Coming Soon: Touchscreen Chromebooks

Anonymous sources are telling media outlets that Google has developed a touchscreen laptop running its Chrome operating system. Google declined to comment on the story officially.

The Wall Street Journal’s Amir Efrati first broke the story, writing, “Google Inc. has developed the first touchscreen laptops powered by its Chrome operating system to be sold later this year, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Internet giant tries to go toe-to-toe with Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system. Interestingly, the new Chrome devices also would compete with devices powered by Google’s other operating system, called Android, which took the smartphone and tablet market by storm in recent years, propelling Google as a force in mobile-device software.”

Richard Waters with The Financial Times added, “The development is set to be announced at an event in San Francisco early on Thursday, according to one person familiar with the plans.”

The Register’s Anna Leach noted, “A video leaked earlier this month appeared to be an advert for a touchscreen Google Chromebook, a metal-bodied laptop with a high-res 4-million pixel touchscreen named the Chromebook Pixel.”

CNET’s Vincent Chang speculated, “Even with a touchscreen, we don’t expect prices of Chromebooks to increase significantly from their entry-level price points. The latest Samsung Chromebook is just US$249, albeit with an ARM processor instead of an x86 chip from Intel or AMD. HP has also announced a 14-inch Chromebook with a US$330 price tag.”