Google has just given us a fascinating look at the future of its hardware, and it isn’t a new phone.
As part of a surprise teaser during the Android Show – the same event that gave us our first proper look at Android 17, complete with upgraded Gemini Intelligence, new emoji and more – the company has pulled back the curtain on the long-rumoured Googlebook.
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Now this isn’t a full launch – that’s coming later this year – but from what we’ve seen so far, the Googlebook looks like a complete reinvention of the ChromeOS experience, heavily inspired by the best bits of Android.
It’s not just a new Chromebook with a new name either; this is a premium category of laptop with the same Gemini Intelligence smarts set to come to some the best Android phones around, designed to make working across phone and laptop feel like one single, fluid process.
The most interesting part of the teaser was the Magic Pointer. Instead of using a traditional cursor, which has pretty much remained unchanged since 1968, the Magic Pointer has Gemini smarts built in.
With a wiggle of the trackpad, you can activate the assistant and get it to analyse your screen. If you’re looking at a bunch of photos, it might suggest combining them into one, or if you’re in a chat, it might offer up an AI-generated reply or answer a quick question for you. It feels like a way to try to bring AI to the forefront without it feeling too in-your-face.
Arguably more impressive, however, is the Android connectivity. A new feature called Cast My Apps will let you beam an app from your phone to your laptop with one click, where it then sits in your toolbar for easy access. You won’t need to interact with your phone to make sure it’s unlocked or to grant permissions, which is how most current app mirroring systems work.
Even better is Quick Access, which integrates your phone’s storage directly into the Googlebook’s file browser, essentially eliminating the need for syncing or using cloud storage to share your files between devices. They just appear on your laptop and can be copied over wirelessly to local storage too.
Google confirmed that it’s already partnering with the likes of Acer, Asus, Dell, HP and Lenovo on the project, though it’s unclear at this stage whether Google will develop hardware itself. Regardless, the company has teased a variety of premium materials and form factors, with every device carrying a new Glow Bar – a signature strip of Google colours – to make the laptops instantly recognisable.
We’re expecting the full announcement, including the actual hardware line-up and all-important pricing, to drop later this year. For more, take a look at how Googlebook compares to Windows 11, and the differences between Googlebook and Chromebook too.
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