Meet the Googlebook — I tried Google's new answer to the MacBook that combines ChromeOS with Android, and this could be the start of something big

Beaming so brightly, I was tempted to measure his nits, President of Android Ecosystem at Google, Sameer Samat, grasped my hand tightly and asked, "So what do you think?" Samat was referring to the five brand-spanking new Googlebooks arrayed around the room, all running Googlebook OS, the first hybrid lovechild of ChromeOS and Android.

A year ago in an interview with me ostensibly about Android 16, the over-sharing Samat let slip , "we’re going to be combining ChromeOS and Android into a single platform," and set the tech world on fire.

He said it so casually back in July 2025 that I scarcely grasped the significance.

After all, there's been chatter about the idea for ages, but no one had confirmed it, and if it were true, it would mean Google was looking at the idea of an Android ecosystem in a whole new way.

Google Android lead, Sameer Samat Lance Ulanoff / Future Lance Ulanoff / Future Lance Ulanoff / Future Now, however, we have the fruits of that comment and all the labor in Googlebook OS and Googlebooks laptops from partners Asus, Acer, Lenovo, Dell, and HP, which go on pre-order today and start shipping October 5.

Samat told me that he wanted five partner brands and not just two because he wanted to show the breadth of options and noted that they have some points of differentiation, like some have facial recognition, and other Googlebooks include a fingerprint reader.

To this point, we have ultra-lights, like the 2.2lb Asus, and workhorses, like a 15-inch Lenovo, and pen-supporting convertibles from Acer.

While there's a range of CPUs, from the Intel Core Ultra line to the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, and even MediaTek, they do all share some core Googlebook features.

The Dell XPS Googlebook Lance Ulanoff / Future Lance Ulanoff / Future The downside to this enhanced Cap Lock key might be that you'll need to use it with the Shift key to enact the standard cap-lock action.

Lance Ulanoff / Future Lance Ulanoff / Future Lance Ulanoff / Future Lance Ulanoff / Future There's the Glowbar, a thin, multi-colored bar on the top cover of all the laptops that lights up to let you know, among other things, that Gemini is at work, or to show battery status.

There are even some Easter Eggs to discover.

I wondered out loud if the battery status would work when the laptops weren't plugged in.

Unfortunately, it's to show charge status.

Each laptop has a massive, haptic touchpad, and there's a G key for quick access to Google features, and a special Caps Lock key with instant access to text-based add-ons like emojis.