Chromium OS is the open source version of Google’s Chrome Operating System. Like Chrome OS, Chromium is basically an operating system built around a web browser. While there are only a handful of Chrome OS devices available for purchase right now, Google makes the source code for Chromium available — and that means it’s possible to compile it to run…
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The first notebooks to hit the streets running Google Chrome OS were powered by Intel Atom low power processors. The good news is that means the Acer AC700 and the Samsung Series 5 Chromebooks get decent battery life. The bad news is that they feel surprisingly sluggish for computers that don’t really run much software beside the web browser. But…
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Right now Google Chrome OS is little more than a Google Chrome web browser running on top of a Linux kernel. There’s no desktop or taskbar, and there aren’t many native apps built into the operating system unless you count the file browser or media player which open in in browser tabs. But Google may be planning to make its…
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Just as with Android, Google makes the open source base for Chrome OS available for all to download. But if you’re not keen on setting up a 64-bit Linux build environment, what can you do? You can download a pre-compiled Chromium OS from Hexxeh, who’s long been the name to know in Chromium OS DIY builds. Things had been relatively…
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Some folks like to say that the MacBook Air is an overpriced netbook, with a starting price of $999 since it’s smaller and less powerful than a full-fledged MacBook. Other folks like to say that Samsung and Acer’s Chromebooks are overpriced netbooks with prices starting at $349 since they have netbook-like components, but a simplified operating system designed to run nothing…
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One of the slicker features in Google’s Chrome OS is referred to as Panels. They’re the pop-in panes you see in some Chrome OS screenshots for things like the file browser, download shelf, and Google Talk. Those native features are pretty slick in panel form, but wouldn’t it be cool if you put your favorite web apps in a panel, too?…
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Confusingly, when Google builds a new product the company doesn’t always make sure it plays nicely with the company’s existing (and often extremely popular) offerings. Take Google Chrome, for example. When the web browser was launched (and even to this day), frustrated users still want to know why they can’t access their Google Bookmarks out-of-the-box or install the Google Toolbar….
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Don’t want to wait until June 15th to get your hands on a Chromebook from Acer or Samsung? No problem. Starting next week you can pick up a laptop running Chromium OS from Australian consumer electronics company Kogan. The laptop has an 11.6 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel display, a 1.3 GHz Intel Celeron SU2300 processor, 1GB of RAM, a…
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Google has already suggested that Samsung would launch a low power desktop PC running Chrome OS in the not-too-distant future. But a company called Xi3 is going to try to beat Samsung to the punch with a low power desktop computer running the open source version of Chrome OS. The Xi3 ChromiumPC is due out on July 4th. The ChromiumPC is a…
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The Trim Slice is a tiny $199 desktop computer with a 1 GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual core processor, HDMI output, and a few SD card slots. For a little more money you can get some internal storage, WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities. While Compulab, the company behind the Trim Slice has been pushing the platform for Linux, or even Google…
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The first notebooks running Google Chrome OS will go on sale next month, and Google says right now its targeting the operating system at notebook and desktop computers, not tablets. But behind the scenes we’ve seen plenty of evidence that Google is also considering how to make Chrome OS tablet-friendly. The latest clue comes from some new developer APIs for…
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Always Innovating, the company that brought us a tablet/netbook hybrid that you could stick to a refrigerator is back. But this time instead of focusing on its own hardware, this time the company is showcasing software it’s developed which can run on the $149 BeagleBoard compact computing platform. The software is called Super-Jumbo, and for good reason. Basically it’s a…
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