In a remarkable turn of events, two groundbreaking platforms have made their debut on the PC scene within a short span of time: the Googlebook and the Nvidia RTX Spark platform. While I had hoped to be part of the Googlebook launch, it was held in my colleague Michael Crider’s backyard, a fitting venue given his extensive experience with Android devices. Instead, Ashley Biancuzzo took the lead with our review of the Acer Googlebook 14, delivering an impressive analysis that I highly recommend reading.
As for my own review, it is still evolving, and you are currently witnessing a glimpse of it. My focus has shifted to Lenovo’s Googlebook 15, which, much to my disappointment, features an unexpectedly subpar keyboard. However, the hardware was never intended to be the highlight; the real star here is Google’s new Aluminium OS, which is poised to redefine the Chromebook experience. It’s evident that Google aims to place AI-powered productivity at the forefront of this innovation.
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The Phone Problem
A crucial aspect of the productivity puzzle is the requirement for an Android phone to fully utilize the Googlebook’s capabilities, specifically one running Android 17. Recently, Google has allowed certain rival Samsung phones to connect, but my Samsung Galaxy S23, despite being up-to-date, is still operating on Android 16, inadvertently giving Windows a competitive edge.
Windows offers its own solution, known as Phone Link (formerly Your Phone), which serves as a counterpart to Googlebook’s technology for connecting an Android phone to a Windows PC. Notably, Windows only mandates Android 10 for this connection, while Googlebooks maintain that strict Android 17 requirement. Without this compatibility, the two devices remain largely disconnected. Phone Link facilitates the transfer of photos, allows for calls and messages via Bluetooth, and even enables the running of Android apps within PC windows.
From my observations, Phone Link stands as a strong competitor to Googlebook’s offerings, with the exception of app streaming. However, Windows can be particular about which phones are compatible with this feature, whereas Googlebooks assure that all compatible phones will support it—albeit with that Android 17 stipulation.
