SAN FRANCISCO: Google on
Thursday unveiled a touch-screen notebook computer designed
for high-end PC users,
throwing down a gauntlet for Apple and its MacBooks.
Google said its Chromebook Pixel computers
blending tablet and laptop technology, boasting
heavyweight Intel chips and screens tailored for
rich graphics were released in the United States and Britain, starting at
$1,299.
"People will give up a MacBook Air for this,"
Chrome senior vice president Sundar Pichai said
while showing off the premium end of what, to
now, were low-priced notebook computers that
serve as windows to Internet-based
services.
A Pixel model featuring built-in connectivity to
Verizon mobile Internet service will hit the market
in April at a price of $1,449, according to
Google.
The version available Thursday allowed
connections to the Internet with wireless hot-spot technology or
cables.
"It's a great looking product," Om Malik of
technology news website GigaOm said at the Pixel debut in San
Francisco.
"But Google is facing a selling problem, they
have to compete on price originally and build a
developer base for a high-end
product."
Google hoped people look beyond comparing Pixel
prices with competitors such as
MacBooks or laptops built on Windows 8 software
to see the value the touch-screen and the
massive terabyte of Google Drive online data
storage included.
"It is clear that touch is here to stay and that
it is the future," Pichai said. "I am sure every laptop
will have touch in the future."
He described the Pixel screen resolution as
superior to that on any laptop being shipped today, including Apple's premium
MacBook models.
Google also set out to remedy a complaint by
Chrome notebook users frustrated when trying to
work with documents or spreadsheets made with
Microsoft's widely-used Word or Excel software.
Within three months, Google will release
Quickoffice software for handling those types of files, according to
Pichai.
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