Acer and Samsung Chrome notebooks out this June

INTERNET SEARCH AND SOFTWARE FIRM Google has announced hardware backing for its Chrome Notebook OS.

At its I/O event today the firm revealed that it will release the notebooks, which so far have been limited to a trial subset of users, to anyone that wants one from 15 June.

On that date retailers in the US, the UK, Germany and other countries will be offering a choice of two Chrome notebooks, one by Samsung and one by Acer.

Hardware details are light, for now, but Google has released enough information to keep us ticking over.

The Samsung Chromebook, Google's name, has a 12.1in screen, an eight second bootup time and an eight hour battery. In the US a WiFi version will cost $429, and a version with 3G $70 more.

Acer's entry is slightly smaller and has an 11.6in screen, the same boot up time, but battery life of just 6.5 hours. Although it has a full size keyboard, its slightly lower specifications lead to a $349 price tag.

Google is still in discussions with mobile carriers outside the US, where Chrome users must turn to Verizon, but expects to announce local deals soon.

One thing those carriers might not like is the fact that the Chromebooks have Jailbreak as standard, but users however, may disagree.

Oh, and guess what? Everyone in attendance at Google I/O is getting a free Chromebook. µ