Acer to use Computex to show Chrome OS hardware

Acer will use the Computex show early in June to show some of the first devices running Chrome OS, multiple sources said this evening. The details are vague, but more than one device is expected to show and would probably involve a netbook given Google's hardware requirements. Contacts for VentureBeat didn't know when they would ship, but Google has said Chrome OS wouldn't sit on shipping devices until the second half of the year.

Non-x86 chips like ARM should support the OS and will eventually make smartbooks and tablets more feasible, especially once Synaptics adds multi-touch support. A Google-influenced tablet should show as soon as next week but will use Android, whose interface is already designed for touch.

The Taiwan event will be the first opportunity for Google to more fully showcase its first desktop-grade OS since it was unveiled in November. It remains almost exclusively focused on the web and will make the Chrome browser the framework for nearly all tasks, but is known to have some accommodations for local content such as support for external storage and a media player.

Google already has at least some support in the industry from multiple hardware manufacturers, including Acer's frequent local rival ASUS, but has a tight set of guidelines that determine what hardware can be used and how well it has to perform.

By Electronista Staff