Google Releases New Chrome OS Laptop

Google is giving out free laptops—but good luck getting one. The search giant unveiled its new Chrome OS yesterday, but announced that the public wouldn’t be able to buy netbooks sporting it until the middle of next year, eWeek reports. But in the meantime, Google is running a pilot program to test the OS, giving participants a shiny new ultraportable that Mashable thinks has the potential to “put a serious hurt on devices like the MacBook Air.”

The boxy black notebook, dubbed the Cr-48, doesn’t look like much, because it’s not intended for consumer release. But it weighs in at just 3.8 pounds, and Google boasts that it gets 8 hours of battery life, boots up in 10 seconds and runs cool. It also has no spinning disks, caps-lock key, or function keys. But Google will be picky about who gets one, and warns that given the bugs still lurking in the beta OS, “the pilot program is not for the faint of heart.” (More Google Chrome OS stories.)