GoKawiilJust about 15 years ago, Google introduced ChromeOS and Chromebooks, right when cloud computing was becoming mainstream. While early Chromebooks were fraught with limitations, ChromeOS's constraints dissipated over the years, becoming a low-cost, viable alternative to what Apple and Microsoft offer. Google's now looking to shake up the laptop market once again with Googlebooks -- but this time, it's all about AI.
What's a Googlebook? The simple answer: It's a premium laptop powered by an Android- and Gemini-based operating system, with the desktop feel and built-in security of ChromeOS. But trying to explain what that actually means to someone who's not too tech savvy is a little trickier. The basic idea is that using a Googlebook shouldn't be all too different from using a Chromebook or any other laptop, you'll just get more Gemini AI-powered tools built in, along with access to the full universe of Android apps.
Watch this: Googlebooks: The Ultimate Laptop for Android Users? 05:52
Android, Gemini AI and ChromeOS in one package
While over the past couple years Google has added a healthy dose of Gemini AI to its Chromebooks, with Googlebooks it's at their core. One of the features Google has teased, for example, is Magic Pointer. Shake your cursor over an image, and the system could surface contextual AI suggestions for things you might want to do with it. Shake your cursor over an email with event details, meanwhile, and it might suggest adding the information directly to your calendar.
Read more: Android 17 Is Smarter Than Ever, Thanks to Gemini Intelligence
But arguably the biggest advantage is that, because it's built on Android, features originally developed for phones can be brought to Googlebooks much more quickly -- something that wasn't really possible with ChromeOS. Circle to Search is a good example: It took roughly a year for the feature to make the jump from Android phones to Chromebook Plus laptops. But now, an AI feature like Create Your Widget -- which lets you quickly generate custom widgets and was only recently announced for Android phones -- will also be available on Googlebooks.
The Create Your Widget feature on Googlebooks was quickly developed from the version coming to Android phones. Screenshot by Josh Goldman/CNET
I spoke with Alexander Kuscher, Google's senior director for laptops and tablets, who described Googlebooks as "no-compromise" laptops designed for anyone with an Android phone. By building on the same Android foundation, he said, the experience between devices should feel seamless rather than bolted on.
"When we started with Googlebooks, we wanted to build something that is intuitive. But when you unpack what intuitive means, it really means, often it starts with something that is familiar," Kuscher said. "And that's the approach we've taken with Googlebooks. We took something that you are used to -- in this case, your Android phone -- and you're used to how they work, how they behave, how they interact with you, and we took that, and we expanded upon it."
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