According to The Wall Street Journal, Google is preparing a touchscreen Chromebook for release late 2013. This rumour sprouted up a few months ago when a YouTube video about the touchscreen Chromebook Pixel was leaked.
The newest versions of the Chromebook were released about six months ago, when Acer and Samsung took a second shot at the project with cheaper versions of the netbook. Lenovo and HP have added their versions since then.
Google may see this rise in popularity as a way to get their version of the market. Unlike all the previous versions, the touchscreen Chromebook by Google will be a very high-tier device, quite like a modern day notebook.
This could be a clever idea by Google to go up against the Macbook Air and the Windows Surface Pro, although they both have more powerful operating systems that can run classic applications like Photoshop and Skype, something Chrome OS cannot.
The touchscreen Chromebook will tie in with the move to make hybrid laptop/tablet devices, and we could see the touchscreen Chromebook detach and become just a tablet. This is all just speculation for the moment, though.
Nothing is really set yet, but with Google’s huge lead in the mobile space they may see the PC market as one they could take a stab at. They already have a loved tablet and phone, so why not add an excellent touchscreen Chromebook to the mix.
The touchscreen Chromebook will apparently fashion an excellent 2560 x 1700 resolution, that tops the 13″ MacBook Retina display. This is yet another move to trump Apple. Google is also apparently looking into retail stores, to stock their collection of devices.
The touchscreen Chromebook sounds like a great idea and with the top resolution, it could be a hybrid or a very fancy netbook. The only problem with the latter idea is Chrome OS isn’t the most appealing operating system for big application and game users.
Would you buy the touchscreen Chromebook ‘Pixel’? What price range would it have to be in for you to consider it? Tell us in the comments!
[Source: WSJ]