Google Aims New Intel-Powered Chromebooks At Mainstream PC Buyers (Forbes)

Hoping to push its Chromebook computers into the consumer and business mainstream, Intel INTC +0.15% and Google GOOG -2.35% today put some marketing muscle behind a raft of new machines coming soon from Hewlett-Packard HPQ -1.14%, LG, and other computer makers.

Chromebooks, inexpensive portable computers that depend largely on applications and data in the cloud instead of installed applications, have begun to sell at a rapid clip. IDC estimates about 2.5 million of them sold last year, but expects shipments to jump 68% this year. But many consumers and businesses remain uncertain about depending on computers that must have an Internet connection to function adequately.

Intel, Google set to release more Chromebooks creating stiffer competition for Microsoft (Techsonia)Meanwhile, Intel is using Celeron processor chips for the majority of Chromebooks. Other chips will use technology drawn from PC chips, tablets and smartphones. Intel will embrace various operating systems, said an officer from Intel’s mobile client platforms group. Research groups disclosed that Intel-based Chromebooks started getting the majority of sales in their category in 2013.

Google and Intel Corp. are set to release about 20 portable computers calledChromebooks that run on Google’s Chrome operating system, posing a stiffer competition for laptops that run on Microsoft’s Windows.

At this time when conventional PC sales have declined, Chromebooks have become known as a fast-selling item. Majority of users utilize Chromebooks to access Web-based services, instead of installing programs usually used on PCs.