29 Oct Chrome OS devices continue to demand respect in the market

This year at Google I/O, a number of new statistics were released that showed the worldwide dominance of Chrome and ChromeOS devices. Usage of the Chrome browser has grown 10-fold in the past year, with over 750 million active users of Chrome. On Amazon, Chromebooks are some of the best-selling laptops, and the top 10 rated notebooks are all Chromebooks. According to ABI Research, shipments of Chromebooks jumped 67% in the second quarter, and are projected to double in size year on year.

Chromebooks are now becoming the device of choice for most educational institutions, and are fast becoming a real contender in the enterprise space too. With new updates to Chrome announced this month, Chromebooks are becoming even more manageable for IT departments and more powerful for users. With this in mind, we take a look at some of the key factors that really demonstrate why Chromebooks now account for 30% of global PC sales.

Speed

Chrome devices are designed to help you get things done faster and easier. They boot up in seconds and last for hours, with long battery life and no slowing down. Automatic updates also make sure you don’t have to slow down to install new features, as Google ensures new features are automatically rolled out as soon as they are released, for free. If you want to know what’s new, you can easily find out updates from the Google Chrome blog.

Many people believe that when offline, Chromebooks become useless, but this is not the case. Let’s face it, there are only rare times when you’re disconnected from the internet, but when you are, you can get apps that work offline, including all your Google Apps. Plus, more Chromebooks now include 3G, so you never have to slow down.

Simplicity

ChromeOS devices are literally plug and play. There is nothing complicated to learn, and no complicated setup. Chromebooks log in using your Google Apps for Work account. But following some recent updates you’re now able to set up the ChromeOS devices to authenticate using a corporate Single Sign on service.

To tailor your experience on a Chromebook, you have a choice of thousands of apps that you can download from the Chrome Web Store. Apps can enable you to generate ideas and be productive, with tools that can help you to create documents, manage projects, edit images and more. All your apps, just like your Chromebook, stay up to date automatically, and thousands of the apps are free.

Security

ChromeOS devices are designed from the ground up with security in mind. They run on ChromeOS, an operating system that has multiple layers of security to defend against malware and viruses, helping to protect your data, users and network. You don’t need to buy and install any additional security software for your Chromebook, unlike traditional laptops or computers.

Every time you boot up your Chromebook, they do a self-check to make sure your system hasn’t been tampered with, and with the automatic updates, you always get the the latest security fixes to keep you safe. When using Google’s built in cloud storage, Google Drive, you can also guarantee your data is secure, as it is stored in Google’s highly secure data centres. The Terms of Service make clear that ‘what belongs to you stays yours’, meaning you own your files and control who you share them with.

How are people using Chrome devices?

Chromebooks are great for business and education. They are so popular in the classroom due to the single sign-on nature of the device, meaning any student can log on and start learning as soon as they walk into the classroom, with access to all their files and literature in Google Drive. At a great value price, they also suit the tight budgets of many educational institutes, and don’t take additional IT support to manage.

For businesses, they can offer great flexibility for mobile workers and reduce maintenance time for the IT department. When Just Eat, our Google Apps client, had a flood at one of their UK offices, they delivered Chromebooks to the 40 workers affected by the flood and they could carry on working the next day. Now, when a user at Just Eat has an issue with their laptop or PC, they can just report it to IT and they get straight back up and running in minutes on a new machine.

Because of the simplicity of ChromeOS devices, they can be used for so many other functions. Turn on kiosk mode on your Chromebook, and you can roll them out into your retail outlet for online check-in or as a directory for item listings. Think doctors surgeries, hotels and shopping centres, to name a few. The kiosk mode ensures that although a user can access your content, they can’t browse the web.

Another great use case we’ve been exploring recently is with digital signage. You can configure a Chromebox to show your digital advertising on a screen in your retail store, and because of the great value of Chromeboxes, this can be done at a fraction of the cost you would usually expect to pay.

If you want to find out more about ChromeOS devices, visit our web page or contact the team on +44 (0) 113 366 2008 or email helpmegogoogle@appscare.com.