Chrome OS ‘Smartbooks’ arriving this month

There have been rumours about netbooks, notebooks and tablets based on Google’s ‘Chrome’ Operating System for a while now but so far none have made an appearance. We did expect a Chrome device to be launched by Acer at Computex but that didn’t materialise.

Now according to a Digitimes Report, several companies are going to launch their devices (Smartbooks they’re calling them) running Chrome operating system with the first of them appearing later this month.

Apparently Google’s own Chrome Smartbook is first, it will be made by Inventec, which is a major Taiwanese firm that already makes notebooks for the likes of Toshiba and others.

Initial shipments of the Google Chrome device are expected to be between 60,000 and 70,000 units. They will feature an ARM-based platform and they will not be selling through retail channels says the report.

Surely this isn’t suggesting that Google will repeat the online sales disaster they had with the Nexus One?

Anyway, Digitimes reports that after the Google branded device, the next to launch their Chrome products will be Acer and Hewlett Packard, and these will arrive as early as December. Both of these company’s devices will be made by Quanta Computer.

Ok so the rumours of Chrome OS devices have been rife, and now Digitimes, seems to confirm not only that they’re coming but that a Google branded Smartbook running Chrome is also on the cards, however, is it really going to happen?

What about the Chrome OS app store? That doesn’t seem to be coming any time soon and that would be essential for the success of any Chrome OS device.

Also, Google has never come out and said it would be producing a Google branded notebook but that doesn’t mean anything.

The thing is, any new device coming out now has to be good enough to compete with the iPad as let’s face it, tablet computers are the latest must have gadget.

If we look at the figures then competition is stiff, Strategy Analytics recently put Apple’s share of the tablet market at over 95 percent which doesn’t leave much of the action for anyone else, that’s at the moment anyway.

Where technology is concerned, anything could happen and it can happen fast. Android tablets for example could well shake up the market with Gingerbread.

Let’s just hope we do see Chrome OS devices by the end of the year, something new to play with.