{"id":71026,"date":"2013-02-22T03:30:32","date_gmt":"2013-02-22T01:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=71026"},"modified":"2013-02-22T11:41:02","modified_gmt":"2013-02-22T09:41:02","slug":"google-chromebook-pixel-unveiled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/hardware\/71026-google-chromebook-pixel-unveiled.html","title":{"rendered":"Google Chromebook Pixel unveiled"},"content":{"rendered":"

Google<\/a> unveiled a touchscreen notebook computer Thursday designed for high-end users, throwing down the gauntlet to Apple<\/a> and its MacBooks.<\/p>\n

Google said its Chromebook Pixel<\/a> computers blending tablet and laptop technology, boasting heavyweight Intel chips and screens tailored for rich graphics, were released in the United States and Britain, starting at $1,299.<\/p>\n

“People will give up a MacBook Air for this,” Google Chrome senior vice president Sundar Pichai<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

A Pixel model featuring built-in connectivity to the Verizon mobile Internet service will hit the US market in April at a price of $1,449.<\/p>\n

The newly unveiled version can connect online with wireless hot-spot technology or cables.<\/p>\n

“It’s a great looking product,” Om Malik of technology news website GigaOM said at the Pixel debut in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

“But Google is facing a selling problem, they have to compete on price originally and build a developer base for a high-end product.”<\/p>\n

\"Google<\/a>

Google Chromebook Pixel<\/p><\/div>\n

Google is hoping enthusiasts will forego price comparisons with competitors such as MacBooks or laptops built on Windows 8 software and focus instead on the Pixel’s touchscreen feature and the massive terabyte of Google Drive online data storage included.<\/p>\n

“It seems like a pretty hard sell,” said Forrester<\/a> analyst James McQuivey<\/a>. “I hope they are not planning to make a lot of money off it.”<\/p>\n

While the Pixel seems aimed at the MacBook market, it also faces fierce competition from touchscreen laptops based on Windows 8 software.<\/p>\n

“It seems like more of a symbolic product release with Google trying to make a point that it is no longer just a low-end provider of devices,” McQuivey said.<\/p>\n

Analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group branded the Pixel move “a train wreck,” arguing that notebook computers above $600 have historically not sold well and that Apple even sells a slick MacBook Air model for $999.<\/p>\n

The booming popularity of tablet computers is also eroding the overall market for laptops.<\/p>\n

“It just boggles the mind,” Enderle said. “I have no clue what the hell Google was thinking.”<\/p>\n

\"Chromebook<\/a>

Chromebook Pixel<\/p><\/div>\n

The announcement adds a new dimension to the rivalry between the two tech giants, locked in a fierce battle over smartphones and tablets.<\/p>\n

“This is for power users we expect to live completely in the cloud,” Pichai said. “The Pixel is about pushing the state of the art.”<\/p>\n

Google custom built Pixel and is producing it with the help of electronics manufacturers in Taiwan.<\/p>\n

“It is clear that touch is here to stay and that it is the future,” Pichai said.<\/p>\n

He described the Pixel screen resolution as superior to that on any laptop shipped today.<\/p>\n

Within three months, Google will release Quickoffice software for handling documents and spreadsheets after complaints by Chrome notebook users over difficulties when trying to work with Microsoft<\/a>‘s widely used Word or Excel software, according to Pichai.<\/p>\n

\"Chromebook<\/a>

Chromebook Pixel side<\/p><\/div>\n

Google’s main intent with the Pixel is to more deeply mesh the California-based Internet giant’s money-generating products and services into people’s lives.<\/p>\n

Google was working with third-party application developers to tailor Pixel programs.<\/p>\n

“The goal is to get the Pixel in the hands of all our early adopters as well as developers,” Pichai said. “We think our ecosystem will respond well.”<\/p>\n

Google introduced the first Chromebook in mid-2010 in a challenge to Windows operating software at the heart of Microsoft’s empire.<\/p>\n

The array of Chromebook makers has grown to include Acer<\/a>, Lenovo<\/a>, Samsung<\/a> and Hewlett-Packard<\/a>, with previous models offered at bargain prices when compared to high-end laptops.<\/p>\n

\"Chromebook<\/a>

Chromebook Pixel<\/p><\/div>\n

Shifting operating software to banks of servers online means that Google updates programs and fends off hackers and malicious software.<\/p>\n

The disk drive-free Pixel machines feature a quick startup and can dive into a user’s desktop data from anywhere online.<\/p>\n

Google remains devoted to its Android software for powering tablets and smartphones, following two paths when it comes to Internet-synched hardware, according to Pichai.<\/p>\n

\"Chromebook<\/a>

Chromebook Pixel<\/p><\/div>\n

More gadget articles<\/h3>\n

FNB offers Google Nexus 7 3G<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Apple iWatch plans<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Apple experiments with wristwatch device<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Apple hit by hackers<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Apple vs Android: mobile browser wars<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Google unveiled a touchscreen notebook computer Thursday designed for high-end users<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":71028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[605,18274,167,35],"class_list":["post-71026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hardware","tag-apple","tag-chromebook-pixel","tag-google","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71026"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71026"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71040,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71026\/revisions\/71040"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}