Kogan , the Aussie company behind such gadgets because the fist-sized Bluetooth GPS watch and gesture-controlled IPTV , is adding a Chromium OS laptop to its family of Google-powered Agora products. The 11.6-inch computer has a spec list rivaling the midrange notebooks of 2006, including a 1.3 GHz Celeron processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 30GB SSD. That isn’t a number of oomph, but with cloud-based storage and Google’s open source Chromium running the show, this thin client laptop ought to be in decent shape. There’s also a three.5-hour battery, SD card reader, webcam, Bluetooth, and an HDMI output. Like several Kogan products, the Agora is barely available in Australia (AUD 349, about $372) and the united kingdom (£269, about $440), so in case you live down under or around the pond and do not wish to install the open-source (free) OS yourself, search for the laptop to hit Kogan’s online stores tomorrow.
Sydney, Australia, 3 June 2011 – Kogan today released the world’s first laptop powered by Google’s Chromium OS, available on the market and able to be dispatched.
The Kogan Agora Laptop powered by Chromium OS goes on sale today for £269 inside the Uk and $349 in Australia and ships direct to customers next week.
Kogan’s Chromium OS Laptop is predicated at the popular Agora hardware, adds a high-quality State Drive, lets users operate entirely within the cloud, and boots in 4.5 seconds.
Ruslan Kogan said the arena-first product was testament to Kogan’s efficiency and agility.
“We’ve been capable of beat the remainder of the arena to bring the primary commercially available laptop running Google’s Chromium OS.
“Google’s Chromium OS is an open source project, making it a relentless work in progress. This indicates the system will improve through the years and new features and enhancements will keep getting introduced by the open source community.
“While Chromium continues to be in its early stages, we all know the operating system is innovative technology which represents the way forward for computing. It will take some being used to for some to function entirely inside the cloud, however the massive benefits for the tip user are driving acceptance of entirely web-based services.
“What we’ve found from chatting with our customers is that lots of them are already using cloud services without even realising it. They’re uploading photos to services like Flickr, storing all their contacts in Gmail, or even hosting files on DropBox.
“Loading up a laptop with Google’s open source software can also be strange at the beginning. However it’s clear that everybody from casual users to pros are embracing cloud services with all their personal computing needs.
“The $64000 beauty is that regardless of which Chromium powered computer you’re on anywhere on the earth, it’ll appear exactly as you predict, tailored on your needs. Google can be working hard making sure that Chrome integrates seamlessly with all Android based devices.
“Samsung and Acer announced Chromebooks in keeping with Chromium OS last month, but we’ve beaten them to market. Kogan is the foremost agile consumer electronics manufacturer on the planet. We react faster to market trends than anyone else.
“The 1st Kogan Agora Laptops powered by Google’s Chromium OS should be in customer’s hands next week and we’re very excited. Our business has already been operating entirely within the cloud for years!” Kogan said.
For additional info on Google’s open source Chromium OS project, which powers the Kogan Agora Chromium OS Laptop: http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os
About Kogan
Kogan is a designer, manufacturer and retailer of consumer electronics. Kogan’s streamlined business model allows us to bring the newest and best consumer electronics and residential appliances direct to the door of smart shoppers through kogan.com.au and kogan.co.uk. We engage our customers through our blog, Facebook and Twitter, and release new products in line with the feedback we receive. We believe there’s always a smarter technique to create and deliver the technology people want.
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