Google Is Planning a 'Pixel 3' Laptop Running 'Andromeda' OS For Release in Q3 2017 (androidpolice.com)

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Google Is Planning a 'Pixel 3' Laptop Running 'Andromeda' OS For Release in Q3 2017 (androidpolice.com)

Posted by msmash on Monday September 26, 2016 @02:45AM from the convergence dept.

Google plans to launch a laptop next year with Pixel branding which will run 'Andromeda' operating system, reports AndroidPolice, citing sources. Andromeda is a hybrid of Android and Chrome OS, the report adds. Pixel, Chrome OS and Android teams have been working on this project, dubbed Bison, for years, apparently. From the report: Bison is planned as an ultra-thin laptop with a 12.3" display, but Google also wants it to support a "tablet" mode. It's unclear to us if this means Bison will be a Lenovo Yoga-style convertible device, or a detachable like Microsoft's Surface Book, but I'm personally leaning on the former given how thin it is. Powering it will be either an Intel m3 or i5 Core processor with 32 or 128GB of storage and 8 or 16GB of RAM. This seems to suggest there will be two models. It will also feature a fingerprint scanner, two USB-C ports, a 3.5mm jack (!), a host of sensors, stylus support (a Wacom pen will be sold separately), stereo speakers, quad microphones, and a battery that will last around 10 hours. The keyboard will be backlit, and the glass trackpad will use haptic and force detection similar to the MacBook. Google plans to fit all of this in a form factor under 10mm in thickness, notably thinner than the aforementioned Apple ultraportable.The report, however, adds that it is likely that Google might revise the specifications by the time of its launch, which is slated to happen sometime in Q3 2017.

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root by w3bd4wg · 2016-09-26 02:55 · Score: 1

do you think they will give users root?
1. Re:root by amiga3D · 2016-09-26 03:52 · Score: 2
  
  Oh I imagine they'll root us pretty good.
Crucial question by RandomSurfer314 · 2016-09-26 03:29 · Score: 5, Insightful

Can you easily remove this 'Andromeda' crap run an ordinary Linux distribution on it? Then it could be a really interesting machine.
1. Re:Crucial question by TheReaperD · 2016-09-26 03:55 · Score: 1
  
  I'm sure that even if Google doesn't support the option, someone will figure it out quickly.
  
  --
  "Be particularly skeptical when presented with evidence confirming what you already believe." -
2. Re:Crucial question by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-26 04:21 · Score: 1
  
  I don't understand why the linux community is not capitalizing on the situation with the Windows 10 Fiasco and Google and Apple spying on you? This is quite the time to hit them with a secure OS. Start making deals to get Adobe products to work on Linux and others like the old Unix's did before.
3. Re:Crucial question by iampiti · 2016-09-26 06:21 · Score: 1
  
  Even if Adobe were to port their software to Linux the problem is most people don't care. I am personally very sad to what Ms has done with Windows 10 but 99% of people out there don't know or don't care.
  Besides that, Linux would need to run much more Windows' software than the Adobe suite to be even considered as a viable replacement for most people.
4. Re:Crucial question by squiggleslash · 2016-09-26 06:30 · Score: 2
  
  What's interesting about it? Netbook/Tablet hybrids are widely available already! Most of them come with Windows 10, but you can install anything you like on them.
  But, FWIW, Chromebooks generally have a feature, sometimes implemented in hardware, sometimes in software, that disables the TPM module so you can either access the operating system as a developer, or wipe the OS completely and put on a more usual desktop system.
  
  --
  You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
5. Re:Crucial question by RandomSurfer314 · 2016-09-26 07:11 · Score: 1
  
  Damn, you're right, it's not interesting at all. I mistook this "Pixel 3" brand for a Pixel Qi display! :-/
6. Re:Crucial question by mister_playboy · 2016-09-26 08:06 · Score: 1
  
  Ubuntu 16.04 has the Amazon web search feature disabled by default.
  
  --
  Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law ::: Love is the law, love under will
7. Re:Crucial question by fbobraga · 2016-09-26 08:09 · Score: 1
  
  very true (sorry: i haven't any modpoints left...)
8. Re:Crucial question by pD-brane · 2016-09-26 08:15 · Score: 1
  
  Or a BSD. It would be good if the hardware specs are open. Maybe Andromeda would work as well. It should be at least be free software.
Re:I wonder if Chromebooks will move back to ARM by Anonymous Coward · 2016-09-26 03:30 · Score: 1

Please provide real world benchmarks that indicate this. Saying they both run a 2GHz is not proof positive. Desktop (and to a lesser extent) laptop processors use multiple pipelines to improve performance and limit stalls plus a whole world of other optimization that suck power to improve performance. ARM chips, being designed for power efficiency, tend to stay away from this for power considerations, something Intel has never shied away from. My android phone versus my i5 laptop, there's no comparison. My phone (Nexus 5x) is at best 1/10 the speed of my laptop which is about 3 years old.
big.LITTLE, superscalar, or SMT? by tepples · 2016-09-26 03:50 · Score: 1

Desktop (and to a lesser extent) laptop processors use multiple pipelines to improve performance and limit stalls
ARM chips have multiple cores, each with its own pipeline. In fact, ARM processors using a "big.LITTLE" microarchitecture have sets of performance-optimized and power-optimized cores for use during different power management states. Are you referring to "superscalar", in which the instruction decoder reorders multiple instructions from one thread to run them in one cycle? Or are you referring to simultaneous multithreading (SMT), where two instruction decoders, one on each thread, feed into a single set of execute units? Intel Atom uses SMT to hide stalls, as do recent AMD microarchitectures where the two cores in a "module" have their own integer execute units but share FPU and other resources.
Re:Big mistake by TheReaperD · 2016-09-26 03:54 · Score: 4, Interesting

I know that Google has been working on and planning this "marriage" of OSes when they released Android and CromeOS. They said at the time that the hardware and apps just wasn't up to the marriage they envisioned. Apparently, they have decided that now is the time. Most likely, this hybrid OS will run stock Android apps and will also likely replace both of the current OSes in time. This has been Google's vision since the start of these projects. Now, we'll see if they pull it off. I hope they do for the simple reason that one OS from a company is usually better than two; especially when it comes to support.

--
"Be particularly skeptical when presented with evidence confirming what you already believe." -
Reduced OS for short term gains. by jellomizer · 2016-09-26 03:54 · Score: 1, Insightful

I would focus on getting such devices to run on full desktop OS's or we will get in the trouble that we had with windows 3.1-ME
Where DOS and Windows Up to ME. Were designed for Low End Desktops while Unix/VMS/NT were designed for real computing. By the time 95 came out Desktop PC's were powerful enough to run the Big Boy OS's however we were stuck on the legacy systems for compatibility for over a decade.
What really did the trick was the move to 64bit. And the rise of Web Applications, allowing a much smoother transition.
But these OS's designed for mobile, will only get us in trouble once mobile devices are on par with our desktop systems.

--
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
1. Re:Reduced OS for short term gains. by erapert · 2016-09-26 04:59 · Score: 2
  
  I would focus on getting such devices to run on full desktop OS's or we will get in the trouble that we had with windows 3.1-ME
  What trouble?
  
  What really did the trick was the move to 64bit.
  Did the trick? What trick? And why is 64-bit relevant to the trick?
  
  And the rise of Web Applications, allowing a much smoother transition.
  A smoother transition from what to what?
  
  But these OS's designed for mobile, will only get us in trouble once mobile devices are on par with our desktop systems.
  What?? Why would there be trouble? What kind of trouble? How would mobile devices be on par with desktop systems?
2. Re:Reduced OS for short term gains. by iampiti · 2016-09-26 06:25 · Score: 1
  
  I'll tell you what trouble:
  No root access for users, built-in unremovable (see first point) spying. In Android at least, only one application can be running at the same time (no background processing unless you program a service for your app). iOS doesn't even allow you to install software from outside the official store. We'll see if Android goes that route in the future
  It's like going back to the stone ages.
3. Re:Reduced OS for short term gains. by squiggleslash · 2016-09-26 06:27 · Score: 2
  
  I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but both Android and ChromeOS (presumably meaning the OS under discussion here too) are full blown modern operating systems with networking, permissions, memory protection, etc. They are both on a par with Unix in terms of features. They both, however, have user interfaces that block user access to certain features of the operating system.
  This is nothing like the jump from 95 to NT.
  
  --
  You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
4. Re:Reduced OS for short term gains. by short · 2016-09-26 07:47 · Score: 1
  
  By the time 95 came out Desktop PC's were powerful enough to run the Big Boy OS's however we were stuck on the legacy systems for compatibility for over a decade.
  I have never been stuck on MS-Windows. And even some few unlucky person dependent on specific proprietary software were stuck only for about 4 years until VMware Workstation came out (and then QEMU came out in 2003).
5. Re:Reduced OS for short term gains. by squiggleslash · 2016-09-26 09:00 · Score: 1
  
  In Android at least, only one application can be running at the same time (no background processing unless you program a service for your app)
  
  Bollocks.
  And the rest of what you say has nothing to do with Android or ChromeOS. You can have access to root in both. Android devices generally have it disabled but it can be enabled - of course, even CyanogenMod discourages root access these days, as it shouldn't be necessary. ChromeOS? Off by default, but every ChromeBook let's you reconfigure ChromeOS to allow root if you desperately want it. As for "Spyware", it's entirely up to you whether you use Google's services or not.
  And none of your objections have anything to do with the original point. You're complaining about the UI disabling certain features. The underlying operating system has those features. And, frankly, easy access to root was something that Windows 95 gave you by default that NT made a little harder to get...
  
  --
  You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
6. Re:Reduced OS for short term gains. by KozmoStevnNaut · 2016-09-26 19:45 · Score: 1
  
  ChromeOS is built on Gentoo. It may have a relatively simple and locked-down interface, but it's a full blown Linux distro underneath.
  
  --
  Eat the rich.
Re:Ed Snowden Says Stay Away From Google Allo by Oswald+McWeany · 2016-09-26 04:15 · Score: 1

It also doesn't work seamlessly with existing messaging apps. I gave it a test run and was told by message recipients that it pops up a warning message about the message "may come from an unsafe source" every time I sent a message.
I'm not going to piss off everyone I text with that crap so I uninstalled it.

--
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Only 3? by Tablizer · 2016-09-26 04:54 · Score: 1

"Three pixels oughtta be enough for any baby!"
- Toddler Gates

--
Table-ized A.I.
Unsaid by ThatsNotPudding · 2016-09-26 05:12 · Score: 3, Insightful

The report, however, adds that it is likely that Google might revise the specifications by the time of its launch, which is slated to happen sometime in Q3 2017.
The report, however, failed to add that it is likely that Google will grow bored of the project and abandon it and its' customers, which is slated to happen sometime in Q3 2018.
1. Re:Unsaid by dddux · 2016-09-28 04:13 · Score: 1
  
  That's one of the reasons why I tell people to just scrap everything and go Linux. Linux will never stop being supported and it will never go bust, which you can't say for any of the current OSes.
  
  --
  "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." - Jiddu Krishnamurti
Merge conflict detected by DrYak · 2016-09-26 05:37 · Score: 2

I don't understand why the linux community is not capitalizing on the situation with the Windows 10 Fiasco and Google and Apple spying on you? This is quite the time to hit them with a secure OS. Start making deals to get Adobe products to work on Linux and others like the old Unix's did before.
Git cherry pick failed: merge conflict detected.
Please resolve manually.

--
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Awesome by Hognoxious · 2016-09-26 05:38 · Score: 1

A ndromeda is a hybrid of Android and Chrome OS
Perhaps I lack imagination, but I can't see any way at all how that would turn out to be utter shite.

--
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
Galaxy? by mutherhacker · 2016-09-26 06:00 · Score: 1

They should know better than to use galaxy related names. Might spontaneously combust like the Note 7.
Re: Big mistake by erikmartino477 · 2016-09-26 07:00 · Score: 1

Have you actually tried Chrome OS?
Re:frist psot by unixisc · 2016-09-26 08:07 · Score: 1

Given what both Android and Chrome OS are, chances are it's not GNU at all: it's the obverse of Debian's KFreeBSD. Linux Kernel plus BSD userland plus Google UI
Re:frist psot by unixisc · 2016-09-26 08:09 · Score: 1

Also, speaking of GNU, it's ironic that they codenamed it Bison, when there is no GNU in it ;-)
Re:frist psot by ChunderDownunder · 2016-09-26 12:33 · Score: 1

With their latest Android sandbox, Chrome OS integrated Wayland faster than my desktop distro!
Hopefully that's a sign of dogfooding where Google programmers actually start to develop Chrome OS within Chrome OS without a need of a workstation pushing updates to a 'device' from desktop Linux, Windows 10 or macOS. Ars Technica's scathing review of Android on the Pixel C concluded that if programmers were forced to actually use the product they were writing as a daily driver, usability issues might get fixed.
Andromeda/Fuchsia/Bison, whatever they're calling it, might build on Gentoo and Wayland to also produce a killer desktop experience in a way that Ubuntu Convergence and MS Continuum seem still-born.
But no, their vision will probably extend only to a locked down device. :(
Re: Alien Virus by K.+S.+Kyosuke · 2016-09-26 16:26 · Score: 1

One word: blancmange!

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Ezekiel 23:20