thechromesource – Google Chrome and Chrome OS News and Resources

Marvell Talks Cloud Computing, Chrome OS

Posted on 13. Jun, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey.

At Computex, I had the opportunity to talk to Bou Chung Lin, VP & GM of Taiwan Operations for Marvell. While we were going though an overview of the company’s offerings, we got on the subject of cloud computing and Chrome OS. Here’s a quick clip of his response to my questions regarding this.

We know that Marvell has been working on an ARM-based Chromium OS build, as our pal Charbax over at ARMDevices.net showed us earlier this year when the company showed it off running on their Armada 510 processor at CES in Las Vegas.

It will be interesting to see what will happen to Chrome OS in terms of using an ARM based solution versus an x86 one. I’ve heard rumors that Intel is readying a rival to ARM-based solutions, or perhaps start making their own ARM licensed product.

There is no doubt they are going to need to do something after some of the things that I have seen coming from ARM processors comprised of multiple cores that divvy up the duties for a device to separately process system, video and audio functions for mobile devices.

Chrome OS on a $199 Tablet

Posted on 27. May, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey.

Our pal Charbax from ARMDevices has a video showing Chromium OS running on the $199 Freescale i.MX51 tablet which runs the ARM Cortex A8 processor. Although he has to use some external input/output devices are used in order to make it work, this gives me some hope we will see some breakthroughs in terms of affordable tablet technology utilizing Chrome OS at the Computex conference which starts next week.

At CES, Korean mobile device maker Cydle showed off a 7″ Android tablet and said that they were planning on having a Chrome OS version at some point as well. Having cheap internet enabled devices running Chrome OS would be great, and would probably scare wireless companies if Skype or another VoIP company had a webapp to complement these tablets.

Can Cydle Release a $199 Chrome OS Tablet?

Posted on 19. Jan, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey.

Ah yes, it’s Tuesday. And I have another morning video for you. This one is from Cydle, which is a Korean company that traditionally makes products for the GPS market for vehicles, and it is also part of a growing movement to make devices known as Mobile Internet Devices (MID). I don’t know how this manufacturer slipped through the plethora of coverage during CES, but they were showing off a ARM 7″ tablet that has a price point of $199 as well as a netbook that has potential for Chrome OS. Just don’t tell Google about it. Because I don’t think they know, since the prototype that was being shown off at CES was loaded with Windows XP although the representative did name-check Chrome OS:

This doesn’t look like a ARM netbook to me. Besides, let’s see something game-changing like that tablet running Chrome OS.

Anyone want to speculate exactly what would be the difference between a netbook and a mobile internet device? The lack of a keyboard in the former perhaps?

Marvell Confirms Armada 510 Compatibility for Chrome OS

Posted on 18. Jan, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey.

I thought you might enjoy some video for Monday morning. Marvell Technology Group is confirming that their Armada 510 ARM chip will be compatible with Chrome OS. The chip is built specifically for smartbooks, is capable of running Ubuntu and can support high-def 1080p video. A clip has been released showing a prototype model with Chrome OS running on it, however the machine doesn’t appear to be running a version that I’ve seen before. This looks more like the Chrome browser, since the battery and wireless settings do not appear in the upper right hand corner:

Nevertheless, the type of hardware that Marvell’s technology can run is impressive, and an example was recently shown as CES. This device is running the Armada 510 at 1.2 GHz, is slimmer than a MacBook Air, and has the smallest battery I think I’ve ever seen:

Asus Chairman Talks Chrome OS at CES

Posted on 07. Jan, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey.

The following is a short video of Asus Chairman Jonney Shih, who is apparently answering a question related to performance between operating systems. While it sounds like from his statements that Asus will stick with Microsoft operating systems for now, he seems to allude to the fact that Redmond has been more amenable as of late to lowering their licensing fees for Windows products on netbooks.

He also says that he is concerned with compatibility when using Chrome OS, Android or a flavor of Linux. Check it out:

The Difference Between Netbooks and Smartbooks

Posted on 02. Jan, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey.

It’s becoming clear that the PC hardware market is about to become full of a lot of different types of small and lightweight machines. With CES coming up we can probably expect to see new and intriguing models that don’t fit into a particular genre. One thing that’s certain is that there are two totally different markets that are being targeted when contrasting netbooks from smartbooks. There is also hardware inside each that differentiates the two.

While netbooks are typically laptops that are smaller and geared mostly towards using the internet, smartbooks are really larger iteration of a smartphone. In fact, most smartbooks are expected to be produced by smartphone manufacturers and backed by wireless carriers. This is because unlike netbooks, which use Intel or AMD architecture, smartbooks utilize ARM processors that are found in just about every cell phone on the market today. Because these units are using the ARM technology, smartbooks are cheaper than netbooks. At the same time, a netbook will have more capabilites than a smartbook.

Smartbooks will be priced aroound the $200 range while netbooks can go from $300-$500 depending on hardware configuration and operating system.

Bottom line?Although netbooks have been a hit for the past two years, the market could change based on new technology that is shown at CES. Google’s going to have a big part of this market as users begin to adopt computing devices that are different from the traditional PC of the past.

I would expect to see Android on smartbooks and Chrome OS on netbooks.

Chrome OS to Compete Against Apple’s Tablet

Posted on 01. Jan, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey.

Who’s going to make the GoogleBook that is supposed to come out later this year? It’s not known yet, but it looks like there may also be a tablet. The rumor is that HTC is going to show off a tablet that is sporting Android at CES next week, and that there might be a Chrome OS version as well. The idea is to have something that competes with Apple’s impending tablet offering, which is expected to be unveiled later on this month at an official press release.

It’s possible that the ever-prolific HTC has been working on this for a while, although they have been focusing on phone products primarily,  this may have been in the pipeline for some time. The rumor is that Google and HTC have been working together for over eighteen months, but if that is that case I would suspect that was initially for the development of the Nexus One phone, which is going to go on sale pretty soon, maybe even this month.

Netbooks, nettops and tablets. This could become overwhelming. But one thing is clear: Apple’s tablet will be going head to head with Chrome OS at some point soon.