Hewlett Packard, a.k.a. HP is one of the oldest brands in Information Technology business and is respected for being one of the most innovative business empires in technological landscape. They are getting into every emerging facet of technology, whether it’s laptops, Netbooks, PDAs, smartphones or tablets, you can see a prominent player in the name of HP, producing cutting edge hardware for satisfying the growing market demand.

But along with all the accomplishments that HP has made in the past decade, one important area where HP is seriously lagging behind is its monopolized Print business. And it’s not HP’s competitors(Canon, Lexmark…) which are hurting the revenue stream of HP’s established print business but there’s a different sort of threat for them. It’s the Next Generation digital devices that are making Paper printing worthless.

With the advent of smartphones, e-readers and tablet devices, people are getting more adapted to reading content over the screen. Less people are looking interested in printing every single document they want to read as the comfort zone is slowly drifting to Wireless digital devices from Paper reading.

Dying business of Newspaper & Magazine industry is one big indicator. That’s probably the reason why media entities like WSJ and NYTimes have launched their iPhone and iPad apps, to keep serving their content to current generation of consumers.

Apart from the changing preferences of our generation when it comes to consuming content, there’s another reason why Printing is no more a desired thing for many of us. The reason is the incapability of most of the upcoming devices to start printing right away.

Majority of printers that HP builds today require printer specific drivers, wired connectivity, etc as the mandatory condition, which simply turns off anyone interested in taking a quick print from his smartphone or tablet, as all of them are wireless devices and don’t have printer drivers installed on their sleek machines.

All of this is hampering HP’s print business revenues to a great extent. Solution ?

HP has found a reliable companion, which will make things better than what they are now. Google and Google Cloud Print to be more specific.

As Chrome OS team announced earlier about Google Cloud Print, a cloud based service to execute printing jobs from any device (Desktop, phone or browser), without any need of printer drivers, it recently updated about the progress on Google Cloud Print service and also highlighted HP’s launch of full suite of cloud-aware printers ranging from $99 consumer printers to business-oriented printers.

As Google describes, Google Cloud Print can print from any printer, be it a legacy printer or upcoming Cloud aware printers but Google strongly recommends Cloud aware printers as they will give the best experience to the users. And supporting Google’s vision, HP has finally come up with affordable ‘Cloud aware’ printers.

Google employees have started internal testing of ‘Google Cloud Print’ service employing HP’s cloud aware printers and it seems that the goods(Chrome OS) are most likely to be delivered on time(this fall), as committed.

As more and more people are spending substantial time on Internet and more likely from their wireless devices(smartphones, tablets), if all of us become able to start printing right from our smartphones and tablet devices, HP will have far less problems to deal with, to keep its print business revenues flowing.

So here we have one exciting news coming from some trusted sources about Chrome OS. Google is in serious talks with a couple of Netbook OEMs to produce a Google branded Netbook running Chrome OS. Now, there’s no official word of Google about this news yet but multiple insider sources are confirming this.

When Google promised that Chrome OS Netbooks will be out in the market by fall 2010, it was presumed that multiple Netbook manufacturers will come up with Chrome OS Netbooks but now, it seems that Google doesn’t want to take any chance in launching its own OS and simply wants to ensure that Chrome OS Netbook becomes a Standard within Netbook industry.

It might be a case that Google branded Netbook may serve as the exclusive distributor of Chrome OS, much like Apple’s business model but this is just a presumption as yet. It has been Google’s nature(as what you can see with Android) to build the software side and let multiple hardware brands do the rest of the job and hence it would be a tough call for Google to go exclusive with Chrome OS.

There is another possibility that Google may become one of the many Netbook brands to offer Chrome OS. But frankly, no hardware OEM would like competing with Google on hardware front especially when the OS is built by Google itself. At worst, this might even happen but only if OEMs get terribly scared of getting out of business if they boycott Chrome OS in their Netbook offering.

Now that Google is making its entry at mobile hardware front with Nexus One (the Google Phone) along with Android, it is looking more probable for Google to come up with a Google branded Chrome OS Netbook as well.

As per the rumor mill, this Google branded Chrome OS Netbook might be sold with a 2 year data plan contract with a carrier.

So guys, whatever the case be, you better hold your plans to buying a Netbook until next Christmas. We bet, you won’t regret !

Source

Cloud computing is already on its way to transform the conventional computing methods and Chrome OS is a big step in taking the leap ahead. But security experts have been skeptical about ‘Cloud computing’ and the level of security it can provide.

Now, after the Chrome OS event happened last month, the concerns over ‘Chrome OS Security’ have started brewing up again. If anyone, even Google says that security will not at all be an issue then you better be paranoid.

With everything being hosted in the cloud, the security concerns will not be totally eliminated. Rather, there will be completely different kinds of security loopholes discovered in Cloud computing space. As Cloud computing will offer more benefits than concerns, it will keep growing at a fast pace but security issues will still exist. The difference will be the responsibility factor.

Right now, if someone’s data gets affected by a virus, he can’t blame anyone but himself but when the data will be hosted on the cloud, the responsibility will be more on the cloud hosting service provider than the individual.

Things will be different !!

As expected, the speculations and individual perceptions of tech bloggers and experts over Chrome OS and its future have waved up to the peak. After the ‘Chrome OS’ event came to an end in Mountain View, somebody has been speculating why Chrome OS will fail and someone else is justifying why Chrome OS has already won and many similar speculations floating here and there.

Now, this is our take at Chrome OS and why we believe that ‘Life on the Web’ is Inevitable.

If you’re one of those web fanatics(still a poor minority at global scale) and spend almost 90% of your computing time on the web today, you were certainly spending around 50% of your computing time on web around five years back(2004) and probably spending 25% of your computing time some ten years back(1999) and so on…

In last five years, technology took a long leap, with wireless internet taking the lead and super fast internet access becoming a common and affordable service, mostly in developed countries such as US, UK and other european countries. In next five years, the technology will pacen up even more.

In next five years, developing countries will start picking up the same trend and start spending most of their time on web. Now, if all of us will virtually do everything on the web and do just a couple of tasks such as photoshopping, data storage, msoffice etc on desktop, why take all the hassles and money pains that desktop OS brings along when all these residual activities can also be substituted with a web based alternative, similar to what happened to videos, music…etc…etc

Chrome OS is just a tunnel to get to the Inevitable Future of Human Computing.

The only reason why the whole Chrome OS concept is facing some level of criticism is only because it’s probably….before its time. It is the same criticism that every revolutionary attempt is bound to come across.

Chrome OS is NOT the Present, It’s the Future And the Future is Inevitable and so is Chrome OS

And trust us on this statement…a decade from now(2019), you would laugh on today (2009) when we have to spend thousands of bucks on buying OS, Office apps, softwares and similar stuff as all these things will come at ZERO cost to us. It’s only a matter of time.

]]> http://www.googlechromeosupdate.com/future-of-chrome-os/feed/ 0 http://www.googlechromeosupdate.com/install-chromium-os/ http://www.googlechromeosupdate.com/install-chromium-os/#comments Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:48:28 +0000 admin http://www.googlechromeosupdate.com/?p=125

As everyone out here might be knowing that the Chrome OS has been open sourced to public, everyone can take it and make its own build by tweaking the Chrome OS code from now on. But it might prove to be a hectic task if you want to tweak the code yourself, specially if you aren’t a developer.

No issues. There’s an easy way to get Chrome OS running on your machine by this Do-It-Yourself method. Here you go !

1. First, you need to download the torrent from here and download the Chrome OS build thereafter.

2. Download a version of VirtualBox for your Windows/Mac machine from here . It’s a virtualization tool for temporarily running an OS on your existing OS. Install it and go through the wizard step by step.

3. Just make sure that while going through the wizard based installation, select Virtual Media Manager->Add->(Now browse the Chrome OS image you had downloaded earlier) and install the Chrome OS on existing hard disk.

4.  You’re done ! Click ‘Start’ and Chrome OS is ready for you…

Google Chrome OS is back in buzz again. And we’ve something critical to talk about. Although, there hasn’t been any official word about Chrome OS for quite sometime now, the web diggers (aka geeks, bloggers) were right on their job, trying to dig out any possible traces of Chrome OS and they’ve somehow found one out.

The clue belongs to Chromium web repository, the Open source project that serves as a backbone for Google Chrome browser development. DownloadSquad spotted out a mention of Chrome OS login manager, somewhere buried in the open source code of Chromium web repository.

As Chrome OS is supposed to be a Browser based OS, a general interpretation of the term Chrome OS login manager would mean an OS that operates on Single Sign-On (SSO) cookie, working for all Google services.

In simpler words, you will be required to login with your Google Account when you will boot up your Chrome OS machine. Once you login with your Google account credentials into Chrome OS, you will get access to all the Google web services(Gmail, Google Docs, Picasa, Reader, Blogger, Friends Connect……)

It sounds pretty cool and absolutely perfect for a company like Google, probably the only internet company in tech industry that has in-house web based alternative to all major desktop applications and software needs. It also means that you just need to login with your Google account to any machine(home, office, friend’s) and you have your custom OS ready to be served. As all the services belong to Google, the overall compatibility will be immensely smooth.

But this presumption (which is most likely to turn true) that one must have a Google account to make an access to Chrome OS and use Google Chrome as the primary web browser for using any web service on Chrome OS has raised a lot of questions over the freedom of choice.

If somebody is not interested to work on Google Chrome(the supposed backbone of Chrome OS) but Firefox or IE or whatever else then ? Or if somebody doesn’t want to use Google Docs or Picasa but instead, want to use some other alternative software from a third party developer, then ??

Will Google allow other competitive software or services to get replaced as primary service in Chrome OS ? It’s a question that’s still to be answered by Google but we’re guessing that Google will choose to stay competitive than playing resistive.

Even when any user downloads and installs Google Chrome on Windows OS, Chrome first asks the user to choose a default search engine (in-built into URL address bar) and doesn’t just impose Google search on new Chrome user. It’s a competitive ideology that Google has always followed (so far) and we expect that for Chrome OS as well.

It’s clear that Microsoft has got its biggest possible challenger in the name of Google Chrome OS, but the impact of ‘Chrome OS’ may not be limited to Operating System industry only. If ‘Chrome OS’ succeeds in securing OS market share of even 15-20% within a span of 5 years from its launch, it may result in magnified losses to Microsoft in many regards. Here’s how…

It’s not just Windows OS but many other Microsoft products that critically account for Microsoft’s revenue stream such as

• Microsoft Office application suite
• Web browser: Internet Explorer
• Search Engine: Bing.com (earlier Live.com)

All of the three Microsoft properties mentioned above have a straight competition from Google’s product line. For Microsoft Office applications suite, Cloud based Google Docs is the toughest challenger. Against Internet Explorer, Google Chrome is gripping up the roots fast and against Bing.com, Google Search is already holding the hugely dominant position.

Now, all of the three Microsoft weapons have somehow been riding the huge success of Microsoft Windows. Here are the reasons…

• Office applications suite became hugely popular only because it was bundled with Microsoft Windows OS and now considered an integral part of Windows Operating system.
• The only reason behind huge domination of ill-famed Internet explorer in web browser space (IE6+IE7+IE8) is its bundling with Microsoft Windows OS.
• Bing.com has been taking advantage of Internet Explorer’s popularity. As spotted earlier by SearchEngineLand , Bing’s early peak(when it leapfrogged Yahoo!) was a result of an IE6 bug and for general cases, Internet explorer’s default search engine is set to be Bing.com. This has given big boost to Bing’s early growth.

In a scenario where Google Chrome OS, bundled with Google Docs, Google Chrome and Google Search as the default utilities takes over roughly 20% of the OS market share, it would not only be just Microsoft Windows but MS Office, Internet Explorer and Bing.com as well, which are bound to bear the proportional losses.

The same scenario holds for Google as well. If Chrome OS becomes a sustainable success in OS industry , Google’s other major products such as Google Docs, Google Chrome and (already successful) Google Search are bound to enjoy the fruit of success.

Chrome OS, the under-development operating system from Google has been under speculation for quite a while, just because there’s hardly any information about it from the actual sources(Google). Everyone is looking interested to know more about Chrome OS, only because it can be a game-changer for the huge and monopolised OS industry.

As the Google OS information is quite scarce, many people are still in doubts about Chrome OS and its future prospects. Here we have listed 10 most asked questions about Chrome OS, with appropriate answers to each of the questions.

What is Google Chrome OS ?

Google Chrome OS is a cloud based open source Operating System by Google, which is built on top on Linux kernel and puts Google Chrome(web browser) at the centre of entire OS architecture.

Is Google Chrome OS a Windows killer ?

May be. Google Chrome OS is a concept that belongs to the future of computing, Cloud Computing. Google’s possibility of making a huge impact on deep rooted Windows OS, is certainly a tough nut to crack but the possibilties are very much there. The more plausible scenario is that Google may significantly hurt Microsoft Windows, in a time frame of around 5-6 years.

Where can i get Chrome OS ?

Chrome OS is unavailable at the moment. It is expected to be made available in conjunction with Netbooks by late 2010.

How much would it cost ?

Google Chrome OS is an open source project and hence would be available for use at free of cost.

Will it be secure to work on a cloud based OS ?

Chrome OS has been carved out with security and malware resistance as one of the major preferences. It will rather be more secure than being the opposite case. Here is an in-depth answer to this.

What about Android’s future, existing Google’s baby ? Is it doomed ?

Not at all. As explained by us earlier, Android Mobile OS will continue to exist and flourish. The only difference will be its limited domain. Initially planned to serve as an OS, for both Mobile phones and desktops, it will now serve mobile phones only.

Will Chrome OS only be for Netbooks ?

Chrome OS is suitable for low capability Netbooks, laptops and desktops. It’s only a strategic move by Google to start delivering Chrome OS with Netbooks first, moving further to laptops and desktop PCs.

Will it run on any computer ?

Most probably YES. Chrome OS will work fine with most of the existing computer machines, whether the configuration is way too old. The fact that Chrome OS uses the existing Linux kernel and keeps Google Chrome browser at the centre of OS functonality, the possibility of hardware conflicts are very less.

Which Netbook manufacturers are going to produce Chrome OS powered Netbooks ?

With regard to Netbook production, Google is working closely with major OEMs namely Acer, ASUS, Freescale, Hewlett-Packard(HP), Lenovo, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Toshiba and Adobe but no official announcement has yet been done by Google.

I’m a developer. Can i code stuff for Chrome OS ?

Of course, yes. Chrome OS is an Open source OS and will be available for open source community later this year.

If you have got any other doubts regarding Chrome OS, do ask in comments. They will be immediately answered.

Google execs have been keeping sharp silence since the Chrome OS news broke out but the blogosphere is reacting just the opposite. Bloggers and news journalists are fantasizing everything they can, just to keep the Chrome OS buzz alive, whether the concerns being raised are relevant or not.

And right now, Google’s statement of building  fool-proof security standards in Google Chrome OS is getting over-exaggerated to a large extent by the online media.

The security pundits are whole-heartedly questioning Google’s claims of building a Malware-free Operating System. Few of the logical justifications of security experts are somewhat true but still, the actual statement has been largely mis-interpreted, making a mountain of a molehill.

This is the statement that’s causing the uproar…

And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don’t have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

Media has gone absurdly far that it has started relating Twitter security breach with vulnerability of Google Chrome OS. It’s fine that many of the official Twitter documents which were recently hacked, were hosted on cloud based Google docs service, but we reckon the skeptics missed out a point made pretty clear by Twitter co-founder Biz Stone saying

This attack had nothing to do with any vulnerability in Google Apps which we continue to use.

We do agree that no operating system can be 100% malware-free. We also agree that there may be even more challenges for Google while carving out a Web based Operating system, which is bound to be more open and would heavily rely on cloud based applications. But this doesn’t mean that Google’s statement about Chrome OS Security standards is waguely wrong.

One can better interpret the questionable Google statement as “implementation of never-before and highly resistent security standards within Google Chrome OS”.

Now, imagine an operating system, which is not completely fool-proof but has very rare chances of malware attacks and least vulnerability to viruses. Won’t you love such an OS ? That’s exactly what Google is eyeing for.

But there’s another hidden reason behind all these objections, being raised majorly by Security experts and Anti-virus companies. Suppose, if Google actually succeeds in building a Fool-proof Operating System then it will be one of the major highlights of Chrome OS in competing against Microsoft Windows.

And if, Google starts hurting long lived Windows dynasty of Microsoft badly, then it won’t be just Microsoft but countless of Anti-virus firms and computer security companies, who will be at the risk of going out of business.

The possibility is quite easy to realize. If Malware-free Google Chrome OS succeeds in stealing some 30-40% of OS market share from Microsoft within a span of, say 4-5 years from its launch then it will mean that only 55-65% market will actually require security experts or anti-virus softwares for staying Malware-free. This may jeopardise Anti-virus industry to a large extent.

It is analogous to a situation when everybody becomes healthy on earth and there’s a rare possibility of any disease to spread across, meaning no need of medicines ever. Won’t that cause whole Medical industry to go out of business.

This same sort of feeling is one major reason behind the whole controversy around the Google statement on Chrome OS security plans.

On the basis on a recent piece of information published on Digitimes where the speculated launch of Acer’s first Dual OS(Windows XP/Android) Netbook is being written about, many tech pundits are talking skeptic over the strategy that Google is following, concerned with their Windows killer Operating System.

Most of the speculations are circling around the reason for creating two different Google Operating Systems, competing against each other in Netbook sector. Few are arguing…

Knowing the fact that both Android and Chrome OS are built on top of Linux ,why couldn’t Google extend Android into Desktop OS market. Why Google want to recreate an OS after putting in so much of efforts into Android since late 2007 ?

There is nothing exciting in knowing that Android will be booting Netbooks as well. We reckon, it was a part of a long term planning by Google, much before Google Chrome OS was even conceptualised. Google’s Android Mobile OS was  supposedly planned to be a Universal OS, which would start off with Mobile handsets and extend upto desktops and laptops.

But Google might just realized that building an Universal OS (single OS for Handsets, laptops, netbooks, desktops) won’t be a realistic approach to cracking a monopolised Desktop OS industry. Android could well be a killer Mobile OS but building an OS for Desktops and Netbooks may require an enormous & dedicated efforts with tons of innovation from Google.

Not to forget what many android developers had been constantly admitting

Android platform has many known flaws and pitfalls as a Desktop OS and competing with Windows will almost be like a rock-climbing task without a rope for Android.

From another end, Google had started enjoying the huge and promising success of Google Chrome (it’s just over nine months since Google Chrome’s launch and there are already over 30 million loyal Chrome users),  and the idea of Web as operating platform, complimented by nascent but futuristic concepts such as Cloud computing and core Web based applications could have given birth to Google’s idea of building a Web browser centric OS.

This might be the reason why Google carved out Chrome centric OS, the Google Chrome OS, inspite of leading the development of Open source Mobile OS, Android.

Although Acer is scheduled to come up with a Dual OS Netbook carrying Android next month, it’s more than intuitive that Google will keep Android’s focus into Mobile OS sector only and take the tougher challenge of competing with Windows 7 with Google Chrome OS, starting from the Netbook industry.