Google’s CR-48 Chrome OS Netbook on Video and in Photos

Posted on 19 December 2010, Last updated on 19 December 2010 by

We’ve got our hands on Google’s Chrome OS test hardware, the CR-48 (you can apply for one yourself at http://www.google.com/chromeos/pilot-program.html). This netbook won’t ever be released to the public and is purely for testing Chrome OS, but it can give us a good idea of what to expect from future Chrome OS devices. Namely, a huge battery, 3G built-in, a somewhat altered keyboard from what you might be used to with Windows/Mac OSX, and not much more power than what’s necessary for basic web browsing. Have a look at our overview video:

CR-48 Chrome OS Netbook Overview

We’ve also done our usual photo shoot with the unit so you can get a nice detailed look at the hardware. See an excerpt below, or swing by the gallery for all of our CR-48 photos (note: the slate being used for size comparison is the Onkyo TW317). More coverage to come, stay tuned.

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15 Comments For This Post

  1. UMPCPortal says:

    Google’s CR-48 Chrome OS Netbook on Video and in Photos http://www.umpcportal.com/?p=22957

  2. Steve 'Chippy' Paine says:

    RT @umpcportal: Google's CR-48 Chrome OS Netbook on Video and in Photos http://www.umpcportal.com/?p=22957

  3. Gretchen Glasscock says:

    Google’s CR-48 Chrome OS Netbook on Video and in Photos: We’ve got our hands on Google’s Chrome OS test hardware… http://bit.ly/gmBeMa

  4. David Gilson says:

    RT @chippy: RT @umpcportal: Google's CR-48 Chrome OS Netbook on Video and in Photos http://www.umpcportal.com/?p=22957

  5. Josh's Tech Items says:

    Google’s CR-48 Chrome OS Netbook on Video and in Photos: We’ve got our hands on Google’s… http://goo.gl/fb/FgDpR

  6. Google News US says:

    [wikio.com] Google’s CR-48 Chrome OS Netbook on Video and in Photos (Carrypad UMPC feed): We’ve got our … http://bit.ly/hMQXK7 #google

  7. Alltop Mobile says:

    Google’s CR-48 Chrome OS Netbook on Video and in Photos http://bit.ly/hvjlC8

  8. Mobixy says:

    Google’s CR-48 Chrome OS Netbook on Video and in Photos http://bit.ly/hvjlC8

  9. Garry Knight says:

    Google’s CR-48 Chrome OS Netbook on Video and in Photos (UMPC Portal) http://is.gd/j1Ws1 #chromeos #cr-48

  10. FanDroid says:

    What’s going on Chippy? Since when is a 12 inch computer a UMPC? This isn’t even a netbook. It’s called the CR-48 Notebook. The whole program that you’re “covering” ( =hyping) is called the “Cr-48 Notebook Pilot Program”. Notebook. You’ve covered few notebooks this large here. What’s the deal? Not only that, but how is this a PC? Last time I checked, one of the cool things about a PC is that, in order to use it, you need one computer: the PC. Not only is the whole ChromeOS thing designed to be worthless without a “networking connection” ( =paying a Google ISP or Carrier Partner), it then requires hundreds and thousands of other computer to do things like “host your data” and “serve your applications” ( =manage your digital rights, harvest your personal information, analyze your behaviors). This is absolutely not a UMPC. Why are your wasting our time with this? What’s your agenda, or are you just so reckless that you don’t even have one? The appeal of a UMPC is that I don’t have to trust or pay anybody to do things with a computer than I’m currently able to do on my own, and I can do it in the most compact, portable, and useful way possible. This offers none of that.

    This comes from somebody who has and loves an Archos Android tablet, but I don’t pretend like it’s a UMPC or that it replaces my need for or want of one. If you can’t figure out to post UMPC articles here, just don’t post. You’re wasting our time with this garbage, and you look like a feeble beggar looking for big corporate attention ready to sell out the loyal readers who have helped pay your bills.

  11. Ben says:

    You’ve got a valid point FanDroid. The CR-48 doesn’t fit the Ultra Mobile part of the name of our site in terms of size, but the objective of Chrome OS certainly does, which is one of the reasons that we decided to offer our readers coverage of the device. The idea behind Chrome OS is to create a super light-weight OS that panders much to mobility. As we mentioned, the CR-48 hardware won’t be released. What we’d like to focus on is Chrome OS, which will be installed on a range of devices. Prerequisites for Chrome OS devices are an SSD and built-in 3G connectivity, naturally favoring durability, speed, and mobility. In the future, we expect to see devices that will fit the UMPC definition running Chrome OS. For now, we’re just previewing the OS. On the point of the CR-48 not being a PC: It’s an x86 device, capable of running x86 operating systems. And we’re calling it a netbook because it has netbook hardware. If the screen was 17″ and had netbook hardware and performed like a netbook, we’d still call it a netbook.

    We do our best to bring honest opinions on these devices and help people know what is good and what isn’t good.

  12. Chippy says:

    Actually I disagree with Ben which is why we decided to post about it. I said I didn’t think it that relevant but we then decided that the discussion would be good. Forget the hardware, lets talk about the software

  13. plates says:

    So why was almost the entire article about the 12.1 inch notebook and not the OS at all?

  14. Hopalong0_3 says:

    I can see this being useful on an ARM based umpc/mid, superfast startup and shutdown with everything you need right there in one application/OS. But if it’s running on an X86 based chip it kind of feels like a waste of processing power, and I can see hackers finding back doors just to install other things to make a unit more useful. I would hope that a browser based open(?) OS would make mobile computing cheaper but x86 is still more expensive than ARM. (I do like the minimalist hardware though ;-)

  15. animatio says:

    well just to mention it, if already forgotten: small linux os’es with a main browser component did exist for quite some time. e.g puppy seamonkey and secure browsing only systems. all capable to run web apps in the browser. the main difference to chrome os is – they are free (of any control by a supplier). puppy e.g running fully in memory only thus saving energy and being as fast as possible. problem with all “classic” x86 devices is, they do not have built in functionality for “always on” apart from sleep modes. additionally no real wake up functionality normally is present for phone modem functions.
    therefore the question might arise in what respect the hardware of a x86 google-book differs from a standard x86 system?
    that it is possible to hack a ubuntu linux on the thing already has been proven. how it runs with a non-standard keyboard will have to bee seen.
    same for other os trickeries.
    but why the hell to work hard to slap other things on this google stuff when it is much easier to this on a classic netbook anyways?

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