Google reveals budget Chromebooks including a $249 ASUS convertible
Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for some new Chromebooks. Yep, Google has just announced four new Chrome OS laptops, all of which lean toward the budget-friendly end of the spectrum. They are the ASUS Chromebook Flip, the ASUS Chromebook C201, the Hisense Chromebook and the Haier Chromebook 11 (This also comes in an educational version dubbed the 11e). Though it’s the priciest model at $249, the most notable one by far is ASUS’ Chromebook Flip. Not only is it the slimmest of the bunch with a thickness of only 15mm, it has a 10.1-inch touchscreen IPS display that can be flipped (hence the name) 360 degrees around.
I didn’t have much time to get a real feel for the Flip, but it does remind me a lot of ASUS’ other flipping laptop, the ASUS Transformer Book Flip. The Chromebook flip is very lightweight at less than two pounds and I was able to hold it with one hand quite easily. Thanks to an internal accelerometer, the screen orientation changes depending on how the laptop is positioned — as you can see in the image here, it’s rotated 180-degrees when in the upside-down teepee formation. In this converted state, the software in the Chromebook Flip is smart enough to bring up touch-centric controls like a virtual keyboard and handwriting recognition whenever you tap an empty text field. Flip it around to regular laptop mode, however, and these extra modes will disappear, as it recognizes that you now have a full keyboard at your disposal.
The Haier and the Hisense laptops, on the other hand, are decidedly less glamorous. Instead of a sleek all-metal frame, the Haier and the Hisense models are clad in utilitarian black plastic. Still, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The Hisense in particular has a pleasant pebbled texture that contributes to a firmer grip and I quite like the feel of the metal palm rest. They both have almost the same dimensions — the Hisense is 11.7 by 8.8 by 0.6 inches and weighs about 3.3 pounds while the Haier is a touch smaller at 11.4 by 8.1 by 0.71 inches and 2.54 pounds. Both have 11.6-inch screens with 1366×768 resolution and 200 nits of brightness. I wasn’t too impressed with what I saw of the displays — the colors seem washed out and rather lackluster — but for low-end budget models, they’re perfectly functional.
I was also a fan of the Haier 11e educational Chromebook. It’s a lot more durable against everyday wear and tear and is water- and spill-resistant due to tiny drainage holes in the chassis. Unlike the regular Haier Chromebook 11, the 11e has a removable battery along with a built-in handle, presumably so kids can easily carry it from class to class. ASUS’ Chromebook C201 is a bit of a mystery as I wasn’t able to handle it myself, but Google tells us it has a 11.6-inch display and the internals are about the same as the rest.
ASUS Chromebook C201
As for those internals, well, all of the above Chromebooks come equipped with a Rockchip 3288 SoC with 2GB of RAM and 16GB flash memory (eMMC). They all also have 802.11 ac WiFi, a 720p HD front-facing camera, two USB 2.0 ports, a microSD card reader, Bluetooth 4.0 and an ARM Mali 760 quad core GPU. Battery life fluctuates from model to model — the Flip promises up to 10 hours, the Hisense has 8.5, the Haier has 10 while the Chromebook C201 promises 13.
The main draw with all of these, of course, is price. The Flip will be available for $249, the C201 starts at $169, while both the Haier and the Hisense models will cost $149 each. The Flip should be out later this Spring, the C201 will be on Amazon in May, and both the Haier and Hisense models are avaiable for pre-order today. The Haier is available through Amazon while the Hisense can be purchased through Walmart.
[APK Download] Gmail update brings a unified inbox and better searching
Google has updated their Gmail application, bringing a handful of useful new features on board. The biggest new improvement to the Gmail experience is the inclusion of a unified inbox, so now all of your Gmail and emails accounts in the Gmail application can be viewed without having to switch back and forth between different email addresses. Other email apps have had this feature for a while, so it’s great that Google finally baked it in.
There a handful of other new features, too, including threaded conversation views and better searching of your inboxes. The search bar will now auto-complete terms just like the desktop web client of Gmail, which is a handy tool. Google also tweaked the interface a bit, making animations more responsive, upping the limit to preview email attachments, and one-click saving to Google Drive.
Hit the link below for the download if you haven’t already gotten it from the Play Store.
source: Gmail
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Google Now Brings Your Photos and Videos from Google+ to Google Drive
Ready to get a little more organized with your photos and videos on Google+? Google now lets you add your photos and videos to Google Drive which will make it that much easier to find them after posting. You can organize these photos and videos via the Google+ Photos app for a much simpler experience, […]
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Gmail for Android puts all your accounts in a single inbox
Flipping between your multiple email accounts in Gmail has always been a bit of a pain, especially on mobile devices but that changes today with the release of Google’s new “All Inboxes” option for Gmail’s Android app. It does exactly what it sounds like: display every one of your inboxes (even accounts from Outlook and Yahoo) in a single, unified list. You’ll be able to read and reply to each email, regardless of provider, without swapping tabs or logging out.
Google has also announced that email threads from external accounts (Yahoo, Outlook, or anything that loads through IMAP/POP3) will now display with the same threaded conversation format as internal Gmail emails. These newly integrated accounts will also reportedly benefit from an improved autocomplete function, larger attachment previews and one-touch saves to Google Drive.
Filed under: Internet
Source: Gmail Blog (Blogspot)
Google+ photos are now viewable in Drive
Google on Monday announced that it is making it easier for users to view and organize their pictures and videos. Starting today, if you visit Google Drive you’ll find copies of all of your photos and videos. New images will be visible immediately however older stuff may take a few weeks to show up. In addition to the web version, Android and iOS users will see the changes in Drive.
It was previously rumored that Google might split off its Photos from Google+ and over to Drive. The new change is more duplication and accessibility and should feel seamless.
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Google Drive offers access to your Google+ photos
Google isn’t wasting much time acting on its promise to divvy up Google+ into individual services. As hinted earlier, an updated version Google Drive on Android, iOS and the web now offers access to your Google+ photos. The unified cloud storage approach not only saves you the trouble of switching apps, but gives you more control — you can move pictures from a big speech into the same folder as the speech itself. On iOS, Drive can also take over as your automatic camera backup. Only new photos will show up in the app right away, but your whole Google+ collection should be available within the next few weeks.
Filed under: Cellphones, Storage, Internet, Mobile, Google
Source: Google Drive Blog, Google Play, App Store
The winners of the 11th Annual Engadget Awards: Editors’ Choice
We trotted out some truly precious puppies to announce the winners of this year’s Readers’ Choice Awards, but now it’s time to get down to business. As we do every year, we tasked our editor’s with the monumental feat of sifting through the previous year’s biggest innovations to select the absolute best in show. While there’s some crossover with our Readers’ Choice winners (sorry Fire phone), there were a few notable exceptions. But you’ll have to check out the gallery below to find out what made the cut.
Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Home Entertainment, Household, Laptops, Tablets, Transportation, Wearables, Software, HD, Mobile, Apple, Sony, Microsoft, Google
You can now view your Google+ photos and videos in Google Drive
This news is no surprise since it was recently rumored. It’s also a no-brainer, and I often wondered why Google didn’t implement this sooner.
Starting today, you can now view your Google+ photos and videos in Google Drive. You will find a new Google Photos menu in Drive for the web, Android, and even iOS. You can create a Google Photos folder in your “My Drive” which will give you ability to organize your photos and videos into folders.
The best part of it all is that your photos and videos might be visible in both Google+ and Drive, but it will count only once towards your storage limit.
Google+ Photos will continue to handle your auto uploads, editing needs, and sharing. Drive will just give you a better way to organize everything.
Photos in Drive is rolling out, but it could take some time before everyone sees it. Also to note, you probably won’t see much beyond your newest photos at first, but your entire library should be there within a few weeks.
source: Google Drive
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A Google Now-style facelift is making its way to Chrome OS beta
If you’re currently running a Chromebook on the Chrome OS beta channel, a revamped interface is making its way to your device soon. The new update, which brings Chrome Launcher 2.0, aims to make it easier to perform tasks like launching applications and performing Google searches.
In past beta releases and in the current stable build of Chrome OS, the interface sort of resembled a Windows-like UI, allowing users to select which apps to launch from the app drawer in the bottom-left corner of the screen. But in Chrome Launcher 2.0, pressing that button will now pull up a big card complete with a Google Search bar, Google Now cards and recently used applications. As you can see from the images below, the new launcher will show you apps that you use most often right under the Search bar. Of course, you can still access the full list of apps if you’d like.
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User interface tweaks aren’t the only changes Chrome OS beta is getting, though. Google has made unzipping password-protected ZIP files much easier. If you’ve ever tried to do this on a Chromebook in the past, you’d know it’s pretty difficult. Also, your Chromebook will now automatically detect timezone changes, a simple feature that has somehow just made its way to Chrome OS. Google is working to bring its Material Design guidelines to the platform, though the only app that’s getting it in the new update is the Files App.
If you’re running Chrome OS stable right now, you can easily switch to the beta channel to test out the new features. Just be aware that switching back from beta to stable will delete all of your local data on your Chromebook. Be on the lookout for the update sometime this week.
The (damn cute) winners of 11th Annual Engadget Awards: People’s Choice
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The votes for the 11th Annual Engadget People’s Choice Awards have been tallied and the winners are in. As is always the case, there were some very polarizing products on the ballot and many of the honorees won by a very small margin. But the real winners this year were the cute and adoptable puppies at the San Francisco Animal Care and Control (SFACC) shelter. The only thing we love here at Engadget more than true innovation is man’s best friend, so we teamed up with the SFACC for a special awards ceremony. Early last week, a set of the most eligible animals in San Francisco accepted “trophies” on behalf of the companies that created your favorite gadgets and software of 2014. To find out who took top honors check out the video above, and to take home one of our special guests, please visit the SFACC for more information.
And check back this afternoon to find out what won this year’s Editors’ Choice awards.
Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming, Home Entertainment, Household, Laptops, Tablets, Transportation, Wearables, Software, Samsung, Sony, Microsoft, Google
