Google has introduced a bunch of new features for Chrome OS,
including a very useful one for Android and Chromebook users, called Phone Hub. The
feature is meant to connect an Android phone to a Chromebook and will allow you
access to a number of options such as responding to text messages, checking your
phone’s battery life, setting up Wi-Fi hotspot, and locating a device.
Phone Hub will be displayed as a taskbar widget, that you can expand to view your recent Chrome tabs that you have been browsing.
In addition to that, Google is making its Wi-Fi Sync feature available on more devices. This means that you can connect to already configured Wi-Fi networks on your Android phone and other Chrome OS devices.
Google has also introduced “nearby share” that works between
Chromebooks and other Android and Chrome OS devices, which functions quite like
Apple’s AirDrop. Using this feature, you can transfer and receive files between
devices. The feature will come to Chrome OS in the next few months, according
to Google.
Among the new Chrome OS features is also a new Screen Capture
tool that can be accessed from the Quick Settings menu. The tool is meant to
let you record your screen or take screenshots. The screen recordings or
screenshots can then be accessed in a “Tote” space from the Chrome OS Shelf.
Another update to the Chrome OS includes an improved
Clipboard, which will now let you save up to five recent items that you can
paste elsewhere without having to switch windows. The virtual desktops feature Desks
has also been improved, which will now restore all windows to their correct virtual
desktops when you reboot Chromebook.
Lastly, a “quick answers” tool is also a new Chrome OS addition,
which allows you to obtain definitions, translations, or unit conversions by
simply right-clicking a word in Chrome OS.
