Google has opened pre-orders for its first Googlebook laptops, a new premium category that starts at $899 and is scheduled to reach U.S. stores on October 4. The initial selection comes from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo. Google has not made a single in-house laptop; it is setting the platform and letting its hardware partners define the individual models.
The company describes Googlebook as being built on the Android technology stack while using desktop foundations from ChromeOS. That is the key distinction Google is trying to draw from both traditional Chromebooks and a larger Android tablet: the pitch is a laptop environment that treats an Android phone as part of the setup rather than a separate device.
The phone connection is the central sell
In its launch announcement, Google says signing in can bring an Android phone’s settings, saved passwords, Wi-Fi networks and messages to the new machine, backed by end-to-end encryption. It also describes a “Continue On” feature meant to let users resume supported work from a phone on the laptop, alongside a Files app, Chrome extensions and Android apps optimized for larger screens.
