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Hello, Chromebit — A $99 Chrome PC The Size of a Chromecast

By under Hardware, News
chromebit

The Chromebit (image: mashable)

First came Chromebooks, then the Chromebox, Chromecast, most recently, the Chromebase.

Today Google announced a new device in the Chrome device family: the Chromebit. 

Take the guts of a Chromebox and squeeze it in to a dongle not that much bigger than the Chromecast and you get the Chromebit.

It’s a fully fledged Chrome OS PC packed into a HDMI dongle the size of a Roku streaming stick.

‘Cross a Chromebox with a Chromecast and you get the Chromebit’

The device, which Google say will be available to buy later this year, was unveiled alongside a raft of new low-cost Chromebooks at a press event this week.

The Asus  Chromebit has the same hardware specs as the newly unveiled Chromebook Flip and C201: 2GB of RAM, a Rockchip 3288 SoC and 16GB of eMMC flash storage.

Google say the device will retail for under $100 when it goes on sale this summer, and be available in a range of different colors.

The Chromebit comes with a swivelling HDMI port on one end (used to connect to an external display), a Micro USB port on the side (used for power) and a full-sized USB port for attaching keyboard, mice and other extras (though with onboard Bluetooth this won’t be necessary for some).

Google is reported to be aiming the Chromebit for use in digital signage, internet cafes and other instances where a larger Chromebox may be less attractive. But, just like the Chromecast, they are said to be excited by the potential for less conventional use cases too.

Group_Asus_Chromestick_V1 (1)_1000

  • Chedly

    This is amazing! I can think of so may interesting use cases for this!

    • CPO_C_Ryback

      WEAKEST POINT: what about printing? That’s the weakest part of Chromebooks.

  • awalGarg

    Wow chrome os is really taking over a lot of the market area…

  • komrath

    I totally want one :-)

    • Austin Davolt

      Me too, would be great for my old hdtv that doesnt get used.

  • ForSquirel

    not gonna lie. This looks pretty damn awesome. It will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine.

    Seriously though, if I had this all I’d have to do is lug around a 30″ screen instead of a stupid laptop. This is gonna be awesome.

  • Rafał Mucha

    Hmmm, Chromeberry Pi. Me wants.

  • davidburdon

    Surely an April Fool

    • They would have announced the product tomorrow, NOT today, if that was the case…

    • Actually it’s not.

      • davidburdon

        Fair enough, with Google already putting Pac-Man on their maps and Samsung announcing the Galaxy Blade Edge and with Amazon announcing a Dash Button, I just thought it might be.

        • CozyTech

          Amazon’s Dash Button is also not an April Fool’s joke.

          • davidburdon

            Cool, I look forward to placing an order for some in coming weeks

  • Vin

    So, what exactly would you do with this? What would you attach this to? Could you stick this in a Windows PC and have 2 machines in 1?

    • It’s an HDMI dongle, not a USB one. So unless your Windows PC has an HDMI input (emphasis on input, no.

      Although, if your monitor has 2 HDMI’s, that could be a go, since then you’d be able to connect a Windows PC to one HDMI port and plug the Chromebit into the other…

    • Vin

      I still don’t get what this is for. Can someone give me an example of how I would use this or why I should buy it?

      • JPB

        Bring it on vacation along with your bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Plug it into the hotel TV. You now have a computer that you didn’t have to take out of your bag at the airport. Have fun, surf the web, watch Netflix, do email, Chrome RD to your systems at home.

        Or keep it handy for those presentations at work where they have a 90″ TV parked in the conference room but no one knows how to use the projector connected to it. Plug in, set the input on the side of the TV to HDMI and impress your friends.

        • Vin

          Thanks. So I’d need a BlueTooth mouse and keyboard and that’s it. (Oh, and some type of monitor with an HDMI. Wow, that can be useful.

          • I think it’ll take wired mouse and keyboards too, but wireless is more fun. :P

    • collinpage

      Disconnect your PC from it’s monitor and plug it into the hdmi port and voila compact computer

  • This would be perfect for using a TV as a monitor, to say the least. With three HDMI ports, one could plug a Chromecast in one port, a Chromebit in another, and a cable or satellite receiver into still another… and seamlessly switch between the three. Talk about convenience…

    • I couldn’t help by chuckle realising you could plug one of these into the back of the Chromebase and essentially have two Chrome PCs in one ;P

    • Erick Wright

      would be even better if it had built in Google cast support

      • As-in the ability to RECEIVE Google casts.

        • Guest

          How about using All Cast Receiver?

      • Jessey

        But youtube already does that.

  • kadtrrer

    chromeos with more storage(on a stick would be better) is what i am looking for.
    The reason for more storage is because i want to make it a local multimedia server (plex)

    • It has a USB port on the end which could, in theory, house a microSD card reader (one of those nubby ones barely bigger than the card itself). I don’t know what the SD card limit is on this (some top out at 32GB) but if it supports larger cards, like the 128GB ones, then there’s a potential workaround — not ideal I appreciate, but then this isn’t being pitched as a local media server solution.

      • kadtrrer

        but then how do you power the device if its fit with a card reader?? I know its not pitched as multimedia device i would hate to pay microsoft my money and prefer a chromeos solution

        • ForSquirel

          Other reports say it has an internal battery (?) and some pictures show a micro USB input for charging which could be used for permanent power via TV usb or wall wart.

        • It has a micro-USB on the side for power and a full-sized USB in port on the end, which is where I was suggesting the nub be inserted.

    • Tim Lund

      I don’t think Plex has a server for Chrome OS? I use the Plex client on my Acer Chromebook but I use the Linux server on Mint XFCE. No need for Windows. The client should run without any problems on any Chrome OS device.

      • kadtrrer

        install croutan and there you have a linux which is capable of running plex server

  • Source links? :)

  • disqus_QQmo5i3vVTT

    Google has another winner!

  • Mi Pen

    It will be good for some light browsing on the TV and Netflix. Though a bluetooth mouse and KB would be a must.

    Would also be great for a grandfather who might just be able to cope with a web browser.

  • Cristian Otegui

    E – volution. How do you plug a keyboard, a mouse o anything else to the chromebit? Ok, USB port.

    • Or use the built-in bluetooth to hook up a wireless set.

      In instances like digital signage or POI terminals, which run Chrome OS Kiosk mode and may be automated or driven by a touch display, there’s no need to keep a keyboard plugged in all the time, adding to the discreetness.

      • Jos Spencer

        Proof this isnt a april foolz?

        • Haha, this is going to be a recurring theme throughout the day.

          It’s not; I mean, it just can’t be. There’s nothing “lol” about a Chromebox the size of a Roku stick. Intel was showing them it’s Windows and Ubuntu versions earlier in the year, and other companies make similar products running Android.

        • Cristian Otegui

          it is a good one

      • Cristian Otegui

        :-)

      • tnsi

        In the case where you’re using it as digital signage, you might not even need a keyboard at all, if Google can arrange it so that you can provision a kiosk application to run on the devices- doing the initial setup over wifi like the Chromecast.

  • Mobilephile

    So these seem to be the Chrome OS version of the Android mini PC sticks that came out a couple years now, they go for around $60-75. New definition of a pocket pc for sure.

  • Chromecast turns any TV in your house into a smart tv for $35 bucks, roku turns any screen into a media center for $59, and this makes any existing screen a computer for $79. You can make it a game box with a controller for $99. The google laptop is 150 to 250 dollars, retail, get a used one for $99 bucks, tablets are 99 bucks. This is useful fun tech, repurposing and expanding things for people, vs a Apple where you’ll pay 750 for your tablet, 1,000 for your phone, 2,000 for your computer, and 10,000 for a gold smartwatch that is dead by the end of the day and $100/ea for a dongle for each of the above.

    • Mi Pen

      Fools and their money. Apples made a mint off them. Googles Android has brought Internet to the masses via tablets. I like Google a lot for their intelligent non greedy approach. Even if they have too much information on me by now :D.

    • James Bell

      That’s funny, because you got all the prices wrong except for the gold Apple Watch.

      • could you be more … specific ?

        • or at all ?

        • James Bell

          iPads start at $499 ($250, actually, for the mini), iPhones start at $450 off contract, Macs start at $499.

          If you’re going to bash a company, at least do it right.

          • 499 to 829 on the US apple store, since the gravy in the business model is based on crippling the base memory included and pushing people to the higher tiers, 750 is perfectly reasonable. Plus a cover, plus sales taxes. Would you like applecare with that ? 99 bucks ! 80 for a case ! maybe I was too low.

          • James Bell

            Apple products come with a standard one year warranty, as do most electronics. You can buy extended support from Google as well. 80 for a case? That’s a load of crap. You’re either an idiot, a troll, or both.

          • Neel Gupta

            Sorry, “warranty” disqualified due to tampering with the software !

          • James Bell

            You mean jailbreaking? If you restore on iTunes Apple has no way of knowing it ever happened.

          • Tanesha Hays

            Actually, If you purchase something directly from Google, there is no extended support/warranty service. You might get this from the carriers or manufacturers but definitely not Google.

          • antonetteclark

            It’s been one year since I left my last job and I never felt better in my life… I started freelancing from my house, for this company I found online, several hrs every day, and I make much more than i did on my last job… My pay-check for last month was for 9k… Superb thing about this is that i have more free time with my family… CHILP.IT/728813e

          • you’re a rude fanboy

          • James Bell

            Hey, when people spread lies, I tend to get rude.

          • a difference of perspective is called “lies”? what are you ? a friggin child ?

            Because of the higher apple device cost, the extended care plan costs almost as much as the chromeOS thin client itself. That’s the point, if you’re capable of wrapping your head around it … The new macbook starts at $1349US, if the apple site is working today, it may be a technological wonder but it should be for the cost of 7 or 8 chromebooks or 3-4 windows 8, light laptops. For many users finally “the network is the computer” now. So the devices/interface goes away/become dirt cheap and apple is left as a bespoke luxury goods maker, like coach or louis vutton.

            and yes, it’s a luxury good experience, complete with expensive accessories in tidy upscale stores, which is a very profitable business untill fashion changes.

          • James Bell

            Again, a lie. I NEVER said because you have a different opinion you’re lying. Good job pulling that out of your a$$. You’re a liar because you’re saying prices of things that aren’t true, and because you just did it again, I’m convinced you’re doing it on purpose. The new Macbook costs $1299. Going back to an earlier comment, you said a case for an iPhone would cost $80. You can’t be serious. You’re bending facts. Yeah, Apple products are very expensive. I get that. But why not use correct pricing so people can have an accurate conversation with you? I would have wholeheartedly agreed with you and maybe struck up a nice conversation if only you had used prices you didn’t make up. Do you just comment to see the pretty letters on the pretty screen? Or do you post on niche enthusiast websites like these because you know people will agree with you no matter what, and you can pretend the rest of the world feels the way you do?

          • you’re either an idiot or a shill, or both.

  • phoenix Stutz

    How do we know its not a April fools prank, like that mailbox thing from google

  • tony

    should be cheaper since you can pay 150 for a chromebox or a chromebook if you look in the right place these should be 50 pounds

  • Mi Pen

    Well it would be good for my 37inch 1080p Non Smart HDTV. Should also be good on the electricity.

    Though I might instead pick up a second hand Chromebox for the cash. Still very interesting and should make internet browsing on a huge TV really nice.

  • John Nakashima

    This will be at work places EVERYWHERE. There are way too many jobs where people really don’t do skit. Including mine.

  • moe

    want to see this in action, when will this be for sale?

  • Kyle B

    I would buy this as long as it’s guaranteed to get updated and works on my laptop too.

    • Nils Jakobi

      How exactly should it work on/with your laptop?

      • Neel Gupta

        use the laptop screen to run Chrome OS from a dongle !?!
        I don’t think it will work, Laptops don’t have HDMI-input port.
        …unless you are running Linux already, and have reconfigured your HDMI port firmware to accept inputs.

        • …provided your drivers even support HDMI (mine don’t, unfortunately)

    • tnsi

      Won’t work on your laptop- it’s a computer on its own.

    • Dewayne Walker

      Chromium on bootable thumb drive will do this on your laptop already. Go open source !

  • Dheeraj

    looks good. will get one, good solution for a cheap smart tv / media centre

  • Karl C

    To make this really aweseome, as in full on HTPC we need two things. 1.- An Android app that allows us to use an onscreen keyboard and ‘mouse’ via bluetooth. Something like Unified Remote but without the need to install the Unified Server. Hence we could use our smartphone/tablet to control the Chromebit which would make it an awesome bit of kit to take travelling and for use as a full web enabled HTPC. 2 – The ability to “cast” one Chrome tab to another open Chrome tab. It would be awesome if I could use my Chromebook from the sofa to control the Chromebit on my TV. With a standard mouse and keyboard, I would have to sit too close the the TV to clearly read text. Come on Google, these would be superb ideas!

  • Felipe Chierighini

    How does it works if I put it on a TV and want to use a mouse and keyboard with it?

    • Mi Pen

      You are best to get a bluetooth mouse and keyboard. You just switch on your bluetooth devices and connect as normal i’m guessing. I also think it might work with a USB hub and a micro usb adapter to connect non bluetooth devices.

      We will know more when one comes out.

      • ๒ﾚㄩ∑ῳ◊и∂∑Я

        Do you have any idea when it’ll come out? This and the Chromebase are both appealing to me.

  • Guest

    < col Hiiiiiii Friends….'my friend's mom mkes $88 every hour on the internet .She has been unemployed for eight months but last month her payment was $13904 just working on the internet for a few hours. try this site < kl is

  • Joeltut

    Does the chrome cast play Google play movies offline I have a web site that says it does. If that works compare a 159 new Chromebook with chrome cast and router to a chrome bit with offline movies. When traveling you might find playing a movie offline easier on a chrome bit.

  • Smallwheels

    I hope they support 120 and 240 HZ screens and later 4K. Now I won’t need to buy another regular monitor. I can just buy a really high quality TV and connect the Chromebit to it. With external powered hubs anything could be done within the bounds of Chrome OS.

    • ๒ﾚㄩ∑ῳ◊и∂∑Я

      Yep. This is going to simplify and stream line everything together.

  • the farther into summer i get the more i think its just lots of waiting….. at least give us a ship date…..

    Geezuz….

  • Sean Parsons

    This is ridiculous. The end of Summer and still no ship date has been posted. This is the device I want to buy, but might just end up buying a compute stick with Ubuntu instead.

  • Rick

    giving up … this was just an exercise to see if there was enough interest.