26 Apr 12 Knoodle’s Deep Integration With Google Apps, YouTube And Chrome Extends Social …
MENLO PARK, Calif., April 25, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ – Knoodle, the enterprise social learning company, today announces a newly expanded set of capabilities that give companies more ways than ever to deploy collaborative learning and continuous knowledge sharing programs leveraging the GoogleApps ecosystem.
To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/55732-knoodle-fully-integrated-cloud-based-social-learning-platform
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120425/MM92055 )
Along with basic integrated user management and single sign-on through Google Apps, Knoodle provides additional built-in functionality for:
- Importing presentations, images, audio and video from Google Docs and YouTube into Knoodle, providing direct access to content stored on Google and more seamless ways to build learning modules and courses on Knoodle.
- Direct, one-click publishing of Knoodle presentations to Google Docs and YouTube, extending the reach to share Knoodle presentations privately throughout the organization or publicly across the world.
- Access via the Chrome Web Store, providing additional reach and availability, as well as full native Chrome and Google Cloud Print support.
- True end-to-end mobile learning capabilities with full functionality on Google Chromebooks and Android enabled devices.
These new capabilities solidify Knoodle’s position as the only social learning platform that gives businesses a full range of integrated social learning capabilities that leverage not only the application and user management power of Google Apps, but also seamless access to content, connections and reach for both rapid content authoring, as well as publishing and sharing within both private and public audiences.
“We believe strongly that learning technology for the social enterprise must do much more than just facilitate internal collaboration,” said Michael Rose, General Manager of Knoodle. “These new capabilities are a reflection of our commitment to enable continuous learning and the seamless exchange of ideas between internal teams, as well as with remote field organizations and the external ecosystems of customers and partners leveraging leading social enterprise platforms like Google Apps. We have seen strong initial demand for Knoodle from Google Apps companies, and we’re looking forward to continued growth within the Google ecosystem.”
The expanded reach, authoring, and sharing capabilities now available through the Google ecosystem go hand in hand with the rapid authoring, testing, and analytics capabilities that have made Knoodle a leader in the enterprise learning space. By leveraging already familiar tools such as PowerPoint presentations and standard image and video formats, Knoodle makes it easy to rapidly build and deploy anything from product how-to demos, to online certification courses, to new employee onboarding programs, to fully collaborative subject matter expert communities.
To try Knoodle for free, install Knoodle on your Google Apps domain from our listing in the GoogleAppsMarketplace, or visit www.knoodle.com.
About Knoodle Knoodle is the social learning platform for your company. We help your people learn faster and do their jobs better by combining the depth of traditional enterprise learning technology with the immediacy and interactivity of social tools to make learning and knowledge sharing a natural part of the work day.
Companies big and small trust Knoodle to achieve a broad range of critical business objectives, ranging from product training and demos, to employee onboarding, training and certification programs, to broad social learning communities that bring together employees, customers and the ecosystem of partners. Knoodle delivers its solutions through the cloud, so there is no software to install and manage, deployment occurs in minutes not months, and is accessible anywhere and on any device.
For more information, visit www.knoodle.com.
SOURCE Knoodle
Article source: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/04/25/4441407/knoodles-deep-integration-with.html
Tags: Chrome Web Store, Google Apps, Google Chromebooks, Google Cloud Print, Google Docs, Michael Rose
25 Apr 12 Google Drive: The Pros and Cons
Google’s long-awaited Dropbox competitor, Drive, is finally here and includes impressive search capabilities and good integration with other Google services including Docs and Google+. But if you just want to get some work done using a reliable file storage and sync service, Drive may not be ready for you just yet. And unless you’re an Android user, the mobile experience for Drive is not great.
Google officially launched Drive on Tuesday featuring 5GB free online storage and the ability to buy more storage such as 25GB for $2.50 per month ($30 per year) up to a maximum 16TB for $800 per month. Similar to Dropbox, Google Drive installs a folder on your Mac or Windows PC desktop (a Google representative told PCWorld a Linux version is in the works, too). Then you just drag-and-drop files into the new folder and the contents automatically sync to the cloud as well as any other computers with Drive installed. Overall, Drive is a pretty good service and offers more free storage than the 2GB you get from Dropbox, but less than the free 7GB Microsoft offers with SkyDrive.
Here’s a look at some of the best and worst highlights of Google Drive.
Confusing
Once you add Drive to your Google Account, Docs automatically disappears and is replaced by Drive instead. Not a huge deal, but I wasn’t expecting it. Then when I opened up Drive, I was shocked to see that a collaborative document PCWorld uses was missing from my docs list. Usually this is the first document I see when I log in to my account, and when I went to the “Shared with me” section it wasn’t there either. After a little more searching I finally found it under “All items.” If you’re missing documents after switching to Drive, click on the “More” dropdown menu to get to the “All items” menu to see whether it’s there. Not a big deal, but it’s a little annoying that Drive wipes out Docs and then rearranges some of your stuff.
Good Integration
Google Drive doesn’t download copies of your files that are saved online in Google’s Docs formats. Instead, you get a folder full of icons that are links to open the documents in your browser. The good news, however, is that if your computer is set-up to access Docs offline using Google Chrome, you can open these files in just one click via the Drive folder on your desktop. If you can’t get offline Docs to work with Drive, try restarting your browser.
Say, for example, you had a Google Docs “file” on your desktop called “Test.gdoc.” If you happen to be offline, you can click on “Test.gdoc” and open up a read-only version of the document in your browser. Try using a Chrome extension such as Write Space if you need to edit a Google Doc offline.
Google Plus now has an option to share images from Google Drive and in my tests the new feature was very easy to use. The search giant also says that Gmail integration is coming soon. In the meantime, you can attach non-Google Docs files from the Drive folder on your desktop.
Almost No Mobile Support
Drive smartphone app for Android (left); Google Drive mobile site (right).Only Android users can currently access Drive using a native mobile app, but the search giant says it is working hard to get an iOS version finished. If you’re a dedicated Google user who prefers a BlackBerry or Windows Phone, however, it’s not clear whether any Drive apps will be headed your way. For the time being, non-Android users can give the mobile site a try, but the experience is not as good as the Android Drive app. Opening an image on my Android phone, for example, was a real chore using the mobile Drive site, but was intuitive and easy using the smartphone app.
Great Search Capabilities
Google Drive comes with Google Goggles image search technology built-in, and in my tests image search results were pretty impressive. I put Google to the test by dropping into my Drive folder some photos of the Statue of Liberty and the Chrysler Building in New York City. Moments later I did a search for “Statue of Liberty” and “Chrysler Building” on the Web-based version of Drive on a separate machine.
Drive had no problem identifying both landmarks in the photos, and the files did not have any metadata such as location or handy titles to give the search engine any hints. But there were some shortcomings. A search for “Queensboro Bridge,” for example, resulted in no results even though my shot of the Chrysler Building clearly showed the well-known bridge in the background. Another quirk was that when I searched for “Manhattan” or “New York City,” none of my images appeared in the results, but a search for “New York” brought up all of my test images.
I also uploaded two copies of the cover image from Walter Isaacson’s biography of former Apple CEO Steve Jobs who died in October. One version of the cover included the book title and author and the other image didn’t. Searching for “Steve Jobs” brought up both images, but only the image with the book title and author appeared in the results when searching for “Walter Isaacson.”Again, neither image had any metadata or filenames so Drive could only identify these items using the actual images.
Even though Drive’s image recognition did a good job with landmarks and famous people, it failed to find other family photos I had uploaded when using generic searches such as “dog” and “baby.”
Google says its image recognition technology is still in its early stages and should improve over time.
If you want to give Google Drive a try, you can get started at drive.google.com/start. Drive is currently being rolled out to all users, so check back if the new service is not available for your account yet.
Connect with Ian Paul (@ianpaul) on Twitter and Google+, and with Today@PCWorld on Twitter for the latest tech news and analysis.
Article source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/254457/google_drive_the_pros_and_cons.html
Tags: Android Drive, Chrysler Building, Google Docs, Google Drive, New York City, Walter Isaacson
25 Apr 12 Google Set to Meld GDrive With Chrome OS
Google senior vice president Sundar Pichai says the GDrive will soon be integrated with the company’s Chrome OS operating system. Image: Flickr/niallkennedy
Google will tightly integrate its new Google Drive online storage service with an upcoming version of its Chrome OS operating system, according to Sundar Pichai, the man who oversees development of the company’s Chrome products as well as its Google Apps online services.
Chrome OS is Google’s effort to move all applications and data onto the web. First released last year on “Chromebook” laptops from Acer and Samsung, this lightweight operating system revolves around a single local application: Google’s Chrome browser. The idea is to streamline the way we use, update, and secure our laptop and desktop machines, and though it succeeds in some cases, the OS still hasn’t mastered the art of moving files from place to place.
By integrating Chrome OS with Google Drive — the online storage service Google introduced on Tuesday — the company seeks to correct this problem. “With Chromebooks, [Google Drive] is even more powerful,” Pichai says, “because it just starts working naturally. Your local drive is also Google Drive. This makes it really powerful because you just don’t think about it.”
Basically, Google Drive — a service that operates on the web — will perform as if it was the local file system. If you open the ‘save file’ dialog box on Chrome OS, for instance, the system will take you straight to Google Drive. “We’ll…effectively integrate [Google] Drive into the native file system of Chrome OS,” says Scott Johnson, Google’s Google Drive product manager. “All the core OS functionality will use [Google] Drive as a place to store data — if that’s what you opt in to.”
According to Pichai and Johnson, Google Drive will integrate will version 20 of Chrome OS. An early incarnation of version 19 is currently under test, prior to its official release.
The long-rumored GDrive is an online service where you can upload, share, and collaborate on files, including documents, videos, photos, and PDFs. It’s available to consumers, but it’s also part of the Google Apps suite of online applications the company offers to businesses.
The service is similar to what Google has long provided as part of its Google Docs online word processor — it even looks the same — but in moving file storage to a new service, Google is looking to facilitate the transfer of files between all sorts of online applications, including its own services as well as those run by third parties.
VMware’s SlideRocket — an online service for building slide presentations a la Microsoft PowerPoint — is among a handful of third-party services that already tie into Google Drive. The appeal of GDrive, says Chuck Dietrich, who oversees SlideRocket at VMware, is that you can open files directly from the service. “When you open a document, you can immediately start editing,” he says. “They have their own editing tool, but they also have integration with other tools like SlideRocket.”
Other storage services, such as Box.net, are moving towards in a similar direction, so Google Drive is not unique in this sense. But this does make it a good fit for Chrome OS. Because the OS does not run local applications, you’re forced to shuttle files between online apps, and even when you have an effective local file interface, this can be difficult. You end up uploading files and then downloading them and then uploading them again.
When Google unveiled an early version of Chrome OS in December 2010, it offered no obvious way for users to access files stored on the machine itself. By the time the OS hit the market, it included a rudimentary file viewer, but moving files was still quite difficult.
Currently, Google offers downloadable software that tie Google Drive to the file systems of other desktop OSes, including Apple’s Mac OS X, letting you synchronize files across multiple machines. But with Chrome, this sort of software will be part of the OS itself.
As recounted in Steven’s Levy’s In the Plex, Google was on the verge of releasing a GDrive storage service several years ago, but Sundar Pichai was among the Googlers who were against launching the service — apparently because it was little more than a way of storing files. “The point I made was that files — in and of themselves — don’t matter,” Pichai remembers. “What matters is applications.”
But the new GDrive, he says, takes a different tack. “This version of GDrive is deeply tied to how we think about Google Docs,” he says. “The focus is on applications — powerful applications — that let people live and work in the cloud, create and collaborate. We started by letting people upload files to Google Docs, and GDrive is an evolution of this. It’s a place where you go to create and collaborate and share documents…Users are not just looking for file systems and storage.”
Soon, Google Drive will bring this approach to Chrome OS. And it’s needed.
Article source: http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/04/google-gdrive-chrome-os/
Tags: Chrome OS, Google Apps, Google Docs, Google Drive, OS, Sundar Pichai
25 Apr 12 How to use Google Drive on Android
You may have noticed shortly after the official announcement of Google Drive that Google Docs was no longer on your
Android device. Instead, you can find the Google Drive app in its place. If for some reason your Google Docs app hasn’t made the switch yet, you can download the Google Drive update to your device from Google Play. Let’s take a look at how the Android app integrates and works with Google Drive.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET)
The main screen of Google Drive provides a few options for navigating the new service. You will have quick access to files in your Drive, any documents that have been shared with you, any files or folders you have starred, recently opened, or edited, as well as any files you have downloaded for offline access.
The account name (blurred out in the screenshot) at the top of the screen acts just like it does in all other Google apps; tapping on it will allow you to quickly switch between Google accounts and the respective Drive accounts.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET)
To create a new item on your Drive, tap on the menu icon then select New. You will then be given the option of creating a document, spreadsheet, document from photo, or to upload a file. If you used Google Docs on your device previously, you should be familiar with the first three options. Upload, however, is new and specific to Google Drive.
When you select upload, you’re able to browse and upload files stored on your Android device to your Drive account. One important thing to note, however, is that installing a file manager, such as Astro File Manager, is required to browse files outside of your music and photo galleries.
Keep in mind if you want to place the new item in a specific folder, you will need to navigate to that folder in the app before you upload or create it. If you create a new item from the home screen, it will be placed in the root directory of your Drive.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET)
The settings for the Google Drive app allow you to set the amount of data you will want the app to cache, starting at 50MB topping out at 250MB. You can also enable/disable encryption of offline documents as well as enable a reminder to be displayed when you are updating files over a wireless connection, not Wi-Fi.
(Credit:
Screenshot by Jason Cipriani/CNET)
When viewing your folders and files, you can favorite any item by tapping on the star located next to the item name. If you tap on the arrow icon located on the right-hand side of the listing, you are presented with a list of options.
These options allow you to save the file for offline viewing, sharing, sending, renaming, deleting, and opening with another app.
You can share, rename, and delete entire folders, but you cannot make them available for offline viewing or send them.
At anytime in the app you can tap on the familiar search icon and search for a specific document or folder. The items stored in your Drive aren’t automatically updated in the Android app. So, if you have recently placed new items on your Drive and they aren’t yet appearing in the Android app, tap on the menu icon and select refresh.
If you have any extra tips or tricks we missed for Google Drive on Android, please share them below in the comments.
Article source: http://howto.cnet.com/how-to-use-google-drive-on-android/8301-11310_39-57420195-285.html
Tags: Astro File Manager, Credit Screenshot, Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Play, Wi Fi
24 Apr 12 Google Drive official: 5GB of free storage, Chrome web apps, Wave-like sharing …
If it happened any other way, it just wouldn’t be as satisfying, now would it? After years of leaks, murmurs, hubbub and other familiar synonyms, Google’s mythical cloud storage platform is now official… sort of. As Lady Fate would have it, the company apparently outed a memo of the features on its French blog earlier today, but before it could yank the ‘pull’ switch, an eagle-eyed reader managed to grab the text and run it through — surprise, surprise — Google Translate. What’s left is an official-as-you’ll-get-right-now transcript of Google Drive’s features, but contrary to the hype, it all feels way more enterprise-centric than consumers may have wanted. For starters, there’s no real mention of music (we guess Google Music is on its own, there), and there’s just 5GB of free storage for “documents, videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs, etc.” According to the brief, it’s designed to let users “live, work and play in the cloud,” with direct integration with Docs and Google+.
We’re also told that Drive can be installed on one’s Mac, PC or Android phone / tablet, while an iOS version will be “available in the coming weeks.” Of note, Google’s making this accessible to visually impaired consumers with the use of a screen reader. As for features? Naturally, Google’s flexing its search muscles in as many ways as possible; if you scan in a newspaper clipping, a simple Search All within Drive will allow results to appear directly from said clipping. If you upload a shot of the Eiffel Tower, it’ll show up whenever you search for the aforesaid icon. Moreover, Drive will allow folks to open over 30 types of documents directly from a web browser, including HD video, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and more — “even without the software installed on your computer.” For those concerned about access, the new platform will have the same infrastructure as any other Google Apps services, giving admins a familiar set of management tools on that end.
On the topic of storage, just 5GB are provided gratis, with 25GB costing $2.49 per month, 100GB running you $4.99 per month and 1TB demanding $49.99 per month, with a maximum of 16TB ($799.99 per month, if you’re curious) per user; thankfully, Google Docs will not be included in your usage total. Finally, the note played up the ability to “attach documents directly into your Drive Gmail,” and given that it’s intended to be an open platform, Goog’s promising to work with third party developers in order to enhance Drive’s functionality even further. The source link below is still dead as of right now, but it simply can’t be long before the lights are officially turned on. Oh, and if you’re not enamored at the moment, the outfit’s suggesting that “many more developments” will be arriving in the coming weeks.
Update: It’s live on the Google Play store, and a pair of explanatory videos are embedded after the break!
Article source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/24/google-drive-official-cloud-storage-details-docs/?a_dgi=aolshare_twitter
Tags: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Drive Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive, Update It
19 Apr 12 Google Pumps Up Their Cloud Print Service With New FedEx Partnership
The amount of harried printing situations I’ve been party to has dropped dramatically since I finished school, but Google’s new update to their Cloud Print service should have you covered if you can’t say the same.
According to a post on the official Chrome blog Google has baked the ability to print to any FedEx Office location right into Cloud Print, so you’ll be push your documents from Chrome, Google Docs, or your Android device to a participating store and pick up it whenever you need to.
When I took the service for a spin, the process of actually creating the job took a shade under 30 seconds seconds — from there, I was greeted with an email mentioning that my document was now ready to print at a local FedEx Office. As long as you’ve remember to keep the retrieval code from the email handy, you’re all set to pick up your sales report (or printed copy of Charge of the Like Brigade) when you need to.
It isn’t a dealbreaker if you can’t get down there immediately though, as the document will continue to live in the cloud for ten days. After that, you’re plumb out of luck (unless you pop into Chrome and Cloud Print it again). I imagine that not everyone will be too pleased with this development — companies like Breezy have working to remove the friction from mobile printing for quite a while, and now they’ve got other competitor to deal with.
Strangely enough, Google also announced that Cloud Print can now send documents to Ice Cream Sandwich-powered devices that have the Chrome for Android beta installed. It doesn’t strike me as a huge improvement over, say, just sticking it in Google Docs, but it’ll do in a pinch if you’re ever in need of a slightly-clunkier version of Instapaper.
Article source: http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/18/google-pumps-up-their-cloud-print-service-with-new-fedex-partnership/
Tags: Cloud Print, Google Docs, Ice Cream Sandwich
19 Apr 12 Chrome now prints to FedEx
Chrome Cloud Print now supports FedEx Office locations.
(Credit:
Google)
Google’s Cloud Print in Chrome might not be for everybody, but if you’re on the go and must print something in a hurry — and in the United States — it could be exactly the service you want thanks to a new partnership with FedEx Office.
Cloud Print will now offer a “Print to FedEx Office” option so that you can print from Chrome directly to a FedEx Office location (formerly known as Kinko’s). When you use it, Google says that you’ll receive a retrieval code for use on any FedEx Print and Go self-service kiosk. FedEx Office has more than 1,800 stores around the U.S.
With this update, Canon printers have been added to Google’s list of Cloud Print Ready options, and Chrome for
Android beta can now be used as a destination to send documents via Cloud Print. It’s not really clear at this time how that’s better than just using Google Docs to access a document on your phone or
tablet, but being able to print work documents or concert tickets on the fly could be immensely useful as necessary.
Article source: http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-57415912-12/chrome-now-prints-to-fedex/?part=rss&subj=software&tag=title
Tags: Cloud Print, Cloud Print Ready, Google Docs, United States
18 Apr 12 Chrome now prints to FedEx
Chrome Cloud Print now supports FedEx Office locations.
(Credit:
Google)
Google’s Cloud Print in Chrome might not be for everybody, but if you’re on the go and must print something in a hurry — and in the United States — it could be exactly the service you want thanks to a new partnership with FedEx.
Cloud Print will now offer a “Print to FedEx Office” option so that you can print from Chrome directly to a FedEx Office location (formerly known as Kinko’s.) When you use it, Google says that you’ll receive a retrieval code for use on any FedEx Print and Go self-service kiosk. FedEx has more than 1,800 stores around the U.S.
With this update, Canon printers have been added to Google’s list of Cloud Print Ready options, and Chrome for
Android beta can now be used as a destination to send documents to via Cloud Print. It’s not really clear at this time how that’s better than just using Google Docs to access a document on your phone or
tablet, but being able to print work documents or concert tickets on the fly could be immensely useful as necessary.
Article source: http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-57415912-12/chrome-now-prints-to-fedex/
Tags: Cloud Print, Cloud Print Ready, Google Docs, United States
16 Apr 12 Gmail Attachments to Docs for Chrome Auto-Saves Gmail Attachments to Google Docs
Chrome: Heavy Google Docs users know it can be a pain when you get an email with an attachment—even if it’s in Gmail—and want to save it in Google Docs for later. You have to view the attachment first, and then click to save it in Google Docs, and even then only if it’s one of a few file types. With the Gmail Attachments to Docs extension for Chrome, saving one or all of your attachments is as easy as clicking one link.
Gmail Attachments to Docs is very simple— it inserts a link next to the attachment in Gmail to “Save to Docs,” in between View and Download. When you click, it avoids you having to open the attachment before saving it to Google Docs for the account you’re logged in to. If you work in Google Docs frequently and don’t want to open a bunch of tabs just to save the documents you’ve received, or you don’t want to leave your mail just to keep a copy of the documents someone sent you, this extension can be a real time saver. Have a different method of doing the same thing? Let us know in the comments below.
Thanks to reader Josh for sending in the tip!
Gmail Attachments to Docs | Chrome Web Store
Article source: http://lifehacker.com/5902255/gmail-attachments-to-docs-for-chrome-auto+saves-gmail-attachments-to-google-docs
Tags: Google Docs
16 Apr 12 Clearing up a few myths about the newly renovated Chrome OS
April 16, 2012, 12:34 PM — 
Chrome OS is odd. That’s the one thing almost everybody can agree on. Whether Google’s web-centered, Chrome-based notebooks are “odd, but also the future,” or just plain “odd, and probably not for me” is the central point. It doesn’t help that very few people have had a chance to actually use Chrome OS, and that the majority of those who have seem to be tech writers, programmers, IT administrators, or other folks who have reaching, exacting demands of their hardware.
There are public offices, universities, non-profits, and corporations that were given Chromebooks under a test program, but we’ve heard comparatively little from those institutions, other than through the filter of customer testimonials posted by Google. So the greatest public service I can try to provide in this very narrow topic space is to clear up a few ideas about Chrome OS, Chromebooks, and what they are and are not meant to accomplish. I’ve been using Chromebooks since December 2011, when the first reference model Cr-48 notebooks were released.
Now that Google’s released a developer preview of Chrome OS’ almost entirely new look, it feels like a good time to do some QA.
Chrome OS is basically Chrome running full-screen on your system, and nothing else, right?
That was mostly true until recently. Chrome OS had a login screen, a Settings page with more system-wide options, and a few specialty Chrome-OS-focused Chrome apps, but, generally, it was a Chrome window.
But that’s changed with the addition of a new window manager. The focus is still on web-based productivity, specifically Google-based apps, but now one can manage multiple Chrome windows on one screen, create “applications” out of web sites by removing all of the browser controls around them, and use a Windows-style taskbar to manage multiple browser and application windows. There’s even a bit of a Windows-style “Aero Snap” function, where dragging a windows to the left or right borders of the desktop instantly resizes a window to half the screen’s width for side-by-side operation.
But, still, it’s just Chrome, right?
That’s still true. But look at some of the upgrades that Chrome has seen recently that make it a bit more than just a window onto the web:
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Offline access for Gmail, Docs, and Calendar. There’s full send-and-receive for Gmail, while still read-only for now with Docs and Calendar. But it’s a very helpful start down the HTML5-powered offline realm.
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Offline access for other Chrome apps, including Scratchpad, which can, oddly enough, save and sync documents to Google Docs.
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Multiple user profiles, which, you might think, aren’t so handy for a system that requires separate Google sign-ins, but for people with multiple Google accounts, they’re a handy way to avoid account confusion from one window to the next.
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Tab syncing across computers, so you can pick up immediately on what you had open at work or home when you flip open a Chromebook.
Why would I want a laptop that does less than a Windows or Mac laptop (on which, of course, I could run Chrome)?
Good question–the best one, really. Google’s pitch so far has been one of hassle-free computing. A supremely secure core system, one that doesn’t need anti-virus production, and can easily and quickly be restored to factory condition if something did somehow get through. Automatic updates that don’t bother you, and install quickly whenever you get around to rebooting. Cloud-based documents, settings, and everything else, so you could throw it in a river, and you wouldn’t really lose a thing. No app stores or installer packages, no 32-bit-versus-64-bit questions, and only one folder, really, in which you can store a few necessary downloads.
What makes Chromebooks different from other laptops, hardware-wise?
Hardware-wise, they tout the long battery life (sometimes 8-9 hours, depending on usage, and pitched as an “all-day battery”), the built-in 3G connectivity on some models (likely upgraded to 4G in newer releases), and the relative lightness of the devices. The keyboard, while surprisingly full-sized, tends to draw mixed reactions, depending on what you need underneath your fingers. They have relatively tiny, solid-state hard drives, usually around 16 GB, meant for storing a few downloads, but with the majority of your storage based in the cloud.
Can I get work done on this thing?
The answer here is the same as with an iPad: it depends on what you’re doing for work, and how comfortable you feel working entirely on the web, without much local file access. If you need to create complex spreadsheets and work with them whether or not you have an internet connection, Chromebooks aren’t for you. If you generally work with email, traditional documents, and tend to travel in places with good Wi-Fi or reliable cellular coverage, Chromebooks might work great. If battery life, universal backup, and lightweight portability matter to you, a Chromebook can be a great kind of secondary computer. If raw power, Skype video chats, and development tools are what you need, look elsewhere.
Article source: http://www.itworld.com/operating-systems/268196/clearing-few-myths-about-newly-renovated-chrome-os
Tags: Aero Snap, Chrome OS, GB, Google Docs, Whether Google, Wi Fi
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