New computers running Google’s Chrome operating system from Lenovo, Acer, Asus, HP and Toshiba have been shown off at an event in San Francisco.<\/p>\n
In addition, Dell announced it would offer its existing Chromebook laptop with a faster processor.<\/p>\n
The move is designed to build on rising demand for the web-oriented tech.<\/p>\n
According to research firm NPD, Chrome OS computers accounted for 24% of sales of sub-$300 (\u00a3177) PCs in the US over the first three months of the year.<\/p>\n
It said many consumers were purchasing them as a budget second or third computing device, while schools and universities viewed them as a cheap replacement for ageing Windows XP computers that Microsoft no longer supported.<\/p>\n
However, NPD added that competition in this commercial sector was likely to become tougher.<\/p>\n
“None of Chrome OS’s competitors really expected anything last year, so they weren’t really prepared for it,” said Stephen Baker, the firm’s vice president of industry analysis.<\/p>\n
“But everybody is prepared this year, and I think it will be a bigger challenge to gain share in volume.”<\/p>\n
Even so, Google executive Caesar Sengupta – who spoke at the launch event – was keen to highlight the platform’s success at retailer Amazon, where eight of the current 20 bestselling laptops are Chromebooks.<\/p>\n
In addition, he noted that nearly 10,000 schools had now equipped themselves with Chrome OS computers – about double the number that had been the case six months ago.<\/p>\n
Limited laptops<\/strong><\/p>\n Chrome-based computers tend to be cheaper than comparable Windows-powered rivals, in part because Google does not charge manufacturers to include its software.<\/p>\n They are designed to use web apps and online storage in most cases, rather than run programs off their hard disks.<\/p>\n Since their launch in 2011, Google has been adding features, the latest of which include voice commands and ability to play certain videos while offline.<\/p>\n But some programs remain unavailable, such as the full version of Photoshop, iTunes and many video games.<\/p>\n Intel chips<\/strong><\/p>\n The newly announced Chrome OS hardware all runs on chips manufactured by Intel, which co-hosted the news event.<\/p>\n It was keen to highlight the inclusion of its Bay Trail-M chips in some of the laptops, which it said offered an extra hour of battery life compared to last year’s versions, were faster and could be fanless, and therefore thinner.<\/p>\n The chipmaker also announced that US manufacturer CTL planned to release a Chromebook based on an Intel-design later this year.<\/p>\n But it made no mention of Samsung, the manufacturer of the bestselling Chromebook model. The South Korean firm uses its own ARM-based Exynos processors.<\/p>\n