When you're all about productivity at work or in school, Chromebooks are some of the best options, especially at a low price point. However, for some, a regular Chromebook doesn't provide enough power, so Google made the Chromebook Plus lineup of devices, which are twice as powerful.
Today, Chromebooks are getting another power-up, as Google is bringing its AI model, Gemini, and other Google AI features to the hardware platform to ensure your productivity is at the very top of its game.
Your Chromebook Plus Laptop Is Levelling Up With Gemini And Google AI
Your Chromebook Plus is a major sidekick for your efforts at work and in school, but Google seems to want this sidekick to be as strong as the main hero. Today, Google is rolling out three Google AI features to your Chromebook Plus, and here they are:
- “Help me write”: This feature is like a little bookworm sitting over your shoulder at all times, ready to help enhance your oomph with anything that involves writing. If it is a text field, Google AI can help you write in it. This can work for titles, posts, subject lines, emails, etc. It can even refine the tone more to your taste, as well as shorten, formalize, and rephrase.
- Magic Editor: The Magic Editor is the same as on the Google Pixel devices, but the Chromebook Plus laptops will be the only ones that can use It in Google Photos. This AI-powered editor allows you to move and even resize objects in the image.
- Generative AI Wallpapers and Video Backgrounds: Looking for surreal, colorful, or unique backgrounds for your desktop or video calls? Chrome OS on Chromebook Plus gets a new wallpaper builder that you can use to make one-of-a-kind backgrounds that are far from boring.
In addition to Google AI, Chromebook Plus laptops will also get the help of Google Gemini, which isn't surprising considering Google is doing a lot of work to push its AI model forward and into the hands of consumers. Gemini is pre-installed, and you'll be able to rub minds with it to plan things, learn, make drafts, and so on.
Plus, if you buy a new Chromebook Plus before the end of the year, you'll also get a free year of Google One AI Premium, which comes with Gemini Advanced and Gemini for Workspace among other perks.
Regular Chromebooks Get A Little Love Too
Okay, so you don't have a Chromebook Plus and you're making do with a vanilla Chromebook. That's fine. You might not be getting all this AI goodness, but there are some new features coming your way too, within a week or so (all these features are coming to Chromebook Plus models as well, naturally).
- You'll be able to set up your Chromebook in a snap. Just scan a QR code with your Android and your Wi-Fi and Google credentials will be shared instantly so you can start working immediately.
- When using the screen capture tool, you can now set recordings to save as GIFs.
- Google Tasks is now integrated, which is another boost to your productivity. Adding or completing tasks on your to-do list is as easy as opening the calendar from the bottom-right corner of the screen.
- The all-new Game Dashboard adds many useful features for gamers, such as mapping controls, recording your screen with a voiceover, and sharing screenshots and gameplay clips.
In the next few weeks, you can expect some new Chromebook models shipping with these features fresh out of the box. Look out for what Acer, Asus, and HP have to offer.
