The Chrome Cast

This week on The Chrome Cast, we spend a bit of time discussing an upcoming project from Chrome Unboxed (coming very soon) and then shift to talking through both the Lenovo Chromebook Duet and the upcoming, newly-shipping Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook. With Lenovo’s approach in the Chromebook space right now, we’re seeing great effort being put forth to build great devices while keeping prices low and it feels like this will be a winning formula. We have a Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook on the way already and we can’t wait to get started on the review.

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On this week’s episode of The Chrome Cast, we set out to cover quite a few items that were pretty disconnected at the outset. Instead, we talked for quite some time about gaming on phones and then a particular, upcoming phone in a more detailed and specific way. The Pixel 4a has been rumored and leaked as much as we can expect, so it’s time for it to just get here already. There’s now an arrival date suspected and additionally, a bit of fresh rumor that it will be cheaper than initially expected and doubled-up on the storage, too.

The second half of the show revolves around the Lenovo Chromebook Duet and its interesting storyline surrounding the inability to extend the display in the way you would expect from a Chromebook. This current deficiency leads to all sorts of thoughts about this device that delivers in so many other key ways.

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This week on The Chrome Cast, we delve into what its been like using the Pixel Buds for a week. From the sound quality to the fit and finish, the Pixel Buds deliver a top-notch experience that is unmatched in the Android space in many ways. But there are some down sides as well, and we talk in detail about our collective time with the new earbuds.

We also take some time to talk about Chromebooks new and old, discussing the latest announcements from HP, the upcoming mid-range Lenovo Flex 5, and some fixes possibly on the way for the terrible battery life on the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook. It’s a packed show as always, so enjoy!

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This week has been pretty insane around the Chrome Unboxed office. From the arrival of the Lenovo Chromebook Duet at Best Buy to the Pixel Buds official launch to PUBG on Stadia, there has been something new every day for us to try, talk about, and digest. We expect this type of action in the fourth quarter of each year, but in late spring and early summer, we’re usually on the hunt for things to talk about. That is just not the case at all right now.

In a nutshell, we’re talking through the release of the Lenovo Chromebook Duet on May 6th from Best Buy, the arrival of the Pixel Buds and our first impressions with them, the rumored Chromecast Ultra 2 with a remote, PUBG showing up for Stadia, and a new way Chromebooks might get a much longer lease on life. All that and we only covered half of all the stuff that went down this week. Check the show notes below, but also browse the main feed on the website to catch up on everything that has happened in the Google world this week.

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This week on The Chrome Cast, we have a pretty packed show from this week’s news. As the weeks begin to pile up in our new-normal pandemic lives, one of the results is a massive dip in available Chromebooks for purchase. From supply chain halts to international commerce stalls, it isn’t surprising that huge discounts on rapidly-depleting Chromebook inventory are basically gone. It may be MSRP for a while on most Chromebooks, but there are new devices on the horizon that will help alleviate the lack.

One of those new devices we are all awaiting is the Lenovo Chromebook Duet. In its stead, as a bit of an appetizer, we have the Chromebook 10e in the office since Thursday afternoon and are starting to get a feel of how life with a solid 10-inch Chrome OS tablet will be. In a word, it’s pretty awesome. We’ll share more on it soon, but as a precursor to the Lenovo Chromebook Duet, this thing has me quite excited for this form factor.

Finally, we spend a good bit of time talking about the new tricks PWAs have that come directly from the Play Store on Chromebooks. Their abilities have impressed me more than they even did initially, and this leads us to talk about the ever-growing potential of web-based tech and all the possibilities that come with it.

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This week on The Chrome Cast, our discussion largely circles around the imminent arrival of everyone’s favorite Chrome OS tablet: the Lenovo Chromebook Duet. With signs pointing towards a release in the next few weeks, we’re increasingly excited by what seems more and more likely to be a game-changing device. From the sheer portability factor to it’s on-the-go productivity, we really think this tablet will introduce many new usability scenarios to the Chrome OS scene that we’ve simply not had before.

We also talk a bit about Google’s messy messaging situation and the recent un-branding of the G Suite Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat. With the removal of Hangouts from the equation, it seems likely the consumer-facing version of the aging messenger is on its final legs.

Finally, we also discuss the arrival of PWA installs on Chromebooks via the Google Play Store and what makes this new app type both highly unique and extremely flexible.

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This week on The Chrome Cast, our conversation largely revolves around the new generation of Chromebooks that arrived in the past couple weeks in the form of the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook and the ASUS Chromebook Flip C436. Between the review of the ASUS and the unboxing on the Samsung, there’s a lot to talk about as this new wave of devices has finally started arriving. While there are clearly more of these Chromebooks coming, the first two to arrive are worth a ton of our time.

We also talk a bit about the timely release, pause, and re-release of Chrome OS 81 for all Chromebooks and the big news that the Chrome Unboxed YouTube channel finally hit 100,000 subscribers this week as well. It’s been a pretty exciting, crazy and busy week across the board, so we hope you enjoy the episode.

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This week on The Chrome Cast, we’re taking some time to talk through the upcoming launch windows for two very exciting, very anticipated Chromebooks in the ASUS Chromebook Flip C436 and Samsung Galaxy Chromebook. Both devices are top-tier flagships and both have had rocky arrivals on the scene from a communication/availability standpoint, but their time to shine is coming and we’re excited about that. In these troubling times, it’s nice to have little things to still get excited about, isn’t it?

In the second half of the show, we talk at length about the rise of video conferencing apps; most notably Zoom, which has had a meteoric rise and an equally-large amount of criticism and attacks as well. While Zoom looks to right the ship, other players are equally viable if not as popular right now, so its worth talking about what those options are and which is best for you.

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On this week’s episode of The Chrome Cast, we’re talking about a wide range of news in the Chrome and Google worlds. From Google I/O 2020 being completely cancelled for both in-person and virtual versions to the pause and resumption of Chrome and Chrome OS development, COVID-19 continues to play a large roll in the way we all handle business as usual.

We also take some time to talk about the imminent release of the Google Pixel Buds and the developments around ARM Chromebooks both from MediaTek and Qualcomm alike. Despite the quarantine and general craziness that we’re living in presently, there’s still much to talk about in the Google and Chrome worlds.

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On this week's episode of The Chrome Cast, we talk briefly about our collective experiences of working from home and how that has changed not only the way we get work done, but also our perpsectives on how well-positioned Chrome, Chrome OS, and the web are to handle the present crisis.

We go on after that to discuss the new 'Works with Chromebook' initiative, the new Logitech mouse/keyboard combo, updates on AUE policies for Chromebooks, a pause in Chrome OS Stable Channel devlopment and a few new devices making their way onto the scene.

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