Google’s hardware chief, Rick Osterloh, spoke with TechCrunch earlier this week in Barcelona about a few things, and one of the things that came up was the Chromebook Pixel. It was removed from the Google Store late last year, effectively telling everyone that it was at its “end of life” or EOL. Typically this also means a replacement is coming soon, but so far nothing has been announced. Osterloh told TechCrunch that they wouldn’t be making any more laptops – not to be confused with Chromebooks from partners. However now Osterloh has taken to Twitter to clarify that a bit more.
Osterloh stated that “Google’s own Chromebooks aren’t “dead” as has been reported. They will live on, we just have no plans to share at this time.” So what that means is that he’s not closing the doors on a new Chromebook Pixel in the future, but as of right now, their focus is not on their own Chromebooks. And seeing as there are many great Chromebooks coming from many different PC manufacturers, there really is no need for a Chromebook Pixel at this time. Now, even though Osterloh has said that they have no plans to share at this time, that doesn’t mean they don’t have plans. You see, products like this are in the pipeline for years. For instance, the smartphones that were announced in Barcelona this past week were being thought up about two years ago, and companies were working on their final prototypes around last summer. So Google likely is working on a new Chromebook Pixel, but it’s likely early in the development stage.
Chromebooks have come a long way since the first Chromebook Pixel debuted in 2013. Back then, Chromebooks were mostly just the new “Netbook”, being a cheap and small laptop that basically just ran the Chrome browser. Now we’re seeing full-sized laptops from Dell, Acer, ASUS and others with Chrome OS on-board. So it’s safe to say that the Chromebook Pixel did its job, which was to drive the market to release some more high-end and premium Chromebooks. It also was the beginning of the Pixel lineup, which has now expanded to smartphones and tablets.