
Google launching a Chrome OS tablet on Verizon, goes on sale November 26 - Flemlord
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/08/18/google-verizon-chrome-os-tablet-on-sale-november-26-2010/
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tiles
So an OS that was originally intended for netbooks, before it's even released,
has switched targets to the newly formed iPad-like tablet market? Suspect, but
not unbelievable.

On another note, It still impresses me just how quickly the market was
anticipating, repulsed, and then rapidly copying the iPad. I genuinely wonder
if Google had targeted the iPad form factor first (with Android or Chrome OS)
if they would have a fraction of the same success in bringing tablets to the
masses.

~~~
Tichy
Why is every tablet assumed to be inspired by the iPad? All sorts of companies
have been creating tablets for a long time.

Sure Apple apparently made a nice one. But it is not only Apple's genius, it
is also the the progress of technology that made it possible (faster, more
power efficient CPUs, better batteries, better displays...).

One big thing hindering other companies' tablets was probably Windows, which
presumably just sucked too much. There were attempts with Linux tablets, but
again, the sleekness wasn't there yet (in the meantime, as with the hardware,
things have improved).

So now Google has their own OS, so they can make a new attempt at creating a
nice tablet without Windows suckage. They are not just copying Apple.

~~~
el_chapitan
The supporters of history rarely get the credit for the work they put in. It
is the person who was there when the final blow was struck that gets most of
the credit.

Apple shouldn't get all the credit for creating tablet computers. They should
get credit for creating the first tablet that most people actually wanted to
buy. If you want to ignore the influence of the iPad on the current market and
overall design of the tablets we're going to see, you're being painfully
myopic.

~~~
Tichy
I think coming tablets can piggyback on the Apple hype machine that created
the demand. As for the design, I am not so sure: they are tablets. The design
is basically inbuilt in the name (very likely flat rectangles).

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dublinclontarf
Why bother, what does ChromeOS do that Android doesn't for a tablet?

~~~
illumin8
ChromeOS is probably worse for a tablet than Android. Imagine if the iPad only
shipped with Safari and no other native apps. The uproar would be incredible.

~~~
erikpukinskis
ChromeOS is trying to solve some of the last limitations of the web as an app
development platform so that it doesn't need native apps.

I would be surprised if this thing didn't support webcam/microphone access
through the new HTML Devices API as well as WebGL. With Local Storage,
Workers, and the other HTML5 APIs, ChromeOS will be the first time someone
presents the browser as a application development platform on par with iOS and
the other native platforms.

This is incredibly exciting to me... it's a push back towards the "write once,
run anywhere" spirit of the web. Not all developers want to write a web app
and two or three mobile apps just to get good market coverage.

My hope is that Google uses ChromeOS to start building a stable of apps built
with web technologies that can compete with the native app stores, that they
slowly replace the Android Market with it, and that Apple and Microsoft will
support these new web platform technologies in their mobile browsers, and 5
years from now, the web is again the only app platform that matters.

~~~
illumin8
I agree that HTML5 is an awesome spec. With iOS, HTML5 developers can access
native hardware like Location APIs (GPS), cameras, etc, however, the spec is
still in it's infancy. Remember when Netscape was supposed to replace the
desktop and Microsoft started to get scared? HTML5 has the potential to do
that, and I personally would love to see it start to replace thick apps, but
we're still a few years away from being able to do everything on the web.

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archgrove
Total evidence offered for YAGTR (Yet another Google tablet rumour): 0. Plus
given that Google just got _out_ of the phone handset to consumer business
(because, frankly, they suck at any product that might require end user
support), how likely are try to jump into another end user hardware
sale/support setup?

~~~
joezydeco
The article talks about a potential HTC-built device sold by Verizon. Where
does it talk about an end-user sale?

~~~
archgrove
In the comments, from the author...

> Lee Mathews said 10:50AM on 8-18-2010

> No, my source tells me it's Google hardware -- like the N1.

I'm assuming handset support in the US is the same as the EU, where for smart
phones, you normally deal with the manufacturer, not the carrier ( i.e. If my
iPhone or iPad breaks, I call Apple - not O2).

~~~
jonknee
> I'm assuming handset support in the US is the same as the EU, where for
> smart phones, you normally deal with the manufacturer, not the carrier (
> i.e. If my iPhone or iPad breaks, I call Apple - not O2).

The iPhone is unique in that aspect, support is almost always done through the
carrier in the US. Probably because handsets are almost always sold subsidized
through the carrier (and frequently customized for them).

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LoonyPandora
Note the author of the article states in the comments:

> _Hardware is pure speculation -- my source didn't have any details for me.
> Launch date and carrier he did have_

So don't get too excited about the specs, they are plucked from the ether.

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antics
The best part of the article for me is the fact that that picture _is_ the
iPad, down to the little x at the top right corner of the keyboard window.

And yet it can't be that far off. ChromeOS is basically a browser with a
kernel. Done right, I bet a product like that could be as viable, if not more
so, than the iPad. And along the way, Apple might actually be out-minimized.

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ptomato
"This one's a render, but Google's Chrome OS table is REAL."

At least per their anonymous yet doubtless terribly reliable source.

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JohnInParadise
Smoke and mirrors. Let's see a demo.

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konad
> Expect it to be every bit as geek-tastic as the Nexus One -- Google won't
> want to disappoint its early adopters.

I've got a G1 matey, so I'll be skipping this tablet after being lumbered with
Android 1.6 until I get a new phone.

~~~
commandar
Biggest problem with the G1 is that it was RAM constrained to begin with, and
that's only gotten worse with 2.x.

FWIW, CyanogenMod has bee solid on mine. CM6 RC3 (Froyo) runs pretty nicely on
my G1.

~~~
konad
I recently wiped CyanogenMod as it wouldn't run the example scripts supplied
with the Android Scripting Environment.

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kqueue
First, they copied Apple iPhone and created Android. Now they are going iPad
and creating this tablet. Very innovative Google. very.

~~~
dannyr
Google bought Android in August 2005.

[http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2005/tc200...](http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2005/tc20050817_0949_tc024.htm)

The IPhone was launched January 2007.

<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/01/09iphone.html>

~~~
iamjustlooking
But you just compared the acquisition of Android to the launch date of the
iPhone. Are you saying that the development and manufacture of the iPhone all
took place in 2007?

~~~
dannyr
No. But did Google have knowledge of the details of the IPhone before it
launched?

