Google Chromebook: Will the New Cheap Laptop Score an Upper Hand over Microsoft and Apple Upcoming Releases?

Just like September, the month of October has also turned out to be quite exciting for the tech media world. This can be said, as amid the reports of Microsoft and Apple prepping to launch their biggest bets for the competitive global tablet market, Google has surprisingly bowled over the arena, with the storming launch of Google branded Samsung manufactured – Google Chromebook – claimed to be world's cheapest laptop holding a price tag of $249 (approx. Rs 13,500).

Understanding Chromebook OS

For those who are not aware, Chromebooks run on Google Chrome OS, which makes the device fall between a pure cloud client and traditional laptop. The OS uses the Linux kernel, and the Google Chrome web browser with an integrated media player. With limited offline capability and a boot time, according to Google, of eight seconds, Chromebooks are primarily designed to be used while connected to the Internet. Instead of installing traditional applications like word processing and instant messaging, users add web apps from the Chrome Web Store. Google claims that a multi-layer security architecture eliminates the need for anti-virus software.

Support for many USB devices including cameras, mice, external keyboards and flash drives is included, utilizing a feature similar to plug-and-play on other operating systems. Like the prototype Cr-48, Chromebooks have a specialized keyboard complete with buttons for opening and controlling multiple browser windows, as well as a Web search button which replaces the 'CapsLock' key.