Chromebooks look set to finally get Google Assistant, Pixelbook might be the first
Chromebooks are becoming more and more useful with each passing day it seems. Not content with adding Android app support to its Chrome OS, Google now looks to be set to add its excellent Google Assistant to Chrome OS as well. 9to5 Google has spotted Google Assistant compatibility sitting within the latest version the Google Home app. Not only that, an icon for Chromebook also sits alongside an icon for the Google Home device itself and an Android phone icon.
The timing for the availability of Google Assistant on Chromebooks aligns nicely with the Google Pixel 2 launch scheduled for this week on October 4. As we've already noted, the event will also see the launch of the leaked third-generation Google Chromebook now called the Pixelbook. It makes a lot of sense to us that Google would choose to launch this new feature at the same time as it gets ready to get behind the Pixelbook with a big push at launch. Let's just hope that if it is to be a Pixelbook exclusive at launch that the feature quickly rolls out to all compatible Chromebooks as soon as possible.
As with Google's Pixel-branded Chromebooks that came before it, the new Google Pixelbook isn't going to be cheap, so it really does need to have some extra bells and whistles. Pricing is expected to start from US$1199 for the entry level 128 GB model, through to US$1749 for the 512 GB model. A 256 GB model is nestled in between the two priced at US $1399. They will be running Intel silicon, although it hasn't yet leaked out as to whether it will be 7th or 8th generation chip.
All is set to be revealed in the coming days.