CHROME OS TABLET: Today, just one day before Apple’s big education-related event, Google is jumping ahead with a small announcement of its own: the first education tablet made for Chrome OS.
The Acer Chromebook Tab 10, which runs on Chrome OS, will be on sale via education resellers this spring, according to a company blog post. A spokesperson for Google tells EdSurge the device will retail for $329 MRSP, and noted that many schools purchasing in volume will get a lower price.
According to the post, the new device comes with a stylus that “uses advanced machine learning to predict student writing for a natural writing experience.” It doesn’t need to be charged or paired with tablet. The new tablet supports multimedia projects and will support AR and VR features.
The company gave a teaser that it was working on a Chrome OS tablet earlier this year at a British education technology conference.
The timing of this launch suggests Google’s education efforts are anticipating stiffer competition from Apple, which is rumored to release, among other updates, a cheaper iPad with a price tag of $259 for the education market.
