After Google introduced the first two Chrome OS powered notebooks a few days ago, now it’s time for something a little different. During the same event, Samsung introduced a Chrome OS nettop, dubbed for now ChromeBox. Samsung was also one of the companies to roll out one of the two Chromebooks, alongside Acer and it seems that the company is really pumping into the whole open source, mobile OS thing (well, let’s not forget that Samsung has a pretty good relationship with Google, considering their Android powered smart phones and tablets).
We don’t know anything else about the ChromeBox except what we can make out of the picture and some very scarce info the keynote speaker shared. The device has a SD card slot and WiFi (go figure). It will be probably be aimed at those that usually enjoy only streamed content, such as TV shows and sports coverage, for example. Also, it could be a good choice for those already working mostly with cloud based services and will probably have some special sync functions with Chromebooks.
And maybe the ChromeBox will be a move away from the idea that nettops are primarily entertainment devices, usually set up in a living room. Companies might use Chromeboxes as secondary work stations, taking all the networking away from Windows and its instability. If the hardware will be strong enough, these might be viable work stations, especially if Google will come up with some dedicated apps for file sharing and other corporate related features.
This is how the nettop might look like (we're not talking about the guy)
There’s even the chance, as some insiders claim, that the nettop will only be offered to companies with headquarters around the globe that need a dedicated OS for their work, but personally I don’t think Chrome OS has the security features to pull of a stunt like this. But we might just guess too much, as even Samsung reps said that this is just a prototype, a concept they came up with during the Chrome OS frenzy and the device might never see the light of day (or that of the assembly line).
Things might depend on the buzz created by just one photo and a couple of very generic bits of info, as well as the success of the two Chromebooks, which are set to be released in mid June. Let’s hope that we’ll have the chance to fool around with this interesting nettop concept after all and that it will not be remembered just as another bubbly concept gone down the drain.
