Prefer WhistleOut in Google
Google is shifting its strategy when it comes to the PC market, with its first wave of Googlebook laptops set to launch in Australia next month.
A successor to the thrifty Chromebooks of the past, these new laptops – which come in a variety of shapes and sizes via major PC manufacturers like ASUS, Acer, and Lenovo – all rely on the new GooglebookOS operating system instead of ChromeOS.
At a glance, this setup might sound or seem like little more than a new coat of paint. However, Google’s new laptops come armed with an arsenal of Android integrations that promise to make the hardware here a better companion to your Android smartphone of choice than its ChromeOS-powered counterparts ever were.
Regardless of whether you opt for the more premium HP Googlebook 14 or the more affordable Acer Googlebook 14, your passwords, WiFi networks, and messages will all seamlessly and securely follow you from your smartphone in the same way that they would if you were transferring from one Android phone to another.
Naturally, you can also cast apps from your Android smartphone to a Googlebook to get the most out of the larger screen that the laptop form-factor offers. As opposed to doing something similar with a Chromebook, this functionality is a little more intuitive – with your Android smartphone’s apps automatically presented as a drawer on the taskbar. You can also now start a task on your Android and then continue it via your Googlebook, via the app continuity offered by the new Continue On feature.
Google says every Android app in the Play Store will run on Googlebook, but it will also highlight apps that have been optimised for larger screens.
In addition to the above, Google is predictably positioning its new Googlebooks as a vehicle for its Gemini AI tech. To that end, the operating system itself features a set of simple gesture-based shortcuts that allow you to invoke the company’s AI assistant in relation to whatever your cursor is currently hovering over at a moment’s notice. A number of other AI features found in Google’s latest Pixel smartphones have also made the jump here, including Rambler and Magic Cue.
Google’s first wave of Googlebooks will go on sale in Australia from October 5, with prices starting at $2,299. Each device also comes bundled with a 12-month subscription to Google’s AI Pro plan and three months of YouTube Premium for eligible users.
Fergus Halliday
Digital Content Editor
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