The Chrome Cast

Today on The Chrome Cast Podcast, we have a special in-person interview episode with Victor Tyan from MediaTek. I was recently out in Sonoma California for the MediaTek Executive Summit and Victor was kind enough to sit down with me to chat about their announcement of their next-gen Kompanio SoCs for entry-level Chromebooks: the Kompanio 520 and 528.

In our conversation, we dig into the details of the new processors but Victor also shared some thoughts on the entire Kompanio lineup, the company's focus on sustainability, the education market, and how MediaTek came up with the name Kompanio. It was so much fun to do an in-person interview and I hope that you enjoy it!

This episode is also brought to you by Fresh Roasted Coffee.  To check it out, CLICK HERE and use the discount code UNBOXED for 15% off your initial purchase!

This episode is also brought to you by NordVPN. CLICK HERE to try it out and get 2 years for $3.29 per month.

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For this week's episode of The Chrome Cast, we stick to three pretty big topics of the week: the emergence of the Pixel Fold, the arrival of the Framework Laptop Chromebook Edition, and some additional details about the Pixel 7a that make it very interesting as a mid-range contender to the flagship Pixel 7.  It's a packed show and there's great excitement surrounding all these upcoming and freshly-arriving devices, so we hope you enjoy the conversation!

This episode is also brought to you by Fresh Roasted Coffee.  To check it out, go to https://chromeunboxed.com/coffee/ and use the discount code UNBOXED for 15% off your initial purchase!

Finally, this episode is brought to you by NordVPN. CLICK HERE to try it out and get 2 years for $3.29 per month.

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This week on The Chrome Cast, we talk in-depth about one of our latest videos that sees us take the Microsoft Surface Laptop SE and turn the “Chromebook Killer” into a pretty sweet Chromebook. Using ChromeOS Flex, we now have a Surface Laptop SE in the office that is quite nice to work with and we’ve proven how good Google’s ChromeOS Flex certification really is.

For the second half of the show, we discuss the arrival of LumaFusion on Chromebooks and the new era this app brings about. We’re only a couple of days into it at this point, but LumaFusion has the potential to really shake up the creative abilities of ChromeOS and you can absolutely bet we’ll be putting it through the paces in the coming weeks.

LINKS

This episode is also brought to you by Fresh Roasted Coffee.  To check it out, go to https://chromeunboxed.com/coffee/ and use the discount code UNBOXED for 15% off your initial purchase!

Finally, this episode is brought to you by NordVPN. CLICK HERE to try it out and get 2 years for $3.29 per month.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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This week on The Chrome Cast, we start the show by talking through the handful of fun updates that came along with ChromeOS 107.  In a new era where we get updates to our Chromebooks every 4 weeks, it's always a nice surprise when new user-facing features show up.  ChromeOS 107 had quite a few, and we talk through all of them.

One of the other big changes to ChromeOS is the fact that Steam for Chromebooks has come to the Beta Channel with version 108.  With an expanded list of supported devices, a bunch of performance improvements, and a simpler setup process, the entire Steam on Chromebooks effort is really beginning to take shape.

This episode is also brought to you by Fresh Roasted Coffee.  To check it out, go to https://chromeunboxed.com/coffee/ and use the discount code UNBOXED for 15% off your initial purchase!

Finally, this episode is brought to you by NordVPN. CLICK HERE to try it out and get 2 years for $3.29 per month.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on The Chrome Cast podcast, we have an interview episode with Adam King, who is the General Manager of the Client Computing Business Unit at MediaTek. In our chat, we cover the latest HP Chromebook 13b announcement that includes the Kompanio 1200 processor, trends in the Chromebook space, detachable Chromebooks, and the Roadmap for the Kompanio series in Chromebooks moving forward.

And as part of this episode, we've partnered with MediaTek to give away one of those HP Chromebook 13b's! This device is a convertible Chromebook with a 13.3" display and is powered by the MediaTek 1200 SoC which MediaTek compares to an Intel Core i3 CPU.

LINKS

This episode is also brought to you by Fresh Roasted Coffee.  To check it out, go to https://chromeunboxed.com/coffee/ and use the discount code UNBOXED for 15% off your initial purchase!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on The Chrome Cast, we start the show by talking through a bunch of new accessories that have hit the market for the Pixel Watch.  Though this is the tip of the iceberg and many more are likely on the way, it is great to see some truly useful additions for Google's new wearable from 3rd party companies already hitting virtual store shelves.

After that, we move on to discuss some interesting things we learned while up in NYC earlier this month.  During our time at Google's offices, we were able to have a lengthy discussion about ChromeOS Flex and the methods that are used to determine what devices get the green check in Google's database of certified devices.  Not only does every certified device get run through a massive battery of tests, they are also all there in Google's testing lab, and we got to look around in there a bit.

Finally, we cover some notes from the soon-to-released Acer Chromebook 514 GE review that will be out early next week.  What Acer has built with this device is nothing short of awesome, and though they set out to create a great cloud gaming Chromebook, they ended up building a fantastic overall device, too.

LINKS

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This episode is sponsored by VIZOR - OFFER 20% DISCOUNT! VIZOR is a Chromebook and IT Asset management solution designed specifically for Schools and School Districts. VIZOR integrates with the Google Admin console and with your Student Information System. Know who has what Chromebook, manage 1:1 programs, and track repairs. CLICK HERE to lock in a 20% DISCOUNT and to find out how VIZOR can help your School manage Chromebooks.

This episode is brought to you by Fresh Roasted Coffee.  To check it out, go to https://chromeunboxed.com/coffee/ and use the discount code UNBOXED for 15% off your initial purchase!

This episode is also brought to you by NordVPN. CLICK HERE to try it out and get 2 years for $3.29 per month.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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This week on The Chrome Cast, our discussion mainly revolved around some real-world reactions to services and hardware that have shown up in the past couple of weeks. Between the new gaming Chromebooks, GeForce NOW providing 120Hz gaming for Chromebooks, a Pixel Buds Pro firmware update, and actually spending some time using the Pixel Watch as a daily-wear device, we all obviously have some thoughts.

For the first time ever, I’m gaming with regularity on my Chromebook, and the Acer Chromebook 514 GE has been a perfect companion for it. On that same note, the latest Pixel Buds Pro update finally fixed the horrid latency these earbuds shipped with earlier in the year, and after a solid week of actually putting the Pixel Watch on all our wrists on a daily basis, it’s clear that though this watch may have a few issues here and there, it is currently an office favorite here at Chrome Unboxed.

LINKS

This episode is sponsored by VIZOR - OFFER 20% DISCOUNT! VIZOR is a Chromebook and IT Asset management solution designed specifically for Schools and School Districts. VIZOR integrates with the Google Admin console and with your Student Information System. Know who has what Chromebook, manage 1:1 programs, and track repairs. CLICK HERE to lock in a 20% DISCOUNT and to find out how VIZOR can help your School manage Chromebooks.

This episode is brought to you by Fresh Roasted Coffee.  To check it out, go to https://chromeunboxed.com/coffee/ and use the discount code UNBOXED for 15% off your initial purchase!

This episode is also brought to you by NordVPN. CLICK HERE to try it out and get 2 years for $3.29 per month.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A lot has happened since the last episode of The Chrome Cast, and with us taking last week off due to the Google hardware event, there’s a ton of stuff to discuss. For this week, we stuck to Google’s latest hardware – the Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, and the Pixel Watch – for the majority of our time. Between new hardware, fun software, and this exciting new Pixel Watch, the Google event delivered plenty of content for a full podcast.

But we had to talk about Acer’s new Chromebook 516 GE and the gaming news that came along with it this week. There are now 3 new Chromebooks built for cloud gaming, and we already have one in the office. With its gorgeous 120Hz screen and crazy-fast internals, it has been a joy to use and early impressions are very, very favorable of these new Chromebooks and their cloud gaming chops.

This episode is brought to you by Fresh Roasted Coffee.  To check it out, go to https://chromeunboxed.com/coffee/ and use the discount code UNBOXED for 15% off your initial purchase!

This episode is also brought to you by NordVPN. CLICK HERE to try it out and get 2 years for $3.29 per month.

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This week on The Chrome Cast, our discussion is largely dominated by the official announcement by Google that Stadia as we know it will no longer continue to exist.  In the next few months, the service that truly introduced cloud gaming to the world will host its last games, and as sad as it is to see, at least Google is doing right by its users and refunding both hardware and software purchases for everyone.

We also take a bit of time to discuss the recent speculation that the Pixel Watch will show up on the scene with rather large bezels.  The early renders sure make it look that way, but in an updated version of the video that caused the conversation in the first place, Google seems to have trimmed down their appearance, making us all wonder what this watch will truly look like when it does arrive next week.

This episode is brought to you by Fresh Roasted Coffee.  To check it out, go to https://chromeunboxed.com/coffee/ and use the discount code CHROMEUNBOXED for 15% off your initial purchase!

This episode is also brought to you by NordVPN. CLICK HERE to try it out and get 2 years for $3.29 per month.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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This week on The Chrome Cast, we spend the show talking about some new leaks that came from a Target store regarding Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro pricing. With a simple photo of the internal inventory system, we now know that the new phones from Google will not bump the prices up from last year, keeping the Pixel 7 at $599 and the Pixel 7 Pro at $899.

Right before we recorded, the new Chromecast with Google TV HD was also released, making for some interesting conversation around Google’s new, affordable streaming dongle. We’ve not yet tested it out, but we have one in the office and will be putting it through the paces for sure.

Finally, we also discussed a new Chromebook announced this week as Framework and Google teamed up to create the first truly modular ChromeOS device: the Framework Laptop Chromebook Edition. There’s so much fun stuff coming with this laptop and we discuss all of it in the show.

This episode is brought to you by Fresh Roasted Coffee.  To check it out, go to https://chromeunboxed.com/coffee/ and use the discount code CHROMEUNBOXED for 15% off your initial purchase!

This episode is also brought to you by NordVPN. CLICK HERE to try it out and get 2 years for $3.29 per month.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices