Hewlett Packard (HP) will apparently be launching a slick Chromebook on February 17.
The new laptop joins the ranks of other Chrome-based devices manufactured by a number of industry heavyweights, including Samsung, Lenovo and Acer.
According to an official product PDF obtained by SlashGear, HP’s 14-inch Chromebook is equipped with an SSD for fast load times, an Intel Celeron Processor 847 clocked at 1.1GHz, 2GB DDR3 SDRAM (with support for up to 4GB) and an LED-backlit unit with BrightView technology and 1366 x 768 pixel resolution.
Additional specs? Integrated WiFi, three USB 2.0 ports as well as one HDMI out, two Rj-45 ports (LAN), and a headphone/microphone combo port. The device measures just 0.83 inches thick at its thickest point, 13.66 inches wide, 9.37 inches deep, with battery power set at 4 hours and 15 minutes.
In related Chome OS news, Acer has confirmed that Chrome-based devices accounted for 5 percent to 10 percent of Acer’s U.S. shipments since hitting streets in November.
According to Acer president Jim Wong, the above-mentioned ratio is expected to be sustainable in the long term, with the company considering shipping Chrome models to other developed markets.
The success of Chrome stands in sharp contrast to Microsoft’s Windows 8, with Wong telling Bloomberg.
“The whole market didn’t come back to growth after the Windows 8 launch, that’s a simple way to judge if it is successful or not… Chrome’s value is that it’s more secure… [Plus], you saw that all the marketing and promotions were not as broad as Windows 8, so to reach this success is encouraging.”
Chrome OS can best be described as a Linux-based operating system designed to work exclusively with web applications and Mountain View’s cloud-based Google Drive. The operating system was announced on July 7, 2009, with the first Intel-based Chromebooks shipping on June 15, 2011.
