Sundar Pichai took the stage again at Google I/O to let us know what Google has up its sleeves for Chromebooks and Chrome OS.
Today, Google has 8 OEMs making 15 different Chromebook devices (with more coming), available in 28 different countries.
Pichai even noted that all 10 of the top 10 rated laptops on Amazon are all Chromebooks. Not too shabby. There's even been a 6x growth of use of Chromebooks in K-12 schools in the past year.
Google will be adding more to Chromebooks and the Chrome OS in order to make sure these trends continue.
In order to focus on speed, simplicity and security, Google has brought a new feature that will be found on Android Wear to Chromebooks as well.
If a user is wearing their Android Wear device and is in close proximity to their phone, their phone will not require an unlock code, because the system knows it's you trying to unlock your device. Now, if your phone is right next to your Chromebook, the same will apply. You'll be able to unlock the notebook without a password. Of course, if you'd like to stay on the cautious side, you can disable the feature if you'd like.
You'll also get more Google Now cards as well as phone notifications on your Chromebook, including text messages, calls, and low battery notifications (seen below).
You'll also soon be able to download your favorite Android applications on your Chromebook. This is still in the early days, but Google is making tools available to developers so that they can port their creations to the Chrome OS while making as little modifications to their platform as possible. See it in action with Evernote below. (Side by side comparison with a tablet and the Chromebook.)
Pichai also showed the same feature using Vine and Flipboard.
Check out the rest of our Google I/O 2014 coverage here.
