Google has confirmed that a second generation Chromebook Pixel will go on sale ‘soon’.
Speaking at the Team Work 2015 event this week, Google’s Renee Niemi announced that a successor to the high-end 2013 model is on the way, but stressed that Google will only be making a small number of them.
As before, the Chromebook Pixel 2 will be a development machine primarily aimed at developers. It won’t be pitched at, much less priced for, regular consumers.
Niemi’s snippet in full:
“We do have a new Pixel coming out and it will be coming out soon. We will be selling it but I just have to set your expectations: this is a development platform. This is really a proof of concept. We don’t make very many of these — we really don’t. And […] our developers and our Googlers consume 85% of what we produce. But yes, we do have a new Pixel coming out.”
Reading between the lines it is easy to leap, as we did earlier in the month, and see the Pixel 2 retaining both the look and design of the original. It saves on costings, design, manufacture and tooling.
What we know about the Chromebook Pixel 2
What we know about the Chromebook Pixel 2 is that it still has a 12.85-inch screen at a presumably equally eye-popping resolution as the first, board references mention built-in fans and we know it will feature the new reversible ‘Type-C’ USB ports.
But ‘proof of concept’ sounds interesting. The original Chromebook Pixel was the first Chrome device to feature a touchscreen, a high-end processor and a lightbar. Could the second attempt be similar in pushing new features and possibilities?
It’s already looking like it will be the first device to ship with Chromium’s new “Freon” pseudo-display server replacement.
Might it also feature Intel’s powerful new Skylake processor? There’s been plenty of chatter, and quickly hidden bug references, to a Chromebook that ‘docks’ with a keyboard recently, could a Pixel 2 offer signs of that work?
What do you hope to see in the second-generation Pixel? Let us know below, or on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.