HP's new Chromebook will use Intel processor
Chromebooks have been burning up the sales charts on Amazon for a long time, with many users defecting from Windows and OS X to Google's Chrome OS. Now HP has announced a brand new Chromebook 14 that may go shooting up the sales charts as well. The new Chromebook 14 will use an Intel processor and will offer the option of a 1080p HD display.
Chance Miller reports for 9to5Google:
HP today has taken the wraps off a refreshed lineup of Chromebooks. In a press release, the company revealed a new Chromebook 14 lineup with hardware and cosmetic improvements. In addition to a 14-inch model with a 1366×768 display, HP is also offering a model with a full 1080p HD display.
Both models, however, feature an Intel Celeron N2840 processor coupled with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal flash storage. The previous generation model used an Nvidia processor. Battery life is also improved this year, with HP quoting 9 hours of runtime. Though, the higher-resolution HD model will likely clock in a slightly below that.
Purchasers of the new Chromebook 14 get a handful of bonuses, as well. HP is tossing in 12 free Gogo in-air internet passes, three free Google Play movie rentals, 90 days free of Google Play Music All Access, and 100GB of Drive storage. The standard model will be priced at $249.99, while the HD model will come in at $279.99. Both will be available on November 8th. The Chromebook 14 will be available in Turbo Silver and Sky Blue.
Linux Lite 2.6 review
Linux Lite 2.6 is a distro designed to welcome new users to Linux by providing a polished, easy to use desktop system. DistroWatch reviewed of Linux Lite 2.6 and mostly liked what it saw.
Jesse Smith reports for DistroWatch:
I greatly enjoyed my time with Linux Lite 2.6. The distribution does a lot of things well, is easy to set up and use and the project offers us a lot of beginner friendly documentation. Linux Lite provides a great balance of speed, user friendliness, features and stability.
I like that Linux Lite manages to live up to its name by using few resources while still looking nice, the distribution manages to provide a stable base while shipping with up to date desktop applications and it offers good hardware support too. It is especially nice to see a distribution provide a control panel similar to the OpenMandriva Control Centre. This is one of the features I have most wanted to see adopted by distributions outside of the OpenMandriva family and it's nice to see Linux Lite take the lead on this one.
Lite ships with a good deal of functionality, providing users with most of the desktop software they are likely to need without, I'm happy to report, bogging down the application menu with a lot of extras, I feel a good balance was struck with regards to the default applications. Plus, I like that Lite offers us multimedia support out of the box.
Mostly, what I appreciated about Linux Lite was the distribution's sense of polish. I don't mean visually, though I did enjoy Lite's default look, I mean polish in the sense that the little details were addressed. Most distributions will have some small bugs or quirks or little annoyances. Perhaps too many notification messages or an application that won't launch or the software manager will not always run properly because PackageKit refuses to relinquish its lock on the package database. Linux Lite, by contrast, offered a smooth, pleasant experience.
The Verge reviews the Nexus 6P
Google's new Nexus 6P phone has caught the attention of many Android users, but is it worth buying? The Verge has a full review of the Nexus 6P to help you make your purchasing decision.
Dieter Bohn reports for The Verge:
The Nexus 6P effectively levels the playing field with other great phones by offering really beautiful hardware and a camera that can finally compete. And it does that while undercutting all of them on cost. The Nexus 6P starts at $499, and for that price there is not a single phone on the market that's better. Not one.
If you compare it to the other "premium" phones like the iPhone 6S, Galaxy S6, or Note 5, you're going to end up finding yourself putting a different set of things on your decision scales than before. With the Note 5: is a slightly better camera and a stylus worth $240 more, or would you rather have a clean Android experience? And the iPhone 6S: is iOS's superior app ecosystem and 3D Touch worth $150 more,7 or do you live in Google's ecosystem and want Google Now on Tap?
I'm not going to answer those questions for you here, only point out the remarkable fact that with the 6P, these are the questions now. Call it the premium category, call it the big leagues, call it whatever you what: the Nexus 6P and Google are competing at a different level than they did before. The Nexus was always a good Android phone, sometimes a great one, but never the best one.
Now it is.
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