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Google Announces 'Chromebook' Laptops


TAZ

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On the second day of its I/O conference, Google has announced the June 15th launch of Chromebooks, small web-only notebooks running the company's browser-based Chrome OS.

These are not typical notebooks. With a Chromebook you won't wait minutes for your computer to boot and browser to start. You'll be reading your email in seconds. Thanks to automatic updates the software on your Chromebook will get faster over time. Your apps, games, photos, music, movies and documents will be accessible wherever you are and you won't need to worry about losing your computer or forgetting to back up files. Chromebooks will last a day of use on a single charge, so you don't need to carry a power cord everywhere. And with optional 3G, just like your phone, you'll have the web when you need it.

 

Chromebooks will initially launch with models from Samsung and Acer, typically checking in as dual-core Atom-based machines with displays in the 11-12 inch range and limited onboard storage of 16 GB. Pricing for early models is said to begin at $350 and range up to $500 for a Samsung model with integrated 3G connectivity and limited monthly data allowances from Verizon. Google is also offering monthly subscription pricing for students ($20) and businesses ($28), providing them with a manageable fee that includes full support, software updates, and even hardware upgrades.

 

Link:

http://www.google.com/chromebook/#

 

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how many cities do you know have it, secondly what with the inter-circle charges and the minuscule bundled usage

Firstly govt owned BSNL has 3G in more than 250+ cities in India.

 

Here's a comparison chart as of April end. Docomo, Reliance & Aircel have launched 3G in their alloted areas. Voda, Airtel & Idea are rolling out aggressively.

 

Here's another chart comparing different operator charges. I don't deny they are costly, but the licensees paid huge amounts for 3G spectrum and unless the amount of subscribers grow, it's really tough to bring the prices down. MTNL has made a great start by offering a monthly UL plan for 1650. BSNL also keeps on having 3G schemes every month or so (last was 4200 for 6 months totally UL 3G).

The real deal would be LTE which Reliance is supposedly bringing out by Jan 2012. 3G should get cheap by then.

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The problem is, not many can work on a solely cloud based OS. We are not a country where wifi is abundant or 3G speeds are consistent and stable and cheap. BSNL has great coverage but many places in chennai don't get good 3G signals.

 

Point is, a cloud based OS could work in the West. Even then, making people migrate from MS office is going to be a huge challenge. Still, as with all of googles products, great idea and concept, but practicality? Doubtful,

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I somehow can't digest the fact that I'll need a net connection to do anything on my laptop :| I'm interested to watch which demography will pick this up. I highly doubt if students will pick this up gladly like Google expects. If you can't install any apps(which is a minus point being a student there might be apps needed for your coursework), and considering the fact that laptops are getting cheaper by the day, I wonder what USP can chrome laptops boast of ?

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It's best USP was demonstrated in their ads. Where this guy whose using a chrome OS laptop gets his laptop fried, crushed, broken and all sorts of damage was done to it. But he then just bought a new chrome OS laptop and got back to work. Cloud computing advantage. Continuous backup in the cloud.

 

But yea, that's the only benefit as i see it.

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the price is the benefit - no upfront payment and hardware upgrades as well

secondly Fatty: are MTNL and BSNL connections valid throughout the country, I mean if I take a MTNL connection here (Mumbai), will it work in my hometown Jaipur (BSNL) without additional roaming charges, I think not.

bummer

 

Operator PAYG Plan

Aircel 3p/10kB i.e. Rs. 3/MB i.e. Rs3,000/GB

Airtel 30p/20kB i.e. Rs. 15/MB i.e. Rs. 15,000/GB

BSNL 2p/10kB i.e. Rs. 2/MB i.e. Rs. 2,000/GB

MTNL 1p/10kB i.e. Rs. 1/MB i.e. Rs. 10,00/GB

Idea 10p/10kB i.e. Rs. 10/MB i.e. Rs. 10,000/GB

Vodafone 10p/10kB i.e. Rs10/MB i.e. Rs. 10,000/GB

Reliance 10p/10kB i.e. Rs10/MB i.e. Rs. 10,000/GB

Tata Docomo 10p/10kB i.e. Rs10/MB i.e. Rs. 10,000/GB

 

 

10/15 per MB :O

BSNL and MTNL look kinda cool

 

 

Edit: sh*t just got real, looks way cooler now

Data charges Subscriber can avail same data tariff charges while roaming in BSNL or MTNL Mumbai network in all plans without any extra roaming charge for data. Roaming charges for voice calls/SMS shall be as per 2G Budget plan.

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I like the idea but the pricing isnt that special. 500 for what is essentially a 3G netbook.

 

Also wont the lack of a desktop/OS kind of gimp it if you want to do stuff thats not work?

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secondly Fatty: are MTNL and BSNL connections valid throughout the country, I mean if I take a MTNL connection here (Mumbai), will it work in my hometown Jaipur (BSNL) without additional roaming charges, I think not.

bummer

Sorry to spoil your bummer but you can use MTNL/BSNL interchangeably without any roaming charges. :P

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yeah I kinda figured it out, but the speed results do not seem very impressive, I do not have that connection so I cannot try myself sadly

Heh. Well, the results are so impressive that I'm dumping my BB connection next month (already paid for this month) for a HSDPA modem (2700 for a 21.1Mbps one) + 3G 6 months UL plan (4500). Total is 7200 (i.e. 1200 pm). Currently paying 2.1k for a 2 Mbps line (UL, No FUP). On 3G getting a constant of 2.5 - 3Mbps upwards while downloading (Speedtest shows 1.8-1.9 Mbps) on friends E122 (3.6 Mbps) modem.

The only caveat is pings are high (~100ms), but then I'm not gaming on this connection, so no problems there. For pure downloading, nothing beats this combo for VFM. Plus point is you can use it anywhere !

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that is on the router, but not on the phone

i heard it is cool that way but phone pisses it off somehow.

the reason I am so particular about it is because it is to be used directly in iPad, without the stick <_<

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that is on the router, but not on the phone

i heard it is cool that way but phone pisses it off somehow.

the reason I am so particular about it is because it is to be used directly in iPad, without the stick <_<

Firstly no router. Just a 3G modem.

Secondly, you can make a virtual router from your Win 7 lappy by using Connectify.

Thirdly, BSNL offers a 3G UL, no FUP plan for iPad @ 999 pm with a micro sim.

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are bhai tu itna gussa kyun hota hai

pehle baat to samajh,

all I am saying is that the stick works fine as is it HSPA activated, but the card itself is not

once you put the card inside a handset/iPad it gives you lesser speeds

even when you give them a call to fix that sh*t thy ask for an upgrade fees and the speed is STILL not fixed

that is what I wanted to say

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are bhai tu itna gussa kyun hota hai

pehle baat to samajh,

all I am saying is that the stick works fine as is it HSPA activated, but the card itself is not

once you put the card inside a handset/iPad it gives you lesser speeds

even when you give them a call to fix that sh*t thy ask for an upgrade fees and the speed is STILL not fixed

that is what I wanted to say

No gussa bhai :kissogether:

But I don't think what you said is right. I get the same speeds (~ 2.5 Mbps) with a MTNL 3G sim irrespective of the fact whether I use a 3G stick or my SE K850i (3.6 Mbps enabled). I dunno whether using a 7.2/21.1 3G stick will give me better speeds, but I doubt it.

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