Google provided its first public details of Chrome OS at a special event today. Electronista supplied coverage of the just-ended even; all updates are listed in reverse chronological order. Among the news unveiled are the first public view of the OS, that there will be no beta today and that the platform is being open-sourced early as Chromium OS a year ahead of its planned late 2010 release.
2:21PM: Real-time notification is important: will use W3C’s notification API for things like IM chat. Web platform should be ideal for multi-computer homes as it makes things easier to manage. Event ends.
2:18PM: Sergey Brin on stage. Apps won’t need signatures, only the core OS. No multi-boot or separate “instant on” OS (Chrome OS is the instant-on OS). Will try to make important devices work, but cameras and similar will work as mass storage devices (as demoed earlier).
2:10PM: As of today, no Android apps will run in Chrome OS since all apps are web apps. ARM and x86 will be supported [ed: x86 likely first priority given the partners]. Stresses that the OS will be free. No plans to put in ads besides the regular OS.
2:02PM: Other browsers can run, but it will have to be through an open-source modification of the OS itself since Chrome is the main browser. Hardware won’t be detailed until around the middle of next year, but the focus is on netbooks for 2010.
1:57PM: Google assumes this will be a secondary system meant to get on the web easily. No problem if users don’t think it’ll be right for them; not intended for everyone. Every codec supported in Chrome browser will work with Chrome OS, but more should be added for the OS. Hardware acceleration will happen whenever possible.
1:54PM: Q&A: Not sure what prices for netbooks will be; too early to tell. No price target, though. Demo system was an off-the-shelf Eee PC. Computer makers aren’t being given a pre-set development guideline, but documentation will exist to show them what to do. W3C, Khronos Group (OpenGL, etc.) being talked to as part of ensuring Chrome OS meets standards.
1:47PM: Showing a promo video explaining Chrome OS: emphasizing the importance of getting on the Internet first and of having all features in the cloud, not local.
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