Author: Kevin Tofel

Have you ever been in a Google Hangout video call on a Chromebook and watch the battery life quickly drop while the device gets really hot? That may change with hardware accelerated VP8 video encoding on Chromebooks with Intel Kaby Lake processors.

Back in March, Viewsonic announced its first Chromebox, the NMP660, would launch in April. Well, April came and went, so what happened? According to an email conversation with Viewsonic, the new Chromebox is pushed back to late June, although you can now special order one online from a third-party vendor. Viewsonic is targeting both the education and enterprise sectors for the NMP660 Chromebox, which will support Google Play Store for Android apps. I could see schools using these for a teacher desktop setup, along with classroom presentations. And enterprises could easily add video-conference gear or attach the NMP660 to a…

Even though I’ve been kicking the tires of Project Crostini for weeks, Linux container support is officially official, as announced at Google I/O 2018. Here are some of the hardware and software requirements.

if you can’t be on-site at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, you can still catch the event live on the web. Right after the keynote ends, I’ll be joining This Week in Google on video for an overview and thoughts on the announcements. Tune in!

It’s nearly here: Tomorrow, Google kicks off I/O, its annual developer conference that often includes an exciting product announcement or two. With so much recent activity in the Chrome OS space, Android won’t be the sole star of the show, which is typically the case.

Support for Linux files directly in the native Chrome OS Files app is in the works. The solution for Chrome OS to access those files in a secure container is rather ingenious and uses an app that’s already available.

Here’s a brief hands-on with the first Chrome OS tablet that was shown off at the Indiana EdTechTeam Summit last month.

Unit testing is underway for Camera features on Chrome OS and code shows that devices will be getting automatic focus, exposure and white-balance. That’s good timing for the first Chrome tablets launching later this month.

Project Crostini is moving forward quickly to bring full-fledged Linux apps to Chrome OS. The latest Dev Channel update for the platform makes it easier to enable Linux support.

Check this handy, free guide to Chromebook basics that’s filled with good tips to help you get up to speed on your new Chromebook quickly.

Unless (or until) the native Chrome OS Files app gains access to the Android file system, Solid Explorer is a good choice for data management on a Chromebook if you want more access to your Android files.