ChromeOS 130 release notes arrive, still unavailable for Chromebook Plus

Earlier this week, we shared the fact that ChromeOS 130 was official, but not yet available for Chromebook Plus devices. Today, Google has officially posted release notes on all the features you can expect to have at your disposal once this latest version hits your Chromebook.

But I have to make it clear that we’re still not seeing the update land on Chromebook Plus models with Intel processors just yet. For now, the only Plus models that are getting ChromeOS 130 are those with AMD CPUs inside. Hopefully, that changes very soon as many of the coolest new features arriving are meant for Chromebook Plus. With that out of the way let’s look at what Google is officially saying they’ve cooked up for M130.

Chromebook Plus gets a bunch of exclusive goodies

Chromebook Plus owners are in for a treat with ChromeOS 130 whenever it does end up arriving. Many of the exciting features unveiled at the last Chromebook event are now rolling out and I can confirm that at least on the one AMD-powered Chromebook Plus we have in the office, all of these features are ready and waiting for you to try.

• Studio-style mic: Elevate your video calls with enhanced audio that makes your built-in microphone sound like a professional studio setup. This feature builds upon the existing noise cancellation and adds advanced balancing, detail reconstruction, and room adaptation, leveraging AI models to really create a massive difference in the way your microphone setup sounds.
• AI-powered Recorder app: This new app goes beyond basic recording, offering speaker detection, content summarization, and even title suggestions, all thanks to the power of Google AI. This will be a massively useful tool for Chromebook users, and it is available for all ChromeOS devices – not just Chromebook Plus. For Plus users, however, the option to get summaries will be included.
• Appearance effects: Spice up your video calls with appearance effects, similar to those found in popular camera and virtual meeting apps. These effects include lighting, brightness, and moderate facial touch-ups to make you look your best in meetings. And it all happens on-device and can be utilized in any video application.
• Help me read: This AI-powered tool helps you quickly digest information in any text. Right-click to access a summary of the text and a Q&A field for asking specific questions in reference to what Gemini summed up for you. It’s incredibly handy at getting you quickly to the point of any body of text.

Tote and Drive: Your Files, Always at Your Fingertips

ChromeOS M130 makes managing your files a breeze with some serious enhancements to Tote and Google Drive integration. Tote now offers intelligent suggestions, surfacing local and Drive files you’re most likely to need, making it easier than ever to pin important documents for offline access.

Speaking of offline access, all your starred Drive files are now readily available from the shelf, even when you’re disconnected. Plus, enhanced Drive suggestions in the Launcher and Tote provide quick access to your most frequently used files.

More Accessibility and Control

ChromeOS M130 introduces several improvements to accessibility and control, including:

• More accessible privacy controls: OS-level privacy controls for your camera and microphone are now more readily available, ensuring you’re always aware of and in control of your privacy settings.
• Enhanced keyboard and display brightness controls: Easily fine-tune your keyboard and display brightness, and manage the ambient light sensor, directly from the Settings app. This not only simplifies device usage but also helps conserve battery life. Plus, Chromebooks with RGB keyboards now have a direct link to color selection options in Settings > Keyboard.
• Multi-calendar support: View events from multiple selected calendars within Google Calendar, making scheduling and managing your time even easier. It actually looks to be arriving this time around.

Picture-in-Picture Gets More Versatile

Enjoy greater flexibility with Picture-in-Picture (PiP) windows. PiP Tuck allows you to temporarily move PiP windows to the side of your screen, freeing up valuable space while keeping your video within easy reach. You can also quickly resize PiP windows with a double-tap, toggling between two sizes for optimal viewing.