Google’s Chromebooks may not have been a hit with the tech reviewers who dismissed the very idea of laptops that only work completely when connected to the Internet. That didn’t stop the notebooks from becoming a favorite for certain consumers. And they’re fun on a Virgin America flight (when the in-flight Wi-Fi works).

Another area where Chromebooks are increasing in popularity is education.

At the Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC) ed-tech conference yesterday Google employees participated in a keynote roundtable where they discussed some of the school systems that use Chromebooks in the classroom.

Fifth grade student teaches a younger student how to use a Chromebook in the Chrome Buddy project in Tim Swick's classroom at Pontiac Elementary School in Richland School District Two. Source: Google Chrome Blog

The three highlighted districts in Iowa, Illinois and South Carolina purchased enough of the laptops to provide one to each of their middle and/or high school students. Overall schools in 41 states employ Chromebooks in the classroom.

The very aspects of Chromebooks that made the digirati scratch their heads actually make them a great solution for schools. Education-based IT directors point out that the notebooks are far easier to set up than traditional machines, don’t require technical expertise to use or troubleshoot, and students don’t need to use a specific unit each time to access past work.

Tom Cranmer of Richland School District Two in South Carolina even claims that behavior issues have gone down thanks to how “compelling” the devices are.

Something to note about the school districts Google chose to highlight: they’re all small. They appear to have just two high schools and two middle schools and, even more importantly, look to be in affluent areas. I’m curious whether any of the school districts using Chromebooks serve underprivileged students and, if so, how great a positive effect it has on their learning.

Now that Google has evidence of the popularity and effectiveness of their experiment in the field of education, I hope they consider sponsoring some programs in districts that can’t afford to provide laptops on a 1-to-1 basis.

HT: Liliputing

School Districts in 41 States Using Google’s Chromebooks in the Classroom is a post by K. T. Bradford from Notebooks.com.

Back in July Google announced that they would no longer update the Google Toolbar add-on for Firefox, which meant that anyone using a version newer than Firefox 4 was out of luck. This might not have been as big a deal if Mozilla hadn’t accelerated their updating schedule right around that time, meaning that users had to make a choice: keep the Toolbar functionality or use the newer, better Firefox.

For those of us that find the Google Toolbar eminently useful and worth the loss of those extra pixels up top, this news was a giant bummer. Lest you think that the GT is useless or easily replaced, just look at this long list of add-ons Google suggested for duplicating the functionality.

Up until this weekend I refused to update Firefox so I could keep the GT. Then I came across a post on Techie Buzz (a good source of tips and tricks) that solved the entire problem and allowed me to use the toolbar in Firefox 6. The best part: this trick will work with any add-on that hasn’t been updated yet.

Re-Enable the Google Toolbar in Firefox 5 and up

1. Before you upgrade Firefox, install the Add-on Compatibility Reporter extension. Do NOT uninstall the Google Toolbar.
2. Upgrade Firefox normally. You will see a warning that Google Toolbar is incompatible and will be disabled. That’s fine.
3. Once the upgrade is complete, go to Add-ons under the main menu. At the top of the screen a yellow alert triangle will tell you that you have incompatible add-ons. This is normal.
   
4. Each add-on row now has a new button: Compatibility. Scroll to the Google Toolbar add on, click it, and choose “This add-on still works.”
   
5. Restart Firefox. The Google Toolbar will appear just as before with all settings intact.

As I said, this works with any add-on, not just Google Toolbar. It’s useful for times when the developer isn’t as quick to update as Mozilla. It’s also great if you’re into checking out beta builds before the official release.

How To Use The Google Toolbar in Firefox 5 and Firefox 6 is a post by K. T. Bradford from Notebooks.com.

Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell pleasantly surprised his new Google+ followers when he suggested that the computer manufacturer might use Google+ Hangouts for customer service. Hangouts is the new multi-user video chat tool that is a part of Google+ the new upstart social networking service designed to compete with Facebook and Twitter.

Michael Dell’s post on July 17, 2011 read as follows:

I am thinking about hangouts for business. Would you like to be able to connect with your Dell service and sale teams via video directly from Dell.com?

Since that time followers added the Google+ version of a “like” by clicking the plus one button 618 times and 167 people shared the comment with those in their circles, which the Google+ version of friends or followers. Comments ranged from “Great idea” to a more thoughtful post which read:

Whatever people say about automation we still need that human contact when the buying process gets complex.

How would the company use the service? Imagine if a few dozen people each contacted customer service through the Dell website with problems related to something similar, like how to boot into Safe Mode in Windows. The customer service reps at Dell could start a hangout for those who need to boot into safe mode in Windows 7. That is a very specific use. It might be more general like how to upgrade or replace RAM in a Dell XPS notebook or training on Dell’s built-in software.

Hangouts could benefit Dell or other computer manufacturers by dealing with multiple customers at once. Because it is video chat, each customer might feel like Dell takes them more seriously. More users are served and in a more useful way. A process viewed in a video chat is easier to replicate by customers than listening to someone describe the steps.

Customers benefit from faster response time if the people all get their questions answered in the same amount of time it took only one person to find a resolution with traditional phone or Internet chat. Person number ten in line doesn’t wait as long.

Google+ is still very new. The geek community is excited and jumping on onboard but ordinary people don’t even know it exists. Dell would have to not only fix the customer’s computer problem but would have to design an interface that incorporates Google+ Hangouts in a way that is simple enough for users to take advantage of without much training.

Already companies use social networking for customer service. We had a problem with a Fed Ex shipment recently and tweeting about it drew a response from the company’s Twitter monitors. The problem was resolved that night instead of the next day which is what would have happened with traditional customer service.

Source: Gigaom

Image Source: Michael Dell’s Google+ Profile Page

Dell May Use Google+ Hangouts for Customer Service is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

In this article we show you how to setup an email account in Windows Live Mail 2011 for the first time. We also show how to add an existing email account if you already have Windows Live Mail set up.

When you launch Windows Live Mail 2011 for the first time you are prompted to add an email account. Fill in all the necessary details, such as your email address, password and display name.

You can check the box to manually configure server settings, but you can leave that option out when setting up a Hotmail or Live account, as Windows Live Mail will automatically recognize those addresses.

Click Next.

Click Yes if you are prompted to sign in to your Windows Live services.

That’s it! Click Finish to confirm changes.

Windows Mail will notify you that it is retrieving your email messages from the server.

Add another email account

You can also add another email account and manage it in Windows Live Mail.

Click on the Accounts tab and click on Email in the New Account group.

This will bring up the Add email account wizard again. Fill in all the necessary details. You will notice a new option at the bottom of the window to make this account your default email account or not. After filling out the information, click Next.

Since we are setting up a Gmail account, we have to manually enter some information for it to work. Let’s take a look at doing that.

• Server Information
• Account Type: select IMAP from the list box
• Incoming mail server: imap.gmail.com
• Outgoing mail server (SMTP: smtp.gmail.com
• Incoming server must be 993, and must use SSL encryption
• Outgoing server can use 587, TLS encryption
• For the Incoming server encryption, select SSL
• For the Outgoing server (SMTP) encryption, select TLS

After filling out the necessary details, click Next.

Click Finish confirm the information you entered.

Downloading email folders for Gmail account

Windows Live Mail makes it convenient to switch between multiple accounts and check your email.

How to Setup Accounts in Windows Live Mail is a post by Andre from Notebooks.com.

The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook isn’t even officially out yet, but the good folks over at iFixit were able to get their hands on one of the early Series 5 Chromebooks sold through a special offer at Gilt and have proceeded to take apart the cloud based netbook. The Samsung Series 5 teardown shows off a netbook-like interior and gives a look at what powers the Chromebook; including what you can and cannot upgrade yourself.

The big news on the inside is that the 2GB RAM that comes with the Series 5 is not upgradeable, but the 16GB Sandisk SSD does appear to be upgradeable, which is good news for users that want to install a local OS on the unit. If you are someone who likes to take your gadgets apart, the Chromebook from Samsung is relatively accessible requiring only a small plastic tool to spread the plastic and a Philips #1 screwdriver.

If you’ve been looking for a comparison to the original CR-48 Chromebook, iFixit also has you covered with some side by side shots and a note that the trackpad is vastly improved from the CR-48. The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook will be available from Amazon and Best Buy starting on June 15 for $429 without 3G and for $499 with 3G and 100MB of monthly access.

Samsung Series 5 ChromeBook Dissected by iFixIt is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

Samsung has their info page for the new Samsung Chromebook announced this week at Google I/O Developer’s Conference. They have three links to “shop” for the Chrome OS netbooks, however clicking the link results in a page saying you can’t yet buy one.

At least you will be able to get a look at the three models they have coming in June. The Samsung Chromebook Series 5 White with Wi-Fi only will cost $429. With 3G the price is bumped up to $499. The Titan Silver model with 3G is also $499.

To learn when they become available you can sign up to receive an email from the company when they become available.

They also have a page to help you decide if one of these new machines is right for your needs. They deal with things like power, size, and whether a cloud based OS will be satisfying to you. If you need to be able to install specific applications, need a larger screen than 12.1 inches, or want something with some power, then don’t bother. The other issue is the price. You are making a lot of compromises for a computer that won’t do all that other PCs can do for the same price or just a little bit more.

Samsung Series 5 Chromebook Demo Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4laFrhWRU84

Below is a hands on video from Engadget:

http://youtu.be/HZQYpCRP72E

Thanks to Marco at Notebook Italia for the heads up.

Samsung Series 5 Chromebook Pages Up But Not for Purchase is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

At Google I/O the search giant announced that this summer some interesting Chromebooks are coming from Samsung and Acer, with others likely to follow. A Chromebook is a netbook computer running Google’s Chrome OS.

Is there room for a fourth mobile operating system? Microsoft Windows still dominates with Apple’s Mac OS X coming on strong and grabbing a lot of mind share. Linux in its dozens of variants is still a niche OS on the notebook with maybe a couple of percentage points of the overall notebook install base. Can the new Google Chrome operating system grab enough traction to be successful?

What does success look like for Google? It doesn’t have to beat Microsoft or Apple, but it would have to grab enough market share to climb above Linux or it would most likely be seen as a bust. Google’s mission is to be the method by which people go to the Internet in every sector of electronic life. Android is going a great job as is the Chrome browser in both Windows and Mac. Now they want to be your operating system too.

Google has a good strategy on the surface, but the devil is in the details. As we reported, they plan to target students and businesses. Why  not? That is where the big guys make their money. The plan is to rent these Chromebooks for $20/month or $240/year to students through volume licenses via their schools – 10 seat minimum. That sounds like a great deal! Most netbooks cost around $300-$400 with the high-end netbooks going for $500 and Apple’s version of the netbook, the MacBook Air, starting at $999. If the Chrome OS and the hardware is usable, then paying $240 for a netbook is a good deal. For business users it is a little more at $28/month. That is still not bad, again on the surface.

The problem is when you look at the fine print. Their plan is not a per year basis but a three-year term. Warner Crocker reported at our sister site Gottabemobile.com that the details are now surfacing saying that the $20/month deal for students and $28/month deal for business users is based not on single year contract but a three-year contract. That makes it a $720 netbook for a student after three years and $1,008 for the business plan after three years. There also doesn’t appear to be a way to exit the contract without paying for the rest of the lease.

Why on earth would anyone buy one of these for either $720 or $1,008? You can get an 11″ MacBook Air for a grand and it can run both Mac OS X and Windows. It will also run the Chrome browser which will allow you to do most of what these Chrome OS netbooks can do. The $20/month price sounds good but $720 for three years sounds so ridiculously overpriced that it is laughable. For $720 a student can get a full-powered Windows computer that will be able to run the Chrome browser and do most of what these netbooks can do plus a lot more. It would make more sense to pay for the Acer or Samsung system up front, and in fact that is something some businesses are hoping to do.

To succeed, Google has to make these overpriced netbooks truly appealing is either make Chrome OS so good that we just have to have it or to make the hardware so awesome that we are willing to put up with any old operating system to use them. From early looks neither will happen. A third option is to really make this a one year commitment. At $20 or $28 per month for one year, I would jump at a chance to use one of these sight unseen, but not for a three-year commitment. This may not be Google’s failure. Acer and Samsung could be the culprits since they have to make the hardware. Whoever is to blame for these bloated prices and long contracts, Google will be the one looking bad when they have half a percent of the notebook market after those first three-year contracts are finished.

Google Missing the Mark with Chromebooks is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.

Today at Google I/O a developer event for all things Google, the company announced the much anticipated Google Chrome Notebook. We have come a way since the original cr-48 prototype, which users had a chance to try last year, and now have two new Chromebooks coming June 15th from Samsung and Acer.

Google Chromebook Models, Pricing and Specs

The new Google Chromebooks will be available from Best Buy and Amazon.com and prices start at $349.99. The Chromebooks are note yet available for preorder, but you can sign up at Amazon to be notified when the Chromebooks are available to order.

Samsung Chromebook

The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook comes in two models, a WiFi only Chromebook which retails for $429 and a WiFi+3G model which is $499. The 3G model will include 100MB of broadband from Verizon Wireless per month, operating on the Verizon 3G network.

Samsung Series 5 (Samsung Chromebook) Specs:

• 12.1″ (1280×800) 300 nit Display
• 3.26 lbs / 1.48 kg
• 8.5 hours of continuous usage
• Intel Atom Dual-Core Processor
• Built in dual-band Wi-Fi and World-mode 3G (optional)
• HD Webcam with noise cancelling microphone
• 2 USB 2.0 ports
• 4-in-1 memory card slot
• Mini-VGA port
• Fullsize Chrome keyboard
• Oversize fully-clickable trackpad

Acer Chromebook

The Acer WiFi Chromebook looks like it will only be available from Amazon and will retail for $349.99. At this time, the Acer notebook has no mobile broadband option. The Acer notebook has a smaller display and lighter weight, but similar specs to the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook. One notable difference is the inclusion of a HDMI port instead of a Mini-VGA connection.

Acer Wi-Fi Chromebook Specs:

• 11.6″ HD Widescreen CineCrystal LED-backlit LCD
• 2.95 lbs. | 1.34 kg.
• 6 hours of continuous usage
• Intel Atom Dual-Core Processor
• Built in dual-band Wi-Fi and World-mode 3G (optional)
• HD Webcam with noise cancelling microphone
• High-Definition Audio Support
• 2 USB 2.0 ports
• 4-in-1 memory card slot
• HDMI port
• Fullsize Chrome keyboard
• Oversize fully-clickable trackpad

Chromebook Offline Access

In case you missed it, the two cheapest Chromebooks won’t have mobile broadband built in. Don’t worry though, the new Chromebooks will allow for offline access to your Gmail, Calendar and Docs. As Warner Crocker explains at GottaBeMobile this is an incredibly important change to the concept or “web only” which recognizes the fallible nature of mobile connections and consumer desire to have offline access in certain occasions.

What to Expect with Your Chrome Notebook?

The Chromebooks will include many of the features we were expecting from the original launch, but we have highlighted some of the major Chromebook features you will experience if you purchase a Chromebook.

Instant Web - Boot in 8 seconds and start searching

Always on Connectivity – 100MB of 3G included with 3G models.

Online Backup and Convenience – Your documents, settings and more are stored in the cloud so if you lose the Chromebook, just grab a new one and get going

Web Apps – Access to web apps that let you play games (Angry Birds!), work in spreadsheets, edit photos and more.

Automatic Updates – When you login the Chromebook will automatically update your apps. No need to click yes and get pestered to restart.

Built in Security – The Google Chromebooks include sandboxing, data encryption, and verified boot to help protect you from malware.

Google Chromebook Gallery

Samsung and Acer Google Chromebooks Launch June 15th: Details, Specs & Pricing is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

If all goes as expected, Google will announce the launch of Google Chrome notebooks today at Google I/O. Rather then sell the cloud based notebooks outright, it looks like Google will instead be offering a student package that includes a Google Chrome notebook, Google services and likely some sort of mobile broadband connection. Google appears to be starting with the student market before expanding to the business arena.

We don’t know yet if these Chrome notebook rentals would be similar to the cr-48, or made up of a collection of notebooks from numerous vendors looking to offer Chrome notebooks this summer.

Why Chrome Notebook Rentals?

The Google Chrome notebooks may seem perfectly suited for college students looking for an affordable notebook that doesn’t require additional purchases such as Office and Antivirus software. If Google bundles a 100MB or so of mobile broadband access, like we saw on the cr-48 chrome notebooks, then the package could appeal to your average student for around $20 a month, especially if Google can get colleges to sign on and pick up the cost.

If Google plays its cards right, the company could offer a package deal to colleges using Google Apps and guarantee that students get hands on time with the Chrome notebooks and the cloud. Google is banking on a new generation of workers to demand the Chrome OS and cloud computing when they land jobs, much like the current crop of graduates have led to a consumerization of the enterprise which is visualized in notebooks like the HP ProBook 5330m.

Renting Isn’t Always Better

While Forbes is quick to note that the $20 a month plan is, “cheaper than buying a laptop for school,” this isn’t taking into account the overall cost for a four year degree which would equal out to about $1,000 — the cost of a MacBook Air or a high end Windows notebook like the Toshiba Satellite E305.

Given that many students, at least those concerned with costs, will keep their notebook for the length of their college career they would actually be better off buying a notebook for $500 to $1,000 and reselling it when they need to upgrade. Granted, these notebooks won’t come with mobile broadband built in, but that’s not as big of an issue with a traditional notebook on a connected college campus. Additionally, your standard Windows or Mac notebook can run a much broader range of applications, including specialized apps which students may need access to in higher level courses.

What is Chrome OS?

Google Chrome is a cloud based OS, which relies on a netbook like notebook to connect users to web services rather than local software. The files are all stored in the cloud, though some can be accessed offline. One large upside is that the files are all stored in the cloud, so if your Chrome notebook is lost, stolen or damaged you just need a new one to get access to all of your stuff.

Chrome Notebooks for Business

While the initial plan will be targeting students, Google is already in talks with many companies to roll out a Chrome notebook program in medium to large businesses that are looking to reduce the cost of hardware and the security issues that come with the ability to remotely store sensitive data on a traditional notebook. At least one business we have spoken to is hoping to use Chrome notebooks to replace traditional employee notebooks, but they want to purchase instead of rent Chrome notebooks.

Google to Rent Chrome Notebooks for $240 a Year ($20 a month) is a post by Josh Smith from Notebooks.com.

It looks like Samsung will release a new notebook with the Google Chrome OS according to reports of a leak a Dutch site ChromeNieuws.nl (Google Translation). The original site at Google Chrome OS code site where the leak first showed up is no longer available.

Below is a screen shot of it.

The beginning of the Chrome invasion we reported before will begin with this notebook codenamed Alex. It will have the following specs:

• 1.5GHz Atom N550 CPU
• 2GB of RAM
• A SanDisk SSD drive – total capacity unknown at this point
• Display with a resolution of 1280×800
• 3G support
• Synaptics TouchPad
• Wi-Fi
• Ethernet
• Bluetooth
• Namuga Webcam
• Realtek ALC272 audio
• Flash memory card reader
• USB ports
• VGA output

These details sound very netbook-like to us, although we don’t know the size of the device. Because it is running the cloud-based Chrome-OS it doesn’t need to be that powerful a system.

Chrome OS was developed by Google with a lot of fanfare last year when they gave away notebooks called Google Chrome CR-48 for testing last year. We got a look at one and the reviews were mixed.

Next month is the Google Chrome developers conference called I/O. Expect to hear more about this and other Chrome devices.

Will Chrome OS devices sell? That depends on two primary details – price and capability. What price point would entice you to forgo an operating system that runs everything locally for a cloud based system like Chrome? And what functionality would have to be present for such a device to sell? One possible business model would be for Google to subsidize these devices. Their business is advertising and if they can get more people looking at their ads, they make more money. Profit on the device itself is not as big an issue for Google. OEMs like Samsung need to make money. Unless Google subsidizes the cost of the notebook, this model doesn’t work for third-parties like Samsung.

The other option is to include some killer feature that will draw users. Very few OEMs have succeeded in doing this kind of marketing, so we doubt this can work either unless the killer feature is simplicity. If you can make a notebook that is as simple as the iPad and cheaper, then you might have something that will draw users to buying. If Samsung can provide the cheap hardware and Google the simple interface, then a $200-$300 netbook-like device with a slightly bigger screen (12-13 inches) than most of the 10-12 inch devices out now might have a chance.

Samsung Alex Coming wth Chrome OS: Google Chrome Notebook is a post by Kevin Purcell from Notebooks.com.