GoKawiilAfter multiple years of rumors, Google today confirmed a new laptop-focused initiative called Googlebooks. ChromeOS, which launched more than 15 years ago, was built with the thought that most people do everything online now; Google says this new category of laptops is built for a Gemini-first world. The company only gave us a very brief preview of what makes up a Googlebook, with plans to more formally announce more details including hardware later this year.
Here's what we know so far. The OS running on Googlebooks has its origins in Android, something we've been hearing about for several years now. Of course, Chromebooks have supported app streaming from Android phones since 2023, but Google says that building the OS from the ground up on Android will allow for a lot closer integration between Googlebooks and Android phones. It'll also enable the company to develop and implement Android features on laptops much easier than it can currently do with ChromeOS. Since ChromeOS was basically just a browser to start with, Google has had to graft a lot of features like Quick Share and Phone Hub to make the system work better with Android — that won't be the case with Googlebooks.
As such, Google is pushing more robust Android integration with Googlebooks. There's a new Quick Access feature that'll show your compatible Android phone in the sidebar of the file browser, giving you immediate access to everything stored on it that you might want to share on your laptop. The new "Create Your Widget" feature coming to Android 17 is present here, as well. This lets you build a dashboard of related files and information from Gmail, Calendar and other Google apps to keep a project or event all in one easily accessible place.
Googlebooks will also offer a streamlined way to view apps from your Android phone on your laptop. Like I said, ChromeOS has offered app streaming for a while already, but this implementation seems a lot simpler. There's a phone button in the dock at the bottom of the screen, and clicking that will just bring up a grid of apps that you can immediately launch on your Googlebook. It remains to be seen how exactly this differs from the current app streaming implementation, but it feels like these updates are meant to do something similar to the iPhone mirroring feature on the Mac that Apple introduced a few years ago.
The real star of the show, to hear Google tell it, is improved Gemini integration. But aside from the Create Your Widget feature, Google has only showed off one other new Gemini feature: the Magic Pointer. This is an AI-powered upgrade to the standard cursor that every computer uses as a pointing and clicking interface. Wiggling the cursor transforms it into the Magic Pointer, which Google says will give you "quick, contextual suggestions" from whatever you point at on your screen. For example, the Magic Cursor offered to take a photo of a band and the bands logo and combine them for a makeshift poster. Another example involved taking a photo of your living room and one of a couch to have them combined so you can see how they'll look together. As with everything, we'll need to see this in person to determine if it's useful. I do like the idea of giving the cursor more powers — but as with all AI features, this could be a boondoggle.
As for the hardware, Google made it clear to me that when Googlebooks roll out this fall, it won't involve any first-party laptops. As usual, Google will be working with a variety of manufacturers including Acer, ASUS, Lenovo, Dell and HP. All of these companies have made Chromebooks in the past, so it's no big surprise to hear they're all involved. Google did say that it's starting with a focus on "premium craftsmanship and materials," so we're not looking at low-end Chromebook hardware here. Indeed, Google has added a bit of bling here — there's a "glowbar" on the lid that is a direct nod to the Chromebook Pixel that the company released way back in 2013. On that computer, you could tap the lid and the bar would indicate how much battery life you had left, but we're not sure what trick the glowbar will perform, if any, in 2026.
At this early stage, it's not terribly clear what concrete advantages Googlebooks will offer over Chromebooks. Most of the features that Google talked about are present to some degree already in ChromeOS, including pretty deep Gemini integration. However, one of the main tenets of Googlebooks is closer and easier integration with Android phones — as such, it does make a degree of sense to start moving Google's laptop software over to Android. Google also says it'll continue supporting Chromebooks for the entirety of their life after purchase, which means years of software and security updates. My guess is that we're looking at a slow phase-out of available Chromebooks, with Googlebooks slowly taking their place as Google's laptop. But we're likely years away from that point — first, Google and its partners need to get Googlebooks out to the market. Google says we'll hear more about that plan this fall.