Googlebooks launch in UK: Google challenges Windows 11 and Mac with all-new £999 laptop

You can now order a Googlebook, a brand-new class of premium laptops from Google. The US technology company has pitched these new devices as "the laptop your Android phone has been waiting for," thanks to a slew of software optimisations designed to make it simple to start a task on your smartphone and seamlessly switch to the laptop, or vice versa. But with prices starting from £999, Googlebooks seem unlikely to trouble Chromebook sales, Google's hugely successful category of notebooks powered by a lightweight desktop operating system called ChromeOS, based on Google's ubiquitous web browser of the same name. With automatic updates, affordable price tags, and almost no threat from traditional PC viruses, Chromebooks have become almost ubiquitous in education. When it first teased the arrival of Googlebooks back in May , the £3.2 trillion company described it as "an opportunity to rethink laptops". It previewed several Artificial Intelligence (AI) features built into the new desktop operating system, which is based on the Android technology stack "paired with desktop foundations from ChromeOS". That included Magic Pointer, which lets laptop owners ask Google Gemini about anything that can be clicked on-screen. It's triggered by quickly shaking the cursor back and forth, which summons a Google Gemini icon. If you click on a photograph, Gemini will summon a blank box to type in a prompt for an adjustment that you'd like to make — speeding up your edits, while clicking on a date in an email will see Gemini offer to set up a meeting for you. It's a clever idea, and the first major rethinking of what a cursor can be since the introduction of the right-click in Windows 95 in 1995 or the addition of different levels of pressure-sensitivity for the trackpad on MacBook models first launched by Apple in early 2015. Googlebook also arrives with the ability to generate your own custom-designed widgets with exactly the information that you're looking for. Gemini can bring in information from across the internet, or connect to some of the most popular Google apps — like Gmail or Calendar — to create a personalised dashboard. For example, Google can spotlight an upcoming flight or hotel booking from your calendar, or add a countdown to a holiday in a glanceable widget that sits on your desktop. These widgets can be pinned to your desktop, like those that've long featured in the Android operating system, also developed by Google. Google has long been rumoured to be building an all-new operating system that combines the best of Android and ChromeOS — and it seems like the shared DNA between these two platforms is one of the biggest selling points of these new devices, which challenge the likes of Windows 11 and macOS. In a blog about the launch of Googlebook , John Solomon, Vice President of Laptops, Tablets and Android Enterprise, writes: "If you use an Android phone, your laptop shouldn't treat it like a stranger. Googlebook is built on a shared Android foundation, so your phone and laptop work seamlessly together. "It starts with setting up your device. When you sign in, your Android phone’s settings, saved passwords, Wi-Fi networks, and messages will move with you, backed by end-to-end encryption." This is something we've seen perfected by Apple, which offers several features to closely knit its iPhone and iPad to its Mac computers. With Handoff, you can start an email on your iPhone and finish it on your Mac, while a feature called Continuity Camera lets you use your iPhone to take a picture, record video, or scan a document and have it automatically appear in whatever document or folder you're working on in your Mac. Lastly, iPhone Mirroring — introduced in 2024, although currently banned in the European Union — lets you see incoming notifications, access apps, and use what’s on your iPhone from your Mac desktop. Microsoft offers some of these features across both Android and iOS. For example, you can read incoming text messages and respond directly from your PC. You can also check call history, search contacts, or dial to make calls. The Link To Windows app required for some of these features is preinstalled on selected Samsung and HONOR phones, so you might already have what you need to get started. LATEST DEVELOPMENTS Microsoft confirms your Windows 11 PC is about to get much faster Millions of Samsung, LG, Roku, and Fire TVs hijacked iOS 27 is out now, here are 17 free iPhone updates that you probably missed iPhone Duo is the first foldable from Apple, and it costs £1,999 Millions of Sky TV users unlock 'major upgrade' at no extra cost Dyson Airsmooth is the brand's first hot brush, and costs £280 less than an Airwrap With its incoming Googlebooks, Android smartphone owners can expect much closer integration, similar to what we've seen from iPhone and Mac for years. Google lists three main examples: Continue On: Pick up exactly where you left off on your phone, right on your laptop. If you start a project in BandLab on your phone while commuting, you can open your Googlebook and continue right from the taskbar Files: Rather than hunting through downloads or emailing attachments to yourself, use your Googlebook’s Files app to view, search, and open files and photos from your phone Cast My Apps: Need to order dinner from a delivery app or grab a one-time code from Messages? Cast My Apps lets you stream and interact with your phone’s apps in a desktop window without interrupting your workflow Google isn't building any of these Googlebooks itself, a different approach to the last time it attempted to push into the premium laptop category with the Pixelbook back in 2017. Its initial lineup is designed and built by teams at Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo. All of these machines share a premium case built from either aluminium, magnesium alloy, or carbon fibre. Another requirement of building a Googlebook compared to the more budget-focused Chromebook? You'll need to deliver hardware like touchscreens with up to 2.8K resolution, OLED panels, haptic glass trackpads, and backlit keyboards. Under the hood, manufacturers can choose between top-of-the-line processors from Intel and Qualcomm to deliver snappy on-device performance and up to 14 hours of battery life. Google says that only Googlebooks will feature the Glowbar, a glowing bar of LEDs on the outside that uses the brand colours of the US search company. This small strip — positioned on the exterior —immediately separates these laptops from Chromebooks. If that sounds familiar, it's likely because Google just announced swirling colourful LEDs on the back of its latest Android smartphones, Pixel 11 Pro Fold , Pixel 11 Pro and 11 Pro XL . The colourful LEDs will light up when you boot the Googlebook, sweep in a colourful show to show your battery charge level, and react with playful animations when you talk to Gemini, the Californian company claims. The cheapest of this initial batch of Googlebooks comes courtesy of ACER, which is offering its Googlebook 14 for £999. ASUS has its own Googlebook 14 (both of these laptops have 14-inch screens) that costs £1,199. That's the same price tag as the HP Googlebook 14, which costs £1,199. And rounding out the first batch of these AI-focused laptops are the XPS Googlebook and Lenovo Googlebook 15, which both cost £1,099. All of these machines arrive with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of built-in storage. Google says any of these Googlebook devices will enjoy regular feature drops and updates for up to 10 years. The first Googlebooks launch on October 4 in the United States. You'll need to wait a day longer to pick up one of these new laptops in the UK, Canada, Ireland, France, Germany, or Australia. While £999 - £1,199 is a pretty steep starting price, Google is throwing in some free gifts to soften the blow. Every Googlebook ships with 12 months of a Google AI Pro subscription, providing 5TB of cloud storage and the top-tier Gemini Advanced tools. That's worth £220. If you don't cancel these flagship AI tools during the first year, you'll be charged £18.99 a month after the free period ends. Google will also include 3 months of YouTube Premium, Adobe Premiere, Adobe Photoshop, and CapCut Pro. You'll also enjoy 12 months of Luminar and GeForce NOW out of the box. This bundle of software is worth £360, Google says. In total, that's £580 in freebies from Google. Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter