Google’s presence at CES this year is small. The company seems to mostly be working through partners at the show to demonstrate the real-world use of its various software initiatives.
Take Samsung’s two new Chromebook offerings. Google was on hand to talk up the ways in which the laptops are ushering in the latest version of Chrome OS. The new Chromebook Plus and Pro are among the first to feature Google Play access, opening up the lightweight devices to a massive offering of Android apps and games. That will come pre-installed as a beta at launch.
On Samsung’s side, the most interesting piece here is the addition of a stylus — well, a “digitized pen” (not an S Pen, mind) that brings the company’s handwriting technology to the touchscreen, coupled with new software from Google that makes for a smooth and fast writing experience.
The display technology is quite good, as well, clocking in at 2400 x 1600 (QHD), with a lid that rotates 360 degrees. The notebooks sport twin USB-C ports, 4GB of RAM and a Chromebook-esque 32GB of storage for offline access. The batteries promise a middling 8 hours on a charge.
The key differentiator between the pair is graphical and processing power, with the Pro sporting an Intel Core M3 to the Plus’s ARM.