Details of the Google Chrome OS netbook have been revealed by the CEO of Google [GOOG] Eric Schmidt. The price we should expect to pay for netbooks running the Chrome OS will be in the 300 – 400 dollar price range with those prices being led by the proce of processors, glass and other components needed to make it run.
The price of the netbooks are all of what we just mentioned as there is no cost to using the Chrome OS other than the technology required to run it. Google make their revenues by other means rather than selling software licences. In the video below we also hear that Google want carriers to bundle the netbooks with contracts to get them out there at a lower start cost.
Google decided to get in to netbooks, smartphones due to the information that is shared amongst these devices. Other than search, Google is in to the information side of things.
the Google CEO believes that Chrome OS could be the first new platform in 20 years to have an impact on a market dominated by Microsoft’s Windows, with Apple’s OSX a distant second.
“If you think about it there’s not been a new successful platform in this space for 20 years, and I’ve had a few failures along the way,” said Schmidt.
“If there’s anyone who understands how hard this stuff is then it’s me personally and the team we’ve assembled is very good.
“If you go back to what we are trying to do we are trying to develop a new set of platforms.”
Via: SlashGear and TechRadar
Uh, how is this a step forward for consumers? Netbooks already exist in the sub-$300 range with an actually OS installed locally on the machine (yes, usually Windows, but that can always be replaced with a flavour of Linux). Is Google thinking that the “Google” brand can command a higher price?