The Chrome Cast 259: Useful updates coming soon to Chromebooks

We’re back with another episode of The Chrome Cast podcast and this week we tackle a few software updates that are coming soon to your Chromebook, the 2024 Google I/O announcement, and why we can’t wait for an exciting new accessory to show up. The first part of the show is dedicated to – you guessed it – Lacros. We’ve been talking about this de-coupled Chrome browser on Chromebooks for a while now but it looks like we could be nearing the finish line soon – maybe in ChromeOS 124! And although it will likely be an update that you might not even notice, we explain why it’s a massive shift for ChromeOS.

For the second half of the show, we split the conversation between Google I/O and the Logitech Casa. The official date for I/O 2024 has been released and so we talk through what we’re expecting from Google’s developer conference this year and why we’re hopeful for a new Chromecast. As for the Logitech Casa, you might have heard us talk about this “desk in a box” product in last week’s show but since then we have made a few discoveries that make us even more excited to get it in the office and test it out (if FedEx ever decides to stop by.) Oh, and brace yourself for the AI discussion that gets brought up near the end of the show; this stuff is terrifying and so interesting at the same time. Enjoy!

Show Links:

• Why the Lacros Chrome browser may arrive on Chromebooks very soon
• Quick Share for Chromebook set to get a Wi-Fi Direct speed boost
• Google and Samsung join forces to simplify file sharing
• This new feature will finally make the Chromebook calendar widget useful
• Google I/O 2024 dates and small live crowd confirmed
• The next Chromecast with Google TV could get a solid performance upgrade
• Leaks of the Pixel 8a box confirm minor design changes
• Logitech’s Casa Pop-Up Desk is confirmed ‘Works with Chromebook’
• Logitech’s Casa Pop-Up Desk arrives at Best Buy March 21st
• Figure Status Update – OpenAI Speech-to-Speech Reasoning