A trio of Chrome devices based around Intel’s power-efficient Broadwell processors have been added to the Chromium OS repository.
Intel, who unveiled their Broadwell processor lineup at CES 2015, has previously said that we can expect a suite of new Chromebooks, Chromeboxes and Chromebases using the fifth-generation chips to hit retail shelves this year.
The Broadwell Four
In all there are four Broadwell boards listed in Chromium OS. The first was spotted back in September. Gigaom’s Kevin Tofel notes that this is likely to have been the new 15.6-inch Acer Chromebook, due for release next month.
As to whom the rest of the boards belong to? Well that question currently lacks an answer. That said, I’d guess that one belongs to the new ‘rugged’ Acer C740 Chromebook due in March, while the other could be Dell’s rumoured 15-incher.
Google gives its development boards codenames based on popular video games characters. The latest set is no different, being gifted monikers of three characters from the Final Fantasy franchise (Paine, Yuna and Lulu).
Not all boards listed in the Chromium OS codebase end up as proper products sitting on shelves, for various reasons. So while it’s a given that more Broadwell Chromebooks are coming, they may or may not end up being based on these specific models.
- Source: Francois Beaufort (via Gigaom)