Alphabet Inc's Google on Tuesday launched Chromebook Plus at a starting price of $399. According to the company, the newly launched offering by the search engine behemoth is equipped with AI (artificial intelligence) capabilities and houses built-in Google Apps.
According to the company, Chromebook Plus will have eight new laptops namely -- Acer Chromebook Plus 515, Acer Chromebook Plus 514, Asus Chromebook Plus CM34 Flip, Asus Chromebook Plus CX34, HP Chromebook Plus 15.6 inch, HP Chromebook x360 14-inch, Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus, and Lenovo Slim 3i Chromebook Plus.
Faster processor and more storage
All Chromebook Plus laptops will offer faster processors, full HD (1080 p HD) IPS display and 1080p+ webcam with temporal noise reduction. “In addition to equipping each Chromebook Plus with a 1080P camera, these new powerful Chromebooks have built-in AI to help enhance your call’s clarity and lighting, cancel background noise and blur backgrounds with just a couple of taps. This works no matter what video conferencing app you use, whether that’s Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams or others. Users will see these options amongst the array of built-in ChromeOS software video call tools available on their Chromebook’s app shelf,” says John Maletis, VP, ChromeOS Product, Engineering and UX.
"We're bringing Magic Eraser's AI-powered editing in the built-in Google Photos app on Chromebook Plus, so you can easily remove unwanted distractions from your pictures, as well as intelligently making suggestions in the scene. The app also includes additional enhanced editing features, like an HDR effect that enhances brightness and contrast, and the ability to add portrait blur to your existing photos," he adds.
More features in 2024
The hardware of Chromebook Plus laptops will be equipped with 8GB+ RAM, 128 GB+ storage and Intel Core i3 12th Gen or above or AMD Ryzen 3 7000 series, according to the company.
The company will be introducing more features such as the amalgamation of Google’s AI capabilities directly into Chrome OS in 2024, according to the company. "We're making it easier to draft and refine shorter-form content across websites you visit on your Chromebook Plus," says Maletis.
"We’re also working on bringing image generation capabilities to Chromebook Plus. This includes personalization capabilities in ChromeOS’ settings menu, like generating custom wallpapers using easy templatized text prompts," he adds.
The development comes just a day after the company announced that Google will be partnering with leading laptop manufacturer HP (Hewlett-Packard) in order to manufacture Chromebooks in India.