Google has announced a new category of laptop it calls the Googlebook, positioning it as the successor to the Chromebook and the most significant rethinking of its laptop strategy in over 15 years. Over 15 years ago, Google introduced the Chromebook, a laptop built for a cloud-first world, and now, as the company moves from an operating system to an intelligence system, it sees an opportunity to rethink laptops again, bringing together the best of Android, which comes with powerful apps on Google Play and a modern operating system designed for intelligence, and ChromeOS, which comes with the world’s most popular browser, with the result being Googlebook. The announcement was made as part of Google’s Android Show and comes ahead of Google I/O 2026, which begins next week in Mountain View, California.
The most visible change in the Googlebook is the Magic Pointer, built with the Google DeepMind team, which brings Gemini’s helpfulness right to the cursor. Users can wiggle the cursor to activate Gemini, which then offers quick, contextual suggestions based on whatever is on the screen, allowing them to point at a date in an email to set up a meeting, or select two images to instantly visualise them together, going from idea to done in just a few clicks. Googlebooks can also run Android apps directly on the laptop or access apps installed on an Android phone from the laptop, and users can access their phone’s files from the Googlebook without any file transfer required. A new Create My Widget feature, powered by Gemini, allows users to build custom desktop widgets by prompting the assistant, with Gemini able to search the internet and connect to Google apps such as Gmail and Calendar to create a personalised dashboard tailored to individual needs.
The laptops will come in a variety of shapes and sizes from a number of hardware makers, including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo, and will each feature a glowbar on the exterior, which Google describes as both functional and beautiful, though specific details about the glowbar’s functionality have not yet been disclosed. Google has not released pricing, but the company’s use of premium build language suggests Googlebooks will be significantly more expensive than Chromebooks, which currently range from USD 200 to USD 500 in the United States, with the new devices likely to compete with premium consumer Windows and macOS laptops. The announcement arrives at a competitive moment in the personal computer market, with Apple having recently debuted its lower-cost MacBook Neo and Microsoft continuing to push its Copilot-integrated Windows laptops, while industry analyst firm IDC expects personal computer shipments to decline by 11.3 percent in 2026. Google confirmed that Chromebooks and ChromeOS will continue to be supported and developed alongside the new Googlebook category, with the first Googlebooks set to launch this fall.
Follow the SPIN IDG WhatsApp Channel for updates across the Smart Pakistan Insights Network covering all of Pakistan’s technology ecosystem.
