Against all odds, Google wants Chromebooks for gaming


Remi Bouvet

January 27, 2022 at 7:30 p.m.

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chromeossteam © techspot

Three products, two Chromebooks
and a keyboard, all benefiting from RGB. However, generally, these effects are made to please the players…

The hypothesis of the arrival of Steam on Chrome OS has been the subject of rumors for many years. In July 2020, our colleagues from 9to5Google declared that it would be effective from Intel Chromebooks of 10and generation. More recently, last December, those ofAndroid Police were expecting a launch during the month (in beta). Decidedly not scalded, the journalists of 9to5Google renew their prophecy. The foundation, this time: the evocation of RGB keyboards for Chromebooks. And inevitably, in the minds of many, RGB devices rhyme with video games…

A long preparation

The project to integrate Steam with Chrome OS, which is definitely dragging on, is codenamed “Borealis”. As reported above, it has been arousing fantasies for several years. Of course, this Steam support remains plausible: Chromebooks are already capable of supporting Android and Linux applications. In addition, many Steam games are also Linux compatible thanks to Proton. This compatibility layer should also take off with the launch of the Steam Deck, the latter running under a modified version of the Arch Linux distribution.

From there, Borealis, which would run Steam and various Linux-compatible PC games in a virtual machine on a Chromebook, isn’t a wild concept. Additionally, last July, NVIDIA demonstrated support for DLSS and ray tracing on ARM Chromebooks. Well, there is nevertheless the question of the power of Chromebooks and their storage capacity, which are problematic with many games in the Steam catalog, but that is another debate.


RGB keyboards that betray Chromebooks for gamers?

Anyway, to get back to our topic, 9to5Google spotted references to new “gaming” Chromebooks in test builds of Chrome OS. Specifically, to RGB keyboards.

chromeossteam © 9to5google

© 9to5Google

One might think at first sight that this support would simply concern external devices. However, it also encompasses three non-marketed products: Vell, Taniks and Ripple.

Vell and Taniks betray two Chromebooks armed with Intel Alder Lake chips. The first would be developed by Quanta, an ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) which notably has HP as its client. Thus, according to our colleagues, the American firm was working on a Chromebook for players integrated into the Omen range. Taniks is developed by LCFC, which works in particular for Lenovo. Again, we can consider a Chromebook Legion.

Finally, the third name, Ripple, is not that of a Chromebook, but rather of a detachable keyboard. It could imply the development of a gamer tablet under Chrome OS.

As you can see, for the moment, all these elements are not extremely convincing. In any case, if strong ads there must be, they will first come from Google. Manufacturers will then be free to present their products.

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While the Google I/O 2021 has just lifted the veil on the new features to come from the Mountain View giant, it seemed like a good idea to concoct a little tutorial for you that will allow you to install ChromeOS on your Windows computer, macOS or GNU/Linux. Follow the leader !
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Source: 9to5Google



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