I wrote instructions last week on how to get Android Studio to run on ChomeOS via Project Crostini and since then, I have received several requests from readers asking if it is possible to get Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code running on ChromeOS. The answer is yes and here are the instructions
If you have been a user of personal assistants for a while, you would have noticed that Apple’s Siri has been falling behind, outpacing Microsoft’s Cortana with Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant taking the lead. It was not even a fair fight to begin with but if you were one of the folks who attended Google I/O 2018 in person or remotely you would have caught a demo of some of the features that Google has been working on bringing to Google Assistant. Lets explore a few of these features in more detail.
When the public got wind that Google was working on bringing Linux Applications to ChromeOS, some got worried that Google was going to create a proprietary and locked down distribution to run applications on. Fortunately this does not appear to be the case but what exactly is custom about the Google build of Debian? It tuns out the answer is not much.
If you are an owner of a newer device that only has Type C Ports, you know that you will eventually need to break down and buy several adapters to get some of the features that you had on previous computers such as HDMI output. There are several dongles that can be purchased that will give you an HDMI port however this limits your ability to charge your computer if you only have 1 Type C USB Port on your Machine. This is the problem that the Techdoty USB C to HDMI cables tries to fix by adding USB Power Delivery to the HDMI adapter. Read more to learn how this cable works and why it is getting a permanent place in my backpack.
Project Crostini is Google’s ambitious plan to bring a full Linux desktop environment to ChromeOS. While this move will mainly cater to developers, I suspect it will be a pretty compelling feature for the general consumer market in the future (can anyone sat Steam on ChromeOS?). While the Beta of Project Crostini is pretty nice, it lacks a easy way to manage and troubleshoot common issues. This guide was put together to help with some basic maintenance and troubleshooting steps that I have come across over the past few days:
Heads up to all Pixelbook Owners who have been following my posts about ChromeOS Project Crostini, you will be in for a pleasant surprise if you head into your Settings Menu after updating to ChromeOS 68.0.3416.0 (Currently in the Dev Channel). You will now see a “Linux Apps” section that will enable Termina and automatically drop you into a new virtual machine. There are also several new changes that were made in this release.
Google has gotten a fair amount of phrase over the updated GMail redesign that was made available for users to begin testing yesterday. GMail has adopted a modern re-design that is simply stunning. Aside from the re-design, Google has introduced a few new features such as smart replies, integration with Keep and other Google Applications and self-destructing messages. Sadly one feature that is missing is one that has been requested for years – Native OpenPGP support!
I have been writing a lot about Project Crostini Containers over the past week and overall it is an impressive feature that exposes the true power and potential of ChromeOS. Over the past few days, I have found a few problems with Project Crostini that some readers may find problematic.
I sort of have an obsession with USB Battery Packs, I just can’t seem to get enough. Today I will be reviewing the Jackery PowerBar which has quickly proven to be a very capable battery pack that seems to handle everything I have thrown at it without issue thanks to its high capacity USB Ports and built in AC Inverter. Yes, this thing will even power a full laptop when needed – Of course you need to ask yourself if this monster of a battery pack is worth the $149.99 asking price?
I posted a tutorial yesterday on how to get Android Studio running on ChromeOS via Project Crostini Containers but I realize that not everyone is a Android Developer. Today’s tutorial will appeal to PHP Developers who would like to do some local development and testing on their Pixelbook via Project Crostini. Of course this is not designed to allow you to host production websites but it will work for those who wish to build and test PHP based web applications.