Touch Screen Capabilities on Google Chromebook Hinted

Google Chromebook

(Image Credit: http://www.pcmag.com)

The upsurge in the sales of tablets has left many laptop manufacturers in a quandary, whether to shift their R&D to design tablets or to innovate and offer products that combine the user-friendliness of tablets with the productivity of laptops. Apparently Google has opted to do both. The internet search giant has collaborated with a number of tablet manufacturers to produce its own line of tablets. In addition to the Google Nexus tablet devices that the company has offered in the market, recent reports have hinted at the possibility that the company will be offering a Google Chromebook with touch screen capabilities.

According to a DigiTimes report, a 12.85-inch Google Chromebook will be offered by the company before the year ends. Although the other features of the new Google Chromebook remain uncertain, adding touch screen capabilities into the device may increase its appeal in the market, especially when it is already being offered at a rather affordable price tag.

Since the Google Chrome OS is already designed with touch screen compatibility, it will easy for the company to simply add a touch screen display on any of its upcoming Google Chromebook offerings. According to the report, the company already placed orders for touch screen netbooks from a Taiwanese manufacturer, Opal. The company is already offering two other models of the Google Chromebook manufactured by Acer and Samsung.

There is also a possibility that the next model of the Google Chromebook will have the Google brand since the company itself placed the order for the devices. The current models of the Google Chromebook are being offered at a price tag that range from $200 to $450. The low price tag is mainly aimed at appealing to a number of budget-conscious consumers. However, the low price also resulted to its reliance on the cloud application suite of the company since the two current models of the Google Chromebook only offers a 16GB SSD.

Despite its low price point, the Google Chromebook has not made much of an impact in the market. Some industry watchers have indicated that the low price point may not be enough to offset the limited capabilities of the device when it is offline.

With the possible addition of the touch screen capability on the Google Chromebook, some industry watchers are speculating on a possible increase in the price of the device. In fact, the increase may even bring it up to the level of its competitors, which may take away its low price advantage.

It remains to be seen whether the search giant would release a Google Chromebook featuring touch screen capabilities since no statements were made by the company in connection to the report.