Is it still April Fools’ Day? A new report today from the somewhat reliable DigiTimes is reporting that Google is looking to get deeper into the notebook and PC market. Only this won’t be a Chromebook, instead it will be an Androidbook. First off that name is terrible. And second, if anything it would be a hybrid device like the ASUS Padfone or the Transformer tablet with a keyboard dock.
The report states that Google’s Chromebook and Chrome OS is doing decent, and their recent Chromebook Pixel and TV ad spots have improved the sales. However, later this year while they’ll still be focusing on and releasing Chromebooks they’ll also release to the world the first Androidbook. I die a little inside every time I hear or type the word Androidbook.
Sundar Pichai, the man who took over for the Android father Andy Rubin is said to be headed up this new direction, and we can’t really call it a direction. This is more of a branch – if the rumor is to be believed. We’re going to go ahead and take this with a massive (and I mean massive) grain of salt. While we’ve heard that Chrome OS and Android won’t be merging anytime soon, maybe this is what Google execs meant. They won’t be merging because they’ll have (cringe) Androidbooks later this year.
We have no idea what to expect here. We could see Google releasing something along the lines of a Nexus tablet and keyboard dock with build quality like the Pixel – but who knows. For now this is just a massive rumor that in closing DigiTimes states is their beliefs on how Google will penetrate the PC industry. With the mobile industry taking over, I don’t think the PC market is their main focus. Just a thought.
[via DigiTimes]
