So Google tell us that the Chromebooks will be fast. It all hinges on the apps (again!)

I took the newly released Angry Birds for Chrome and tested it on a desktop, a tablet and a netbook. I also took a beta version of Chrome and tested it on that. Then I took a native version downloaded via AppUp (Yes, Angry Birds is already available for your Windows desktop!)

The results – I’m not impressed with the Chrome version at all. Windowed and running slowly on Chrome. The Native version runs flawlessly.

This, of course, isn’t a Chromebook test but remember, Chromebooks will run in Intel Atom N570 (at least the first devices) so the CPU and GPU power is limited. The Chrome OS is likely to be faster and WebGL will get better and as we go forward, the platforms will obviously get better but based on what I’ve seen this evening, I’m a little wary of performance. It’s not going to stop me from buying an Acer Chromebook for testing but this test gave me a good reality kick.

Update: Feeback from others in my circle that have tested isn’t that positive either.

Note: We’re not sponsored by AppUp or Intel. The ads you see are agency sales.

I want to wind back to a post I wrote about Chrome OS last year…

Personally I’m having trouble working out what Google are doing here. Is it to promote HTML5 development? Am I failing to see the long-term play? Are we really going to be using operating systems on our desks that are dumber than the ones on our phones?

The advantages for netbooks users are limited. The license cost advantage will be just $15-$25, the device support will be poor and there will be a million and one re-distributions causing confusion and splintering for Linux.

High-speed javascript processing won’t be unique to Chrome. Fast boot won’t be unique to Chrome. HTML5 won’t be unique to Chrome. Web apps won’t be unique to Chrome. What’s going to get people to buy a Chromium OS computer? I doubt people will be queuing up for an OS that never needs upgrading.

I’ve also talked about the cloud NOT being mobile.

Put the two together in a Chromebook and you’ve got something underwhelming for Ultra Mobile fans.

Despite that, I got very excited listening to the Chromebook announcements this evening. Very excited. It peaked when I heard that the Angry Birds game (yes. I’m getting bored of that too!) had been written, in HTML5, to work offline. Some of the HTML5 performance demos were impressive too. And then, I saw the 1.3KG 11.6” 1366s768 Acer Chromebook. OK, it’s not as attractive as the Samsung Series 5 but look what’s inside.

Not only is it running on an Intel N570 netbook platform but some of the code, according to my source, came from the Meego project and there’s a tight connection between Google and Intel on this. Intel are even calling these Chromebooks, Netbooks!

Finally, it was music to my ears to hear that legacy PC support was being dropped. No checking for floppys on boot. I assume it’s not a BIOS-based start-up too. USB support will be slim to start with, true, but it’s what we need to do. To start from scratch. Windows has the apps, but not the underpinnings to be a great mobile operating system.

Put THAT all together and you’ve got a slim OS build on a Linux Kernel where all the functionality is in the browser. Put that browser in MeeGo and what have you got? Chromebook and Laptop? Put Chrome OS on Oaktrail or Moorestown and what have you got? Always on?

As with MeeGo, Honeycomb and other ‘new’ OS’, the apps are going to be the big issue but look what Google just went and did. They offered an app store where the dev gets 95%. 95%! (Update: OK. Thats in-app purchases although doesn’t it mean you can offer a free app and then sell the license for the full version in-app for a 5% fee?)

I’m interested now because app development could be fast. Why? It’s very interesting for devs from day one. How many Chrome browsers are already installed?

I’m as interested in Chrome OS as I am in Honeycomb as a slim OS and app layer that could help in many ultra mobile scenarios….in the future. I’m buying an Acer Chromebook for testing, that’s for sure. I hope you can join me on the live session because that’s going to be a very interesting one.

But you may not be so interested. Looking at the 12” 1.4KG Samsung Series 5 Chromebook you might think – what the hell has this got to do with Ultra Mobile? Let me know in the comments below. Lets talk it through and shake-out the issues and queries. Here are some starting points.

• Touch
• USB support
• No Bluetooth
• Apps
• Offline Cloud
• Ethernet Port missing

Both devices are in the database along with all the specifications and links available at the moment.

Acer Chromebook

Samsung Series 5 Chromebook

Google Chrome Blog announcement

At 11.6 and 12.1” respectively, the two Chromebooks announce today fall right alongside netbooks. They even utilise a netbook CPU, the Intel Atom N570 dual-core 1.66Ghz part – the top of the range.

Acer Chromebook.

Full specs and links here

• Intel Atom N570
• 11.6” 1366×768 screen
• 16GB SSD storage
• 1.34KG

Samsung Series 5 Chromebook

Full specs and links here.

This is the larger, heavier of the two. Note the sealed battery compatment.

• Intel Atom N570
• 12.1” 1280×800 screen
• 16GB SSD storage
• 1.48kg

There’s a 3G option available on the Samsung Series 5.

See the two devices side-by-side

On the 7th July, Google announced that they are developing an operating system called ‘Google Chrome OS.’

“Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010.”

“…redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don’t have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates”

“..Google Chrome running within a new windowing system”

“…Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips.”

The world of Internet journalism went mad and Techmeme lit up as a result of the announcement. Thousands of blogs responded too. It was quite an interesting response for what is essentially another Linux distro. Perhaps it reflects the desire for a real consumer-level alternative out there. It certainly proves the power of the Google brand and that could be the most important aspect of the whole product.

Read the full story

What’s the most important browser feature for UMPC and Tablet users? Touch screen scrolling. Grab and Drag is the name of the game and if I can’t have that feature on my browser, I’m losing a ton of capability.

That’s why I’m disappointed with Google Chrome, the new browser from Google. It works well on the desktop with fast speeds and a great ‘most visited’ overview page but on a UMPC its nowhere near as useful as Firefox 3.

I’ll be testing it further over the next day or so but I’m finding it difficult to tear myself away from Firefox 3.

Other notes:

• No full-screen.
• No grab and drag.
• Text zoom only
• Fast
• Per tab processes should help with page error lock-ups.
• Overview feature very nice.
• Have spotted an Ajax error with the product database here
• Javascript handling seems to be fast
• Incognito mode will be good for certain people!!

Anybody else done tests yet?

Breaking News (Meaning I don’t have much information at this stage!) Google have just posted confirmation that they will launch a new browser tomorrow (3rd Sept.)

On the surface, we designed a browser window that is streamlined and simple. To most people, it isn’t the browser that matters. It’s only a tool to run the important stuff — the pages, sites and applications that make up the web. Like the classic Google homepage, Google Chrome is clean and fast. It gets out of your way and gets you where you want to go.

That doesn’t sound too exciting but if its Ajax-focused, it could be interesting for mobile users. Its a hash of Firefox and Webkit by the sounds of it.

We’ve used components from Apple’s WebKit and Mozilla’s Firefox, among others — and in that spirit, we are making all of our code open source as well. We hope to collaborate with the entire community to help drive the web forward.

I’m looking forward to trying it out, testing its capabilities and speed tomorrow. Stay tuned for some UMPC-based Chrome action! Questions to be answered:

• Is it fast for ajax?
• Does it support grab and drag (our fave) plugin
• Is it just a google-focused window to Google apps?

More comment from Matt Cutts (Google.) More official info at the Google blog,

Update: Chrome is now available for download. Have installed on desktop and don’t see any way to ‘grab and drag’ or fullscreen or do any sort of plugin activity. That will kill it for most people I think. What exactly are they trying to achieve with Chrome?