Say you’re in a cafe and you need to make a quick run to the bathroom, so for security purposes you lock your laptop, and go do your business. Safe for someone physically stealing your laptop, you should be somewhat safe from prying eyes, right? Nope, not entirely, no thanks to what those in the hacking community refer to as the “Rubber Ducky”.
If you’re looking for a better way to manage screen time on Chromebooks, you’ll be pleased to learn that in an update to Chrome OS, Google has rolled out better screen time management features to the laptop. Prior to this, Chromebooks did come with parental controls although they were a bit limited.
Mobile-friendly websites aren’t automatically generated and it is the onus of the developer to create a theme friendly for mobile. However sometimes mobile websites lack certain features that the desktop version has, which is why users using mobile browsers have the option to request for the desktop version of the website.
Samsung first launched the Chromebook Plus last year and came out with a refreshed version a couple of months back. It’s now adding another model for the lineup. It’s aimed at customers who are looking to remain connected on the go with this device. The Chromebook Plus can now be purchased with LTE support.
HP is a major player in the Chromebook market and the company today launched its thinnest Chrome OS-powered convertible yet, the HP x360 14. It’s the successor to HP’s original x360 which was released last year and it has a 14 inch display instead of its predecessor’s 11. The device has a 360 degree hinge so it can be used in four different configurations.
Chromebooks are often seen as a more affordable alternative to Windows or Mac-based laptops. Of course there are concessions that need to be made in which you would give up the running of certain apps that might not be compatible with Chrome OS. However if you’re fine with that, Acer has something for you.
Even with the Core i5 edition, the Pixelbook delivers an exemplary, flawless web experience, with a user interface that can be smoother than more powerful PCs.
Even though the Pixelbook is a pretty good laptop for the money, you won’t really consider it if you’re not ready to shift to Chrome OS entirely. However, it appears that Google wants to tap into those customers as well and is developing an “AltOS” mode which will enable Pixelbook owners to run Windows on their laptops as well.
According to a recent discovery by security researchers, it seems that some Chromebooks that use a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) have a bug that allows hackers to brute-force their way into a Chromebook to obtain encrypted data. Thankfully the bug has since been patched, but the patch comes at a cost.
Announced in October last year, Google’s Pixelbook is the company’s latest attempt at making its own Chromebook. It is a pretty sleek device and even comes with a Pixelbook Pen, which is basically a stylus that lets users interact with the device. For those who own both and are looking for a way to protect it, you’ll be interested to learn that the Pixelbook sleeve has been officially released.
While Full HD 1080 displays are more or less the standard and the norm these days when it comes to laptops, we’re starting to see laptop makers push displays to even higher resolutions, offering 2K or even 4K options. However for the most part, Chromebooks have typically missed out on this, but that could change soon.