Before we get down to business, let me address the masses who are questioning why the new Chromebook ‘Nautilus’ failed to make an appearance last week at CES. Long story short, the detachable Chromebook we suspect is coming from Samsung, is nowhere near ready for production.
The device has only been in development for roughly four months. While that may be enough time to churn out a cookie-cutter Chromebook, ‘Nautilus’ is a new form-factor for Chrome OS and comes wielding new features never before seen in a Chromebook. To put it in perspective, ‘Eve’ a.k.a. the Pixelbook was in development for a whole year before its announcement at Google’s hardware event.
Moving on.
One of the new features referenced above is the addition of a Sony IMX camera. As Robby pointed out, the camera in question can be found in devices like the LG G6 smartphone and even though it’s by far the best in the mobile market, it is light years beyond any current Chromebook camera.
So, what good is a better-than-average shooter if all you can do is snap a selfie?
Good news! According to a recent commit, developers have now enabled and are testing video capture on ‘Nautilus’.
overlay-nautilus: Enable video recording function on Nautilus
Digging a little deeper into the developer’s work, I found that it not only enables video capture but will also support up to 1080P @ 30fps on devices equipped with capable cameras.
This is a MASSIVE leap forward for Chrome OS in general. Currently, the only way to capture video is a third-party app or site that can access the webcam. Native video recording is a feature that has been beckoned for by Chrome OS users for years. Finally, thanks to the next generation of devices, that wish will become a reality.
The implementation of this commit will use the Android camera APIs which means we could see camera functions very similar to what we use daily on our phones. With better cameras, video recording and access to the Play Store, Chromebooks are about to gain some major ground in the usability arena.
Being that this will enable video capture across Chrome OS, I hope to see this feature arrive before the launch of ‘Nautilus’. Stay tuned for more updates.
Source: Chromium Repository