Google wants the cursor to do more than point. Its new Googlebook laptops carry a feature called Magic Pointer: wiggle the cursor, and Gemini offers suggestions based on whatever is under it on screen. Point at a date in an email and it can set up a meeting. Select a photo of your living room and one of a couch, and it can show the two together.
Google announced the Googlebook platform on May 12 as a new category of laptop. It combines Android with ChromeOS, and the company calls the result “the first laptops designed from the ground up for Gemini Intelligence.” Magic Pointer was built with the Google DeepMind team.
Widgets and phone links
A second feature, Create your Widget, lets users type a prompt and get a custom desktop widget. Gemini can pull from Gmail and Calendar. Google’s example was a family reunion in Berlin, where the widget would gather flight and hotel details, restaurant reservations and a countdown in one spot.
The laptops are also meant to work closely with Android phones. Users can open phone apps from the laptop, so a food delivery order or a Duolingo lesson can be finished without leaving the screen. A feature called Quick Access lets people view, search or insert their phone’s files from the laptop’s file browser, with no transfers.
Google said it is building the first machines with Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo. Every Googlebook will have a light strip Google calls the glowbar. The company introduced the Chromebook more than 15 years ago, and Googlebook is its next step beyond that.
Price and release
Google first said devices would arrive in the fall. According to LinkedIn News, the Googlebook line later launched at a starting price of $899, with initial models shipping in early October and more makers and higher-powered versions to follow. “We wanted to rebuild the laptop for today and for how people will use it in the future,” said Sameer Samat, president of Google’s Android ecosystem.
Sources
- Googlebook unveiled: An AI-first laptop powered by Google Gemini; How does it work & when will it be available?
- Introducing Googlebook, designed for Gemini Intelligence
- Google unveils Gemini-based Googlebook laptops | LinkedIn
