Google’s line of laptops running on its cloud-based Chrome OS has been refreshed, featuring more powerful hardware and yet is half the price of its predecessor. The latest Samsung Chromebook is an 11.6-inch laptop with an ARM-based processor, meaning there is no need for heatsinks and cooling fans inside the chassis – which explains the svelte 0.8-inch thickness and almost anorexic 1.1kg weight.

The good news does not end there, of course. Running on an Exynos Dual A15-based chip, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of flash storage (with 100GB free cloud storage for two years), USB 3.0 port, Wi-Fi & Bluetooth connectivity as well as a screen resolution of 1366 x 768 and a full-sized keyboard, it also features a battery which is good for 6.5 hours. What’s more, it even supports 1080p video playback and boots up in less than 10 seconds. As a Google device, it also has Google Now integration as well as Google Drive and all of its functionalities.

The price? $249.

As the last sentence sinks in, we’ll also let you know that the Chromebook will not only be available for purchase in US and UK retailers (both physical and online), it will also be available at the Play store. Unfortunately there is no word on whether it will be available in other parts of the world, so those who are interested may just have to import them from the US (like what many here in Malaysia have done with the Google Nexus 7).

(Source: Engadget, Google)