Tag: Chrome OS

One of the challenges for retailers is showing off a product’s capabilities without leaving it unlocked for random interactions from store visitors.  This can lead to anything from malicious code being loaded up to a porn site loaded up in the browser.  That is where a demo mode comes in handy and, to this point, is something that has not been in Chrome OS.  But that looks to be changing.

A new commit found in the Chrome OS review Gerrit shows that a demo mode could be in the works for the platform.  This would make it immeasurably easier for retailers to setup Chromebooks in their stores that highlight what the platform can do but not leave it open to questionable activity.

For the fourth consecutive week, the Chrome OS Dev Channel has received another new update.  This week however, it is something new.  Chrome 66 has come to the alpha channel in build version 66.0.3344.0 (Platform version: 10403.0.0).

There hasn’t been a massive amount of insight into what is going to be coming in Chrome 66 and the release notes – of which there are none for this update – didn’t shed any light.  It is known that the Symantec Trust Certificates prior to June 1, 2016 will be removed.  It is also expected that split-screen Android mode will be available.  That feature, to this point, has been in the hidden Canary channel of the platform.

There is a new, optional security update for Chrome OS that fixes a vulnerability with the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) in the majority of Chromebooks.  To apply the update however, you will need to Powerwash your device.

The vulnerability has to do with hackers potentially being able to brute force the RSA keys generated by your TPM.  This, in theory, could give the the opportunity to plant malicious code on your device or take it over.  For those not familiar, a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is a specialized chip on an endpoint device that stores RSA encryption keys specific to the host system for hardware authentication. It essentially makes sure that the hardware and software on your device are secure and encrypted and what has access to the keys generated by it.  Thus, you see the problem.  If the TPM gets compromised, it can lead to a lot of issues for end users.

Right now, over at Amazon, you can pick up the entry level Google Pixelbook for $975.  While it is not a massive discount, only $24 off the regular price, it falls under the category of “better than nothing”.

And “entry level” is a bit misleading because we are talking about one of the most powerful Chromebooks out there.  The price is for the Intel i5 powered unit with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.  It is certainly powerful enough to do anything you would need, be it in Chrome OS or Android apps running on the device.

Another week, another Chrome 65 build in the Chrome OS Dev Channel.  For the third consecutive week, a new build has landed in what equates to the alpha channel of the platform, bringing more stability and bug fixes to it.  The new version is build 65.0.3325.65 (Platform version: 10323.30.0) for those keeping score at home.

The update doesn’t bring any new features into play but rather refines what is already there and brings other stability improvements to the platform.  As previously written, the Dev channel is essentially the alpha channel.  This can be a really rough experience with lots of weird behavior and bugs.  It is aimed at developers and those who like serious bug hunting to see what is coming up in the platform.  It is not ready for prime time in other words.

A new beta of the Google app for Android is rolling out to testers and it has a lot of interesting, if inactive code built into it.  If you want to read a full teardown of the APK, the team over at 9to5 Google have a great writeup on it.  I’m focusing on the code around a physical Google Assistant button.

The code in the APK points to the ability to have a physical button for Assistant, much like the physical button you find on the Google Pixelbook today.  While this button isn’t aimed at phones per se, it is aimed at Android and coincides nicely with code found last week in a commit in Chrome OS.  That code suggested that a physical button could be remapped for Google Assistant.  Put together, these code snippets indicate just how far Google wants to take Assistant on both platforms.