Google announces Chromebook Plus with AI-based features built-in: Details

With Chromebook Plus, Google promises doubles down on the performance and introduces artificial intelligence capabilities

Google on October 2 announced Chromebook Plus, a certification program for laptops that offer improved performance than regular Chromebooks. Devices with the Chromebook Plus label will have built-in Google apps and AI capabilities, said Google in a blog. All Chromebook Plus laptops come with the following guaranteed hardware specifications:

CPU: Intel Core i3 12th Gen or above, or AMD Ryzen 3 7000 series or above

RAM: 8GB+

Storage: 128GB+

Webcamera: 1080p+ with Temporal Noise Reduction

Display: FullHD IPS or better

Google said the Chromebook Plus devices will have support for Google Photos HDR, Portrait Blur, and Magic Eraser features. Besides, the laptops will support creative apps such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Express and LumaFusion. The Chromebook Plus devices will support offline file sync feature, which would allow users to edit a doc file on their Google Drive in offline mode and the file would automatically sync on other devices linked with Google account once the internet connectivity is available.

Google promised free AI-Powered Chrome OS features for Chromebook Plus such as AI-based writing assistant, AI-generated custom wallpapers, and AI-generated video call backgrounds. These features, however, would be available in coming months.

Google also announced a new video chat control panel for Chromebook Plus models. The panel has the option to improve lighting, add background blur and turn on noise cancellation during a video call.

The Chromebook Plus laptops will be available in the US market from October 8, and are expected to come to India soon.