Move over Chromebook – Google teases Gemini-native Googlebook range, with new laptops coming later in the year

Close-up shot of a Googlebook chassis with branding on grey-colored frame underneath ctrl button. — (Image credit: Google)

Google has teased a new line-up of laptops coming later in the year called Googlebooks.

In what was a brief announcement at the Android Show, Googlebooks appear to be a confirmation of a long-running rumor: a new operating system based on a fusion of ChromeOS and Android, and essentially a Gemini-native successor to Chromebooks.

“We’re bringing together the best of Android, which comes with powerful apps on Google Play and a modern OS that’s designed for Intelligence, and ChromeOS, which comes with the world’s most popular browser,” Google’s senior director for laptops and tablets, Alex Kuscher, wrote in a blog post.

“The result is Googlebook: a new category of laptops built with Gemini’s helpfulness at its core, designed to work seamlessly with the devices in your life and powered by premium hardware. We’re sharing a sneak peek into the Googlebook experience today and will have a lot more to share later this year.”

What to expect with Googlebooks

Googlebooks will be the first laptops designed “from the ground up” for Gemini Intelligence, the company said in its announcement. The first Googlebooks are expected in the fall from the usual vendors such Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo.

Gemini and its AI capabilities will assist you the moment you open a Googlebook laptop, the company said. One of the first new features is the “Magic Pointer” which adds extra functions as you hover the cursor over various apps.

The cursor will also come alive with “just a wiggle”, according to Google. The wiggle brings up quick and contextual suggestions that depend on where it is on the screen.

Pointing at a date in Gmail, for example, will suggest setting up a meeting. Or selecting two images can create a visualization; the presentation showed a couch being placed in a living room.

Many of the features appeared to be more about everyday life, rather than business use cases. Though it isn’t hard to imagine where capabilities like custom widgets or remote mobile access can help at work.

The latter will allow you to access your mobile from the laptop.

The announcement does raise a few questions, particularly for the future of Chromebooks, but we expect more details to come over the summer.

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Bobby Hellard is ITPro's Reviews Editor and has worked on CloudPro and ChannelPro since 2018. In his time at ITPro, Bobby has covered stories for all the major technology companies, such as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook, and regularly attends industry-leading events such as AWS Re:Invent and Google Cloud Next.

Bobby mainly covers hardware reviews, but you will also recognize him as the face of many of our video reviews of laptops and smartphones.