Google announces $249 Samsung Chromebook, takes another shot at netbook market

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Google has just announced a brand new Chromebook in United States and United Kingdom. Priced at just $249, this is Google’s latest attempt to tap the always online crowd, which does not need too much processing power in its computer.

Built by Samsung, this Chromebook will go on pre-order in US at 12pm PST today. It features a 11.6-inch 1266x768p display, Samsung Exynos 5 Dual Processor, VGA camera, HDMI port, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and two USB ports.

According to Google, the Chromebook is capable of offering upto 6.5 hours of battery backup and weighs just 1.1 kgs. Search giant is also offering 100GB of Google Driver storage with the Chromebook, which already houses a 16GB SSD. There is also 2GB RAM on-board.

As the name suggests, Chromebooks runs on Chrome OS, which is slightly glorified version of Chrome browser that most of us use every day. The Chromebook will also include Google Now integration, which was first seen in Android 4.1 aka Jelly Bean.

“A few years ago, we set out on a journey to build a better computer that’s faster, simpler and more secure. When we introduced a few Chromebooks into the market, many of you early adopters joined us on this journey. For folks living entirely in the cloud, the Chromebook is now a primary computer,” noted Sundar Pichai , SVP, Chrome & Apps, Google in a blog post.

The Samsung Chromebook can be pre-ordered online from Amazon, Best Buy, PC World and other retailers, which will start shipping it next week. The Chromebook will also be available from Google Play store next week.

Interested buyers will also be able buy Samsung Chromebook at over 500 Best Buy stores across the U.S and over 30 PC World and Currys stores in the U.K.