After first unveiling its new AI-powered laptop, dubbed Googlebook, in May, Google on Monday said the new device is now available for pre-order for $899.
Meant to offer a step up from traditional Chromebooks, Googlebooks run on Android OS with a desktop version of the Chrome browser and other familiar ChromeOS elements. The real pull for the new devices is that they’ll prominently feature Gemini’s latest capabilities in a new format: the laptop.
Google is trying to offer a laptop with unique features like an AI-powered cursor, vibe-coded widgets, and support for AI-enhanced dictation.
The devices could eventually replace Chromebooks, bringing millions of former Chromebook customers to Gemini AI.
On the Googlebook, Google is trying to reinvent the “point-and-click” experience of desktop computing to now include an AI element: the cursor serves as a conduit to Gemini.
In practice, this feature isn’t different from Android’s “Circle to Search,” which allows smartphone owners to use gestures like circling, highlighting, or tapping to connect with Google Search, which of course, also includes AI.
What’s more interesting about the Googlebook is how it’s part of Google’s longer-term plan to capture a large part of the K-12 market that now relies on Chromebooks, and push them towards the company’s Gemini AI.
The $899 device will include 12 months of Google AI Pro Gemini Advanced tools, and 3 months of YouTube Premium, Adobe Photoshop and more.
Devices will hit shelves on October 4 in the U.S. and October 5 in Canada, the U.K. Ireland, France, Germany, and Australia.