As if the list of upcoming Chrome OS devices wasn’t enough to keep us on the edge of our seats, the truth of the matter is that we’ve only just begun. With hardware such as active stylus pens and fingerprint scanners, the world of Chromebooks as we know it has turned a new, exciting corner.
As Chrome devices make room for more and more previously-unused technology, the consumer market is growing and the demand for a wider variety of mid-range options is increasing.
OEMs have taken note of this self-created void and have started focusing on manufacturing well-built, aesthetically pleasing devices that don’t break the bank.
The ASUS C301SA, Acer Chromebook 14 and even the base model of the premium HP 13 G1 have proven that performance and design don’t have to cost an arm and a leg.
Now it appears Lenovo has decided to get in on this action. Rumors have been swirling that the newly announced Yoga Book may have a future with Chrome OS. But there’s more.
Introducing…(drum roll please)
‘Pbody’
Just this week we have started tracking a(nother) new device added to the Chromium repositories. We don’t have a lot of specifics about the new Chromebook, but we wanted to share what details we do know and maybe even speculate a little as to what this machine could actually be.
First, let me get this out of the way. As much as I would love for ‘Pbody’ to be the new Chrome OS Yoga Book, I seriously doubt that is the case.
Sorry, but I didn’t want to get your hopes too high on this one. We love to speculate about new devices; however, we also do our homework and look at the facts. Trust me, every time I see a hint of Lenovo, I’m thinking Yogo Book. This doesn’t look to be a Yoga Book device.
Moving on. ‘Pbody’ was added to the Chromium repository just a mere 5 days ago on September 6th. It is being built on the baseboard ‘Glados’. This board is also the foundation for the HP 13 G1 as well as the Lenovo ThinkPad Chromebook 13. That was a pretty good indicator that this would by a Skylake-based Chromebook.
Upon digging into the commits, Robby found confirmation that this is indeed a Skylake device as seen in the following link.
Additionally, this file in the ‘Pbody’ repository shows clear indication that this will be the Core M variety of Skylake, like what we see in the HP Chromebook 13 G1.
We also came across various support for an Elan toucshscreen, back-lit keyboard and eMMC storage. You can get a closer look at those commits here below:
So, there you have it. Skylake Core M, touchscreen and a back-lit keyboard. A perfectly capable device that, at this point in the game, is a bit forgettable.
But then we saw this.
When searching through the Chromium OS reviews I came across two private groups with the descriptions you see above. Yup, you read it right. A 12″ Skylake-Y convertible device from Lenovo. This really got the wheels turning.
Until that point, the OEM was a mystery. The commit emails were signed off by manufacturers who build devices for a whole host of companies, so we couldn’t even guess. With this, we have a clear sign that this is a Lenovo device.
I wanted to confirm the convertible part of this discovery, so I headed straight back to the repositories. It didn’t take me long to find exactly what I was looking for. You can see in the link below, the board-specific config file clearly shows tablet mode functions for ‘Pbody’.
This just got a lot less ho-hum ordinary.
While we don’t see any indication that this is the Lenovo Yoga Book (stylus, Wacom touch panel, etc.), there are a couple interesting, existing configurations this device could be similar to. First, and most likely would be a Chromebook ThinkPad Yoga built off the current Windows model. The specs seem to fit the bill from what we have seen so far. You can get a closer look at this model in the video below. It looks a lot like the current Thinkpad Chromebook 13 from Lenovo, so this wouldn’t be much of a stretch.
The other possibility, and the one we’re hoping for, is something along the lines of the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro. Pictured at the top of this article, you can see this device captures a much more elegant design than the ThinkPad line and in the video below you will see how attractive it is in action.
To sum up ‘Pbody’ so far, we have a new convertible Chromebook by Levovo that is rocking a fanless, Sylake processor, back-lit keyboard, and a 12-inch touchscreen built on the same board as the ThinkPad Chromebook 13.
We will continue to add details as we find them to this and all of the Chromebooks coming in the near future and wait with great anticipation alongside all of you for these devices to begin hitting store shelves.
