Chrome developer François Beaufort has posted a screenshot that
apparently has been taken on Samsung’s upcoming Chrome OS desktop PC.
The big news here is that the hardware-accelerated Aura UI
that promises a much richer interface for the user while leveraging the
horsepower of a graphics chip will be part of Stumpy. The Chromebox
will also integrate more hardware horsepower with an Intel Sandy Bridge
processor.
By
now we know that the first two Chrome OS computers, offered by Samsung
and Acer in a netbook form factor, pretty much flopped, while Google
decided to shoot down a much more promising device
on trademark violation claims. As Chrome is a cornerstone of Google’s
product strategy, it is unlikely that Chrome OS PCs will simply fade and
CES revealed that some new devices are on the way, even if the
enthusiasm for Chrome OS is much more subdued than it was a year ago.
The one device we believe is waiting for is Samsung’s Stumpy, which
is the code name for a desktop Chrome computer (that will be offered
next to “Lumpy”, possibly a new Chrome OS netbook). Courtesy
of François Beaufort, we learned that Stumpy will be much more powerful
than the underpowered and overpriced first-generation products. The
test platform of Stumpy uses Intel’s Core i5-2520M processor, which was
part of the original Sandy Bridge launch in Q1 2011 and may be replaced
with a more up-to-date processor in the production version. The dual-core 2520M runs at 2.5 GHz/3.2 GHz at a thermal design power of 35 watts.
Compared to the 1.6 GHz Atom in the first Chrome OS netbooks, there
is substantially more horsepower on tap, there is an opportunity for
powerful graphics cards (Intel HD Graphics 3000 at 650 MHz/1.3 GHz are
integrated by default) and up to 16 GB of supported DDR3 memory suggest
that this will be a much more capable cloud computing device. On the
downside, the 2520M lists for a tray price of $225 and if Samsung can’t
get a good deal from Intel, we should expect Stumpy to retail for more
than $500 because of the processor alone.
The Stumpy surprise is the subtle hint that it is already running the
Chrome Aura interface, which departs from the current legacy Chrome
interface and features a new UI that leverages GPU acceleration
capabilities of a computer. Along with the changes under the hood, we
expect a few visual updates that moves the Chrome UI much closer to the
capability of a local OS such as Windows. There was no information when
Stumpy could be released, but it appears as if this is a much better
planned product and not the rapid shot the initial Chrome OS devices
were. If Google can contain the price of these new boxes, they should be
much more appealing than their predecessors.
Wolfgang Gruener in Products on January 17
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