Google Chrome Netbook Coming Soon?

A number of sources are reporting today that Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is set to announce a Google netbook next Tuesday, December 7th. The netbook reportedly uses Google’s Chrome operating system running on an Atom processor from Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC), although Google hasn’t said so yet. It is also not out of the question that the Google netbook will use an ARM processor from ARM Holdings plc (NASDAQ: ARMH).
The device is being designated as a “smartbook” because it uses the same chip found in many smartphones. This is really the key point to the Google device.
Google’s CEO has said that the Chrome OS is designed to be used with keyboard-based devices, while the company’s smartphone OS, Android, is designed to be used with touch screen-based devices, like tablets and some smartphones. If the guts of the OS is the same, however, Google’s ability to offer users a virtually seamless path between a smartbook that uses a full-size keyboard and a smartphone should be reasonably within the company’s grasp. Such a combination is within the real of possibility at next week’s announcement, which is expected to include the debut of Google’s web-based Apps store.
Google’s plan for its smartbook appears to be similar to the one it followed with its Nexus phone. The company is planning only a limited release of its Chrome-based netbook, but PC makers Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) and Acer are expected to announce their versions of the device soon after Google’s announcement. Both HP and Acer are thought to be developing their smartbooks on ARM’s processor.
If Google merely announces a me-too netbook, Tuesday’s party will be a bust. But a smartbook based on a smartphone processor with a strong connection between the operating systems, well, that’s news.
Paul Ausick