Googlebooks are the Android-based evolution of the Chromebook

After several years of rumors, Google today confirmed a new laptop-focused initiative called Googlebooks. ChromeOS, launched more than 15 years ago, was designed with the idea that most people now do everything online; Google says this new category of laptops is designed for a Gemini-first world. The company has only given us a very brief overview of what constitutes a Googlebook, with plans to more formally announce more details, including hardware, later this year.

Here’s what we know so far. The operating system running on Googlebooks has its origins in Android, which is something we’ve been hearing about for several years now. Of course, Chromebooks have supported streaming apps from Android phones since 2023, but Google says that building the operating system from scratch on Android will allow for much tighter integration between Googlebooks and Android phones. It will also allow the company to develop and implement Android features on laptops much more easily than it currently can with ChromeOS. Since ChromeOS started out as just a browser, Google had to piggyback on a lot of features like Quick Share and Phone Hub to make the system work better with Android – that won’t be the case with Googlebooks.

As such, Google is promoting more robust Android integration with Googlebooks. There’s a new Quick Access feature that will display your compatible Android phone in the file browser sidebar, giving you immediate access to anything stored there that you want to share on your laptop. The new “Create your widget” feature coming to Android 17 is also present here. This allows you to create a dashboard of related files and information from Gmail, Calendar, and other Google apps to keep a project or event in one easily accessible place.

Googlebooks will also offer a simplified way to view apps from your Android phone on your laptop. As I said, ChromeOS has already offered app streaming for a while, but this implementation seems much simpler. There’s a phone button in the dock at the bottom of the screen, and clicking it will simply bring up a grid of apps that you can immediately launch on your Googlebook. How exactly this differs from the current implementation of app streaming remains to be seen, but it appears that these updates are meant to do something similar to the iPhone to Mac mirroring feature that Apple introduced a few years ago.

The real star of the show, to hear Google tell it, is Gemini’s improved integration. But besides the Create Your Widget feature, Google introduced only one other new Gemini feature: the Magic Pointer. It’s an AI-based upgrade of the standard cursor that every computer uses as a point-and-click interface. By wiggling the cursor, you turn it into a magic pointer, which Google says will give you “quick, contextual suggestions” from whatever you point to on your screen. For example, Magic Cursor suggested taking a photo of a band and the band’s logo and combining them for a makeshift poster. Another example was taking a photo of your living room and a photo of a sofa to combine them so you can see how they will look together. As with anything, we’ll have to see this in person to determine if it’s useful. I like the idea of ​​giving the cursor more powers – but as with all AI features, it could be a waste.

As for hardware, Google made it clear to me that when Googlebooks launches this fall, it won’t involve any proprietary laptops. As usual, Google will work with various manufacturers, including Acer, ASUS, Lenovo, Dell and HP. All of these companies have made Chromebooks in the past, so it’s no surprise to learn that they’re all involved. Google said it’s starting by focusing on “high-end craftsmanship and materials,” so we’re not looking at low-end Chromebook hardware here. Indeed, Google added some bling here: There’s a “light bar” on the lid that’s a direct nod to the Chromebook Pixel that the company launched in 2013. On that computer, you can tap the lid and the bar will indicate how much battery life you have left, but we’re not sure what trick the light bar will perform, if any, in 2026.

At this early stage, it’s not very clear what concrete advantages Googlebooks will offer over Chromebooks. Most of the features Google talks about are already present to some extent in ChromeOS, including some pretty deep Gemini integration. However, one of the main tenets of Googlebooks is tighter and easier integration with Android phones. As such, it makes perfect sense to start migrating Google’s laptop software to Android. Google also says it will continue to support Chromebooks for their entire lifespan after purchase, which means years of software and security updates. I guess we’re looking at a slow disappearance of available Chromebooks, with Googlebooks slowly taking their place as Google’s laptop. But we’re probably years away from that point: First, Google and its partners need to bring Google Books to market. Google says we’ll know more about this plan this fall.