Chromebooks have officially turned 10 since the first models from Acer and Samsung came out in 2011. Google launched Chrome OS on a premise to solve some of the common computing problems at the time – which sadly still exist to date – from slow boot times to clunky hardware and intrusive updates.
Chrome OS was the answer by enabling users to experience a laptop with an easy-to-use interface, snappy performance, easier to update and secure.
In celebrating 10 years of the Chromebook, Google announced a slew of new features coming to their computer-faced OS. Phone Hub is one of the latest features rolling out to Chrome OS. It is a special feature sporting a built-in control centre allowing users to perform some tasks on their Android devices from a Chromebook.
With Phone Hub, you can respond to a text, have a glimpse of your phone’s battery life and cellular signal, enable its hotspot, determine location and access recent Chrome tabs from your Chromebook.
Phone Hub Chrome OS feature / Credit: Google
Google has expanded Wi-Fi Sync to support more devices allowing seamless connections with more devices. Nearby Share, slated to arrive in a later Chrome OS update months to come, brings the ability to share files between Chromebooks or Chromebooks and Android devices in an easy way.
Chrome OS performance has also been updated through a couple of new features. These include the addition of media controls to the Quick Settings menu, a streamlined Chromebook set up for parents and guardians, and a new Clipboard able to store up to five items.
Quick Answers is another handy feature that shows useful information when a word is right-clicked. Google also has “supercharged” Desks, Chrome OS workspace feature, for more organization.
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