The accelerated development of the Crostini Project and Linux apps on Chrome OS is a promising sign that we may see the new features come to the Stable channel for more users in the very near future.
If we’re lucky, we might see Crostini move to the Stable channel in the next major update to Chrome OS 69 just in time for Google’s annual October hardware event. I wouldn’t expect much fanfare but I think the fine folks in Mountain View have bigger plans for the Linux app project than we really have a grasp. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Until then, there’s still plenty to be excited about from the world of Chrome OS.
Chrome OS 68
About a week behind schedule, Chrome OS 68 has begun rolling out to users. As usual, some devices will be excluded from the update and we will bring you that list as soon as we have it together.
The update will be headed your way over the next couple of weeks and include an impressive list of updates that we will dissect as we test them out.
Here’s a quick rundown of what’s new with Chrome OS 68:
- 802.11r Fast BSS Transition Support
- Ability to use Select to Speak with touch/stylus only
- Admin policy to enable/disable client-side native printing
- Enabling/disabling ChromeVox through the side volume keys (tablets/convertibles)
- High-resolution image support in camera app
- Introduction of Display Size settings
- Material 2.0 dialogs and secondary UI on ChromeOS
- Overview visual refresh and motion spec improvements
- PIN sign-in support
- Select-to-Speak ability to select specific text to be read aloud by highlighting the text, then pressing Search + s. This works in addition to the original behavior of pressing Search and clicking an item or dragging a box around content to be read aloud.
- Support Child account as first sign-in
- Two new shortcuts to toggle the magnifiers on/off
There’s a lot to dig into here but the feature that sticks out to me is the high-res image support for the camera app.
Robby reported last week on Google’s Android Camera app landing on Chrome OS and the updates support should greatly improve image quality for devices like the Hp Chromebook x2 that use a mobile phone-grade camera.
Material Design 2.0 continues to spread across Chrome OS and Google’s products are rapidly gaining the increasingly familiar look across the board.
Stay tuned throughout the week as we tear down some of the new features from Chrome OS 68. If you haven’t received the update, patience my friends. It’s on the way.
Source: Chrome Release Blog
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