Google PC?

[cjolley]

Industry Feeling Presence of the 800-Pound Google

Cheap PCs, anyone?

Google will unveil its own low-price personal computer or other device that connects to the Internet.

Sources say Google has been in negotiations with Wal-Mart Stores Inc., among other retailers, to sell a Google PC. The machine would run an operating system created by Google, not Microsoft's Windows, which is one reason it would be so cheap — perhaps as little as a couple of hundred dollars.

[Jammrock]

I wonder if they will offer Google OS as a free download? Might be interesting to play with.

[Umfriend]

Will it run on an Apple? I would assume it would be an OS with limited HW support, as in supports one MB, CPU, GFX and HD only.

[az]

My forecast: cheap, slow-by-pc-standards x86 box (via? geode? duron?), linux-based os with windows-like gui and gecko browser, vga and tv out.

[Taz]

Yep I reckon it will be a Linux based OS too. Would be too much work and kinda pointless to write one completely from scratch. Another posibility would be to use a PDA/Smartphone type OS such as PalmOS or Symbian

[cjolley]

My forcast:
x86 thin client over the internet.
Very simple local OS.
Apps and storage run on Google servers.

[az]

I think we should combine our forecasts, Chuck, and add: No removable media drive.

[cjolley]

I think we should combine our forecasts, Chuck, and add: No removable media drive.

With no local removable storage the os might be thin enough not to need a local drive either.
Just a browser with it's own ip client built in.

Scary thought that you would have to flash your bios to upgrade your browser.

[schmosef]

How about a Transmeta CPU? (is that even viable?)

[schmosef]

All I know is that the modder community is going to eat it up.

[Dr Mordrid]

My forecast: cheap, slow-by-pc-standards x86 box (via? geode? duron?), linux-based os with windows-like gui and gecko browser, vga and tv out.

You guys forget that Google has a long partnership with Opera, and Opera is moving bigtime into the mobile browsing market with Opera Mini, which can run on Java enabled devices.

http://stuff.techwhack.com/archives/2005/12/30/301204-google-and-opera-partners-on-mobile-browser-searches/

The company plans to give away the Opera Mini browser edition for free but this partnership with Google opens up ways to earn revenues from this free version. Opera Software ASA also said that they are comfortable extending relationship with Google considering both the companies have worked together in the past. Interestingly, some rumors in the media earlier this month claimed that Google was planning to acquire Opera but they were found to be untrue.

and Opera Mobile.

My prediction:

GoogleOS will be based on Java and run a version of Opera based on Opera Mini or Opera Mobile. Dev. of AJAX apps by Opera Platform.

http://www.opera.com/download/operamini/

http://www.opera.com/products/mobile/

Hardware: AMD thin client.

Dr. Mordrid

[cjolley]

...
GoogleOS will be based on Java...

java compiled direct to HW?
i.e. No OS underneath.
Doesn't something like that exist already?

I like it, but I predict it will be even thiner than that.
i.e. More like HW based Remote Desktop.
Why? Bandwidth.

[az]

Doc, the partnership between Opera and Google is little more than an advertising deal, and Opera did have problems with gmail discriminating against Opera etc. Google has also hired a few key Firefox developers last year. Opera Mini is a server-based concept, not entirely different from many "web accellerator" services already offered: Basically a proxy server that recompresses images, re-forms HTML so that a very basic browser (the Opera Mini Java app) can display the pages. The Gecko engine is also better suited to web apps than Presto, just ask Sasq. Opera has made huge steps in this direction and will catch up even mor when Opera 9 is released, but what would Google gain from using some form of Opera over a Gecko-based browser? OK, Opera is a little easier on the hardware, but I think it would also cost Google more (then again, they wouldn't have to provide the source code, though I don't know how much disclosure the Gecko license requires).

A Java-based OS makes no sense to me. The strength of Java is its ability to run on different platforms. This is also the reason for its biggest shortfall: it is resource hungry. Since Google controls the hardware, they don't need portability. Since the hardware must be cheap, it won't be very fast and won't include something as exotic as hardware Java support. And you would have to port the browser and whatever other apps they need to this new platform.

Chuck, maybe no HD, maybe it boots from flash memory... we'll see

[cjolley]

...
Chuck, maybe no HD, maybe it boots from flash memory... we'll see

If it's just a Remote Desktop renderer and a tcp/ip client, it might be possible.
An instant-on PC would be VERY popular with the email + web only crowd.
Which is a large percentage of the market.
Though, how would they send pictures?

[az]

Card readers... why haven't I thought of this before? It's obvious. So no classical removable media, but a reader for cf/sd/xd/ms. Flash memory has also gotten quite cheap, so even 1GB of built-in flash memory for OS and apps wouldn't be unrealistic (though unneccessary, since the software is probably tailored exactly to their needs. There are "live" linuxes that run from card-sized CDs, which fit... dunno, 150 MB?)