this is "Made in USA" (with some parts made in China) and then either quickly drop price or scrap it like they did the Q.

Grand Master

techbeck

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It is usually a big thing when shoe is on the other foot, isn't it? ;)

No, its a big thing when hardware, software, or design patents are copied/stolen. Its is silly to nit pick over a statement.

32GB? That's basically useless.

ChromeOS, today, can compete with Windows RT or iOS, it's a few years away from competing with OSX or Windows.

Well, MS has a 64gb model Surface that the OS takes up over 1/2 the space. I would call that useless. It all depends on how much space the Chrome OS takes up and the installed software really.

1200USD for that???? and people call the surface pro overpriced.....

1200 is way to much but we do not know all the details on the Pixel. But if it does little more than what the current CBOOKS do, then yea...this will fail big time. But have to wait on more info from Google.

Grand Master

threetonesun

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Well, MS has a 64gb model Surface that the OS takes up over 1/2 the space. I would call that useless. It all depends on how much space the Chrome OS takes up and the installed software really.

You're right, if it's not capable of doing anything, 32gb is plenty. :laugh:

For $1200, I expect a computer that can do something and requires storage space to do it with.

Grand Master

techbeck

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Source link has been updated with more info....

For the first time in a Chromebook, specs have been improved: with a Core i5 processor ? rather than an ARM or Intel Atom chip ? as well Intel HD 4000 graphics and 4GB of RAM, this Chromebook should have a similar amount of performance to existing Windows ultrabooks. Google says it can play multiple 1080p videos simultaneously. Unfortunately, that processing power and the high-res screen means lower battery life: the company quotes a five- hour runtime. Like other Chromebooks, the Pixel still has a fairly sparse array of ports, with two USB 2.0 jacks, a Mini DisplayPort, a combo 3.5mm headset jack, and an SD card slot. There's dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, and a 720p webcam flanked by dual microphones up top.

While it admittedly doesn't have the same software ecosystem, Google says developers are on board, showing a new UI for photography website 500px. The company also demoed a new Google+ app that should arrive in a few weeks: it allows Chromebooks to take photos right off an SD card and upload them directly to Google Drive.

Google will ship two versions of the Pixel, one with Wi-Fi only and one with an integrated Verizon LTE modem. You'll be able to purchase a unlimited day pass, or add the Pixel to a existing Verizon shared data plan for $10 a month.

The Wi-Fi model will come with 32GB of storage, and is on sale today for $1,299 in the United States and ?1,049 in the UK. It will ship next week. The LTE model will have 64GB of storage for $1,449 in early April. Google's also including a full 1TB of Google Drive storage, per user, for three years, in the Chromebook Pixel's price.

Still pricey tho for what it does. I think Google will end up dropping the price at some time.

Grand Master

threetonesun

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So all it can do is run an OS, that is it? You cannot type on it, run applications, or browse the internet or do anything else...just run an OS.

I have a Chromebook, I'm well aware of what it can do. The idea of spending $1200 on one is ludicrous. My point is ChromeOS doesn't do anything that (yet) that requires large amounts of storage, but if they ChromeOS taken seriously, local storage would be a good start.

Grand Master

techbeck

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I have a Chromebook, I'm well aware of what it can do. The idea of spending $1200 on one is ludicrous. My point is ChromeOS doesn't do anything that (yet) that requires large amounts of storage, but if they ChromeOS taken seriously, local storage would be a good start.

The OS will be different on the Pixel than the current Chromebooks. And what it can do will be different as well. While some features may be the same, it is not the same as your Chromebook. And storage can be used by user to store documents, files, that sort of thing. And those can add up quickly.

I do agree the price is way to much unless Google releases some more info. The source link has also been updated with more info as well. Still pricey tho.

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