Googlebook Is Google’s New AI-Powered Laptop Built on Android

About 15 years since Google introduced Chromebooks and ChromeOS-Invented a wave of cheap, efficient, laptops with internet access it would arrive rule the education market in the US-the company has announced a new laptop platform called Googlebook. It’s built around artificial intelligence and Android, and while it won’t replace the Chromebook, it could give the company a good foothold in the premium computer market.

Google has announced a platform on Android demo on YouTube, where it detailed the new features coming in Android 17 and Gemini Intelligence (you can read more about it here). Google intentionally does not share the name of the operation (it was codenamed Aluminum OS inside); Googlebook is the platform, and Dell, Acer, Asus, HP, and Lenovo have all signed on to make Googlebooks coming later this fall.

The company says it will share more information later this year, but I spoke with Alexander Kuscher, Google’s senior director of Android tablets and laptops, to get the details. Kuscher says there’s a lot of innovation in the Android ecosystem right now, and it translates very well to laptops.

“You want to take advantage of the fact that this ecosystem is developing so quickly that you make sure laptops are at the forefront of these new innovations – building on top of Android technologies makes that easier for us,” he says.

Until now, when Google releases new devices for Android or its Gemini assistant, it often also announces some of the features of other platforms, such as. Wear OS smart watchesAndroid Auto, or Google Home. Chromebooks weren’t part of the picture because they were built on a different technology and had their own development process. However, with Googlebooks, you can expect to see new releases on Android that are available on the Googlebook laptop, where it makes sense.

Example: Create a Widget. This is a new AI tool coming in Android 17, allowing users to create their own widget by speaking naturally with Gemini. You can ask it to create a widget that shows the change of day if you’re traveling, or a weather widget that also shows the wind speed. This part will also available on Googlebooks.

But the neat feature that Google is teasing at the gate is the pointer, which the company calls the “Magic Pointer” on the Googlebook. Built by Google’s DeepMind teamallows you to move your cursor while hovering over an app or image to get an idea of ​​what you’re up to. For example, you can move the cursor over a date in an email, and Gemini will suggest a calendar event. Or select two images in the Files app, shake them, and Gemini will ask you if you want to combine them.

The Play Store is where you get all your apps. But you may wonder how Google is approaching the high limits of Chromebook: In ChromeOS, you can’t download desktop apps like on Windows or macOS – you can only install Android apps from the Play Store or use web apps. This is confusing for people who rely on specific apps that may not have the most powerful web client or Android app.

The answer is flexible software. Google has been encouraging developers to make apps compatible with screen sizes for a few years now, and that means encouraging developers to create desktop apps for their Android apps for Googlebooks. But Kuscher says things will be different with “restricted” Android apps on Chromebooks, which were designed for the first Internet era.