GOOGLE'S CHROMEBOOK PLUS GETS A BOOST: AI-POWERED FEATURES UNVEILED

As technology ages by the second, it’s reassuring to know that GOOGLE has its finger on the pulse. Its latest announcement is a suite of artificial-intelligence-powered add-ons for its Chromebook Plus line, a show that it’s still innovating. Just to make sure, it has also simultaneously announced new Chromebook models for those that need something even more advanced.

THE DAWN OF AI IN CHROMEBOOK PLUS

All of this is going to be powered by AI from GOOGLE, which really does suggest a new model for how people use their computers. A writing assistant, a tool for making wallpaper and videos that appear as your desktop background, and easy access to the Gemini chatbot are but three examples. This is part of a broader push to make technology more helpful and usable.

GOOGLE GEMINI: YOUR AI COMPANION ON CHROMEBOOK PLUS

At the core of such innovation is a dedicated GOOGLE AI chatbot, revealed by GOOGLE to be Gemini, now accessible directly from the Chromebook’s app shelf on account of a series of recent Gemini-powered upgrades to other GOOGLE services. This is the clear direction in which the search giant is steering its ecosystem: one in which AI is deep-rooted in every corner of the platform in order to help users with all sorts of everyday tasks. A premium GOOGLE One AI plan provides subscribers of the Chromebook Plus with added value, layering on further convenience and efficiency in the execution of those same tasks.

WRITING AND CREATIVITY REIMAGINED

The creativity doesn’t stop there. GOOGLE’s in-built systemwide text rewriting capabilities, including powerful sentence paraphrasing and translation tools, and powerful AI-assisted photo editing tools that help users generate wallpapers and video backgrounds, allow for uninhibited and creative expression on the Chromebook Plus. GOOGLE is billing its new magic editor for GOOGLE Photos, which uses generative AI to quickly and accurately make edits, as intuitive and revolutionary.

ENHANCING THE CHROMEBOOK EXPERIENCE FOR ALL

While these latest updates might be limited to the Plus models, GOOGLE’s new and long-time Chromebook users are also getting features geared towards easing set-ups, bringing tasks into calendars, and even saving your screenshots as a GIF. The new Game Dashboard and accessibility-minded innovations signal a commitment towards a fully inclusive, well-rounded computing experience.

A PEEK INTO THE FUTURE: WHAT'S NEXT FOR CHROMEBOOKS

GOOGLE also teased future improvements that promise to ‘elevate the Chromebook experience to a whole new level’: semantic zoom and pan features that allow you to navigate long documents or websites; AI-powered text summaries; drag-and-drop manuscript editing; and task continuity across devices, where you can seamlessly pick up where you left off on a different machine. It is a future where your computing experience is seamless, and personal.

THE LATEST FLEET: MEET THE NEW CHROMEBOOKS

Alongside announcements about new features in GOOGLE products, the company revealed six new Chromebooks, from entry-level models for around $299 to the premium Chromebook Plus models, which start at around $699. There is a Chrome OS device for almost any user type.

UNDERSTANDING GOOGLE: THE POWERHOUSE BEHIND THESE INNOVATIONS

You see it in its central organising philosophy: to take all the world’s information and make it universally accessible and usable for everyone. And you see it in the way that GOOGLE is constantly iterating, constantly innovating – creating new things for us to play with and live with, through products such as the Chromebook Plus, and through the slew of features such as Instant Tethering. Because GOOGLE has a particular driving ethos as a company, it seeks to enable us to leave our computers and tablets and just get on with our lives. And whatever margins it can spark with its innovations, GOOGLE will be there to maximise that, as well.

And with that, GOOGLE’s latest update to the Chromebook Plus range moves us a couple of steps closer to a brilliant new future of personal computing via AI. With these empowerments in tow – not to mention the new flagship devices that will soon come our way – the Stylo’s current excesses could soon be flipped around, as creative power becomes more readily accessible to the rest of us, and, in turn, more of a given.