ChromeOS, which runs mini laptops from Acer, Asus, and Samsung among other partners, may soon follow Windows 8 in making touch a core part of the laptop user experience. According to a report from Taiwan, Google is testing the waters with a small run of touch-compatible Chromebooks, to be released under Google’s own Nexus brand.

According to the report, Compal will be providing components for 20 million units, set to start shipping late this year. That’s a large number for a device with limited commercial success so far — Google has not released sales figures for any generation of Chromebook yet.

Chromebooks, which you can buy from Google directly as well as from partners such as Best Buy, feature an operating system based on the Chrome browser. With minimal local storage and intelligence, the laptops — netbooks, really — are essentially cloud devices, booting in seconds, needing little or no configuration, and plugging users directly into the Google ecosystem of search, docs, and other tools, plus anything else online. They’re cheap as well, priced at between $200 and $500, or leasable, starting at $30/month.

Adding touch may be a sign that Google plans to launch a convertible device similar to Lenovo’s Windows 8 devices where the screen flips, rotates, or even detaches from the keyboard. Or Google may simply be experimenting with the existing clamshell devices. Either way, price will go up as component costs for touchscreens get added into the mix.

Any device launch is not likely until sometime well into 2013.

Hat tip: PCmag

July 9-10, 2013
San Francisco, CA

Early Bird Tickets on Sale

Intel chief executive is taking a break this year. But the world’s biggest chip maker will show off some cool new computers and technologies next week at its Intel Developer Conference.

Dadi Perlmutter, executive vice president and chief product officer at Intel, plans to discuss the evolution of computing technology and he will introduce the idea of “perceptual computing,” which will focus on computer controls beyond touchscreens and keyboards. Intel is pouring a lot of investment into technologies that will debut this year and next, including voice processing and the “interactive space between you and the screen,” said an Intel spokesman.

The technologies include gesture recognition, face recognition, cameras and sensors, and other ways to make your intentions known to a computer. Perlmutter will also talk about the latest trend in computer designs, such as the “hybrid” or “convertible” devices like the Lenovo Yoga, pictured above. These devices have flip screens or sliding cases that allow you to use them as touch-enabled laptops or touchscreen tablets. Those machines are “starting to act like an iPad but function like a full-fledged PC,” the Intel spokesman said. Computer makers working on the hybrids include Asus, Lenovo, Dell, Panasonic, Sony and Toshiba.

Intel will show off a number of Windows 8 tablets based on the Clover Trail chip, a new member of the Atom low-power microprocessor family. Otellini previously said that 20 such Windows 8 tablets were under design, and the Intel spokesman said that Clover Trail third-generation Core chips will be shipping to computer makers very soon.

Perlmutter will also likely give a preview on Intel’s fourth-generation Core microprocessor, code-named Haswell, which will officially ship in the second half of 2013. The Haswell chip will cut power consumption significantly, and Intel is expected to include a family of low-power chips that dissipate about 10 watts, or significantly less than most laptops in the past. The Haswell chips are the first ones designed to be part of an Ultrabook — a thin and powerful laptop similar to Apple’s MacBook Air — from the ground up.

Intel’s other speakers include Kirk Skaugen, vice president of the PC Client Group, who will show off new laptops; Diane Bryant, head of the Datacenter and Connected Systems Group; Renee James, head of software and services; Mike DeCesare, co-president of McAfee; and Justin Rattner, chief technology officer, who will talk about the future of wireless on Thursday.

IDF runs from Monday Sept. 10 to Thursday Sept. 13 at the Moscone West Convention Center in San Francisco.