Google announced today that Chromebooks are now available for purchase in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland and The Netherlands. Consumers can go ahead and pick up a new Chromebook from Google itself or a licensed reseller today.

The Chromebooks available for purchase today include those from Acer, HP and Samsung. It’s not immediately clear if the $1,300 Chromebook Pixel will be available in these countries as well.

As for schools and businesses, Google expects that those organizations may have some questions. For schools, Google in Education will be hosting a number of Hangouts next week to address any questions or concerns schools may have with the Chromebooks for Education program:

Most of today’s news may be focused on Europe, Oceania and our neighbor up north, but Google has a small announcement for the U.S. Chromebook market as well. Starting today, Chromebooks will be available in 1,000 more Best Buy stores around the country for those who prefer to still buy computers at retail stores.

The Wall Street Journal spoke to a person “with direct knowledge of the project” to score some details on the new tablet. First up, the price will indeed be $99 and the price will reflect that. The device will have a resolution of 1024×600 and a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor. In fact, the tablet is reported to have specs rivaling that of first generation Kindle Fire devices. It’s expected to be sold in emerging markets, like China, where Apple’s iPad might be too expensive for most consumers.

So where does that leave the U.S.? It’s unknown if Acer will ever release the device here, but it has been submitted to the FCC for certification. It shows that Acer is at least considering a release in the states where low cost tablets are beginning to take some market share away from Apple’s premium iPad tablets. The WSJ’s source pointed to this directly saying that Google’s Nexus 10, which is priced at $499, has changed what’s considered competitive pricing in the tablet market.

It’s also being reported that Acer plans on releasing a lower priced version of its Intel-based Windows 8 tablets next year as well. A different source told the WSJ that its current devices are too pricey, and a lower priced alternative would be very attractive for those wanting to get into Windows 8.

Acer’s tablet, if it launches in the U.S., could beat a rumored $99 Asus tablet to market. There have been rumors for quite some time that Google was building a $99 Nexus 7 with Asus, but nothing has come out of that except for some random hearsay. Directly speaking to the WSJ, Asustek flat out denied that the company is building a $99 tablet, but such a response is to be expected until an official announcement is made.

As for the ultimate fate of Iconia B1, it will probably come to the U.S. if Google and Asus announce a $99 tablet. If not, there’s no reason to release such a cheap tablet in the U.S. beyond just having a cheap tablet. Asus’ Nexus 7 is selling decently well at its $199 price point and Asus needs to focus on competing with that. A $99 tablet with half the power of the Nexus 7 wouldn’t make a dent in Google’s dominion over the Android tablet market.

Today, phoneArena is reporting that Acer is building a 7-inch tablet called the Acer Iconia B1. Judging by the device’s hardware specs, it’s clear that the device will sell for a relatively low price.

According to the report, the Iconia B1 will have a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 512 MB of RAM, and 8GB of storage. It will also sport a low 1024 x 600 resolution screen. The tablet is also rumored to have Bluetooth and GPS capabilities, a microSD card slot, and some sort of wireless data connectivity, judging by an FCC filing that shows a SIM card slot. It will arrive running the latest version of Android, 4.1.2 Jelly Bean.

With the iPad Mini beginning to pick up steam and challenge Amazon in the 7-inch tablet market, now would be the time for new players to try their hand at entering that market. When Apple, Amazon, and Google begin refining their designs for the iPad Mini, Kindle Fire HD, and Nexus 7 next year, there won’t be much room for any other companies to sell a significant number of mini tablets.

(via BGR)

The China Times reports that Google has ordered the components for a new series of self-branded Chromebooks. What makes these Chromebooks different from Google’s Nexus hardware is that the company will be building these themselves without the help of OEMs like Samsung. The report says that Google will be relying on Taiwan-based Compai to manufacture the new Chromebooks.

So, what will a Google-made Chromebook look like? The report doesn’t get into specifics, but it mentions that it will have a touch display. It doesn’t seem like Chrome OS would benefit from a touch display all that much, but Google could be going for a redesign similar to Windows 8. If that’s the case, Google could directly compete with Microsoft’s much more expensive touch display notebooks and Ultrabooks.

Speaking of competition, Google would also be directly competing with the current Chromebooks made by Samsung and Acer. Earlier this year, Microsoft made its OEM partners angry by announcing the Surface without telling them about it first. One would hope that Google wouldn’t make the same mistake by being transparent with its partners before launching any new hardware itself.

Current Chromebook makers don’t have anything to worry about yet, however, as Google has reportedly ordered a small amount of Chromebooks. TechCrunch figures that Google could just be internally testing these new Chromebooks while having no intention to ever sell them to the public at large. It’s a likely scenario as companies build new hardware all the time that never actually sees the light of day.

Regardless, Google building its own Chromebook makes a lot of sense. It would let Google undercut the competition from Windows 8 even more, and it may even lead to other self-branded Google products. The company may rely on third-party partners now to build its Nexus line of smartphones and tablets, but we may see a Google-built Nexus smartphone or tablet in the future.

Google and Acer announced today that the C7 Chromebook will be available in the US and UK tomorrow for $199. For the price, consumers will be getting a pretty decent notebook out of the deal. The C7 features a full-size keyboard, fully clickable trackpad, 11.6-inch display, an Intel Core processor, a 320 GB hard drive, and 3.5 hours of battery life.

Like every Chromebook before it, the internal components aren’t that important. Google’s vision is that the Chromebook complements any existing computers in the household, not supplant them. Much like a tablet, the Chromebook is hardware built specifically with Google’s Internet services in mind. That’s why every Chromebook comes with 100GB of free storage on Google Drive. It also integrates with all of Google’s other services under a single account so that users can access all of their content at once.

The Acer C7 Chromebook will be available tomorrow in the US on Google Play, BestBuy.com and in select Best Buy stores. The UK will have a larger variety of choices available with the C7 offered on Google Play, Amazon UK, PC World and Currys. Google says it’s working to bring the C7 to other countries soon.

With a $249 and $199 Chromebook, Google is now poised to take some decent business away from the traditional notebook market. Granted, the category isn’t that popular anymore due to the proliferation of tablets, but Google stands to gain with lower prices compared to the higher prices of Windows PC notebooks. It will be interesting to see if Chromebooks are able to outperform notebooks this holiday season.

In this new ad for the Acer Aspire S7 Ultrabook, Megan Fox uses the device to launch herself into the field of marine biology – which we learn is her true passion anyway.

All she wants to do is talk to dolphins. Check out the ad to see if she succeeds.

The mini-tablet has a 1024 x 600 resolution screen and weighs just 0.86 pounds. It has a micro USB port, a MicroSD slot, and a MicroHDMI output.

Inside, the mini-tablet has an Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of storage. Acer states that it has a “battery life” of up to 7.5 hours. The device will come running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, Google’s latest mobile operating system, meaning customers won’t have to wait for a promised upgrade.

“Today’s consumers are increasingly mobile and want easy and instant access to entertainment at all times,” said Paul Tayar, senior director of product marketing for connected devices, Acer America. “The Iconia Tab A110 is another example of how Acer is meeting the needs of consumers, by providing tablet form factors that combine portability and performance for fun and gaming, at affordable prices.”

It’s interesting that Acer couldn’t shave that extra $30 off the price to offer the A110 at the seemingly magic price of $200. The tablet looks nice and comes with all of the latest hardware and software. However, the device might have a hard time competing in the increasingly crowded mini-tablet market, especially when Apple’s iPad Mini or the rumored $99 Nexus tablet hit store shelves.

Google has always painted Android as an open platform, but this philosophy has had its share of critics. That “openness” debate has come back into the spotlight as a result of the Acer phone situation.

Google’s point of view in this case is that Alibaba’ s Aliyun operating system, while built upon Android, is not compatible with the rest of the Android ecosystem, and that’s a problem, as the company sees it.

“When we first contemplated Android and formed the Open Handset Alliance, we wanted to create an open virtuous cycle where all members of the ecosystem would benefit,” says Google’s SVP of Mobile and Digital Content, Andy Rubin, in a blog post. “We thought hard about what types of external factors could intervene to weaken the ecosystem as a whole. One important external factor we knew could do this was incompatibilities between implementations of Android.”

“Imagine a hypothetical situation where the platform on each phone sold was just a little bit different,” he continues. “Different enough where Google Maps would run normally on one phone but run terribly slow on another. Let’s say, for sake of example, that Android implemented an API that put the phone to sleep for a fraction of a second to conserve battery life when nothing was moving on the screen. The API prototype for such a function might look like SystemClock.sleep(millis) where the parameter ‘millis’ is the number of milliseconds to put the device to sleep for.”

“If one phone manufacturer implemented SystemClock.sleep() incorrectly, and interpreted the parameter as Seconds instead of Milliseconds, the phone would be put to sleep a thousand times longer than intended!” Rubin says. “This manufacturer’s phone would have a terrible time running Google Maps. If apps don’t run well across devices due to incompatibilities, consumers would leave the ecosystem, followed by developers. The end of the virtuous cycle.”

Alibaba’s point of view is that Aliyn is not part of Android or its ecosystem, so it doesn’t need to be compatible. Liz Gannes at AllThings D shares some comments she received from John Spelich, Alibaba’s VP of international corporate affairs.

“Aliyun is built on open source Linux,” he’s quoted as saying. “It has our own applications (e.g. email, maps, etc.) Designed to run Cloud apps designed by parties in our own ecosystem It has the ability to run some but not all Android apps. But it is not an Android fork.”

“It is ironic that a company that talks freely about openness is espousing a closed ecosystem,” he added. “Aliyun OS is not part of the Android ecosystem, so of course Aliyun OS is not, and does not have to be, compatible with Android. This is like saying that because they own the Googleplex in Mountain View, therefore anyone who builds in Mountain View is part of the Googleplex.

He didn’t stop there. Read Gannes’ piece for the entire thing.

Rubin, had the following words for Spelich on Google+:

Andy Rubin1 day ago

Hey John Spelich — We agree that the Aliyun OS is not part of the Android ecosystem and you're under no requirement to be compatible.

However, the fact is, Aliyun uses the Android runtime, framework and tools.  And your app store contains Android apps (including pirated Google apps).  So there's really no disputing that Aliyun is based on the Android platform and takes advantage of all the hard work that's gone into that platform by the OHA.  

So if you want to benefit from the Android ecosystem, then make the choice to be compatible.  Its easy, free, and we'll even help you out.  But if you don't want to be compatible, then don't expect help from OHA members that are all working to support and build a unified Android ecosystem.

---

The Benefits & Importance of Compatibility
We built Android to be an open source mobile platform freely available to anyone wishing to use it. In 2008, Android was released under the Apache open source license and we continue to develop and in… 815    153 Powered by socialditto

Both parties make reasonable points, but to me, it seems Alibaba will face a pretty big uphill battle in getting widespread adoption of its own ecoystem, in competition with Android and others on the market.

For the more adventurous consumers out there, fixing technology yourself isn’t that big of a deal. In fact, it can be pretty easy and even fun. The Nexus 7 has proven itself to be pretty good about being taken apart and put back together. That’s why it’s probably best for you to just fix it yourself.

The guys at Direct Fix has created a video guide on how to take apart a Nexus 7 tablet for repairs. The main focus of the video is obviously the repair aspect, but it’s fascinating to see the innards of the Nexus 7 up close in video form. Google and Asus really went all out on this one and it shows in the hardware.

The true benefit of the video is that it shows you how to disassemble and then reassemble the Nexus 7. Too many guides only show you to disassemble devices and just expect you to follow the directions in reverse when it comes time to reassemble the device. If you’re like me, going in reverse has never been easy.

It should be noted that these repairs should only be attempted by somebody who knows what they’re doing. The video directions are obviously a help, but even the slightest mistake could ruin the tablet for good. Make sure you have all the proper tools and accessories when making any kind of technology repairs.

The line will be called the Acer Veriton Z46xx, and is similar to the Veriton Z line, but with better performance and more storage space. It will ship in either the 21.5in or 23 inch model. Both come with HD two point touch screens and 5 millisecond monitor response. It will feature the Intel Core i3 processor with up to 8GB of RAM, an Intel HD Graphc card, up to 1.5 Terabytes of storage. Each also comes with 2 upgraded USB 3.0 ports.

The case will be in black and silver matte finish.

Acer will attempt to draw business users with the touch screen display and added security features. The Z46xx comes with Acer ProShield, Acer’s security software and the option of selecting other software packages installed, including Backup Manager and Acer eRecovery Management. Both are designed protect and safely restore in the event of a crash.

So far this is just and announcement, with no prices or release date available. The Veriton Z series sells in the range of $650 to $850, so expect the Z46xx to be on the higher end or more for its increased performance.