Just as several new smartwatches make their debuts on the Google Store, two (and a Chromebook) say their goodbyes. The ASUS ZenWatch 2, Casio Smart Outdoor Watch (great name, right?), and the ASUS Chromebook Flip are now unavailable for purchase from Google's hardware shop; in fact, the links to their listings now automatically redirect to the Android Wear and Chromebook landing pages, respectively.
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Last week, CodeWeavers announced that after three years of development, a preview version of CrossOver for Android would be released. Why was I so excited? Because CrossOver allows you to run Windows programs on Mac and Linux, and they brought their expertise over to Android. After trying out the Preview version for a week (which you can sign up for here), I'm extremely impressed by its capabilities, despite some major limitations.
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Beside the Pixel line, the Acer Chromebook R 11 must be one of the most beloved Chromebooks of recent times. It's very well reviewed on Amazon, often mentioned in our internal Android Police chats, and it's one of the two devices that first received the ability to run Android apps in the dev builds.
At IFA, Acer is following up on its success with a bigger version of the R 11: the Acer Chromebook R 13. Like the R 11, it sports a convertible design with a 360-degree swiveling touchscreen so it can be used in normal laptop mode, display mode (resting on the keyboard, display looking like on a stand), tent mode (standing on its borders, display toward you), and pad mode (tablet only).
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The Chromebook Pixel 2015 (or the Pixel 2, as it is more commonly known), is just as interesting a device as its predecessor. It offers a fantastic build quality, touchscreen, dual USB Type-C ports, and more recently, the full Google Play Store. The Pixel 2015 was sold in two configurations, the base model for $999 discontinued in April, and another at the $1,299 price point with a faster Core i7 CPU, 64GB of on-board storage, and 16GB of RAM.
But now we say goodbye to the Pixel 2015. It has been out of stock since at least August 28, usually indicating the end of a product's life on the Google Store.
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If you have ever used Linux, Mac, or another *nix operating system, you've probably heard of Wine. No, not the beverage - it's software that allows Windows programs to run on platforms that aren't Windows. Wine is one of my favorite open-source projects, under development since 1993 and having a massive community of developers and testers. Wine also maintains a database of compatible programs, which should give you an idea of the impressive compatibility.
CrossOver is essentially a commercial version of Wine, offering technical support and easier configuration of programs. Almost three years after development started on CrossOver for Android, CodeWeavers (the company responsible for CrossOver) is finally sharing a working preview on Google Play.
Read More![[Deal Alert] Google Store has $75 off Pixel C, $30 off Chromebooks until September 6](https://www.androidpolice.com/wp-content/themes/ap2/ap_resize/ap_resize.php?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.androidpolice.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F08%2Fnexus2cee_PixelCDeal.png&w=728)
If you've been looking for a new Chromebook or a Pixel C and thinking "but they're all so expensive!", you're in luck: Google has a deal on the official Store for money off on both. The Acer Chromebook 13 and ASUS Chromebook Flip have $20 off, and the Acer Chromebook 15 has $30 off the original price, while buying a Pixel C 64GB will save you $75.
The price reductions are active until September 6th, so if you're on the fence you've got just over two weeks to think about it. The Pixel C deal is also active in the UK, with £60 off taking it to £419.
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Today HP announced its latest Chromebook model update, this time with a budget focus. The Chromebook 11 G5 will, most notably, run Android apps and will cost just $189. Another headlining feature of the new laptop is its claimed 12.5 hours of battery life, which is top shelf in general and quite good for a laptop that costs considerably less than most of the phones our readers have. An optional touchscreen, which will increase the price by an unspecified amount, will make Android apps even more usable at the cost of just one hour of battery life.
For those who are reluctant to make the jump to Chrome OS, both Google and HP hope that Android app compatibility will ease your fears.
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Chromebooks can run Android apps from the Play Store now, and it's ridiculously cool. Well, on one Chromebook, anyway: the ASUS Chromebook Flip. As of Chrome version 53 (currently in the early bird Developer channel) it's the only device that's been updated with the functionality. That's a little odd, since Google promotes plenty of other Chromebook devices via the Google Store, including its own Google-branded Chromebook Pixel machines.
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The Play Store is officially on Chrome OS! Sort of. It’s out for one device - the ASUS Chromebook Flip - and only on the developer release channel, which means bugs. But I’ve been playing with it since last night and thought I’d share some of my thoughts and general experience with Android apps on Chrome as they’ve launched.
First, in response to your inevitable question “Does <app here> work?” let me lay out a simple set of preemptive answers.
Let me get this out of the way right out of the gate: I love Chrome OS. I wanted to love it back when I reviewed the original Chromebook Pixel some years ago, but it just wasn’t where it needed to be for me. Fastforward a bunch of months, and Google made a ton of useful and thoughtful changes that made Chrome OS a legit desktop contender (for me at least). So, like I said in my recent What We Use post, I made the leap to Chrome OS as my main laptop about 18 months ago (or so) and haven’t looked back.
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