Google launches Googlebook, premium Android laptop built around Gemini

Google has begun taking pre-orders for Googlebook, a new category of laptops aimed at Android users and built around the company's Gemini AI tools. The announcement was made on Monday, with initial models from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo.

Prices start at $899. According to Google, the laptops run on Intel or Qualcomm processors and offer up to 14 hours of battery life, alongside dedicated neural processing units rated above 45 TOPS. Hardware includes aluminium, magnesium alloy, or carbon fibre bodies, touchscreens up to 2.8K OLED, haptic glass trackpads, and backlit keyboards. A returning design feature called the Glowbar sits on the exterior, lighting up at startup, indicating battery charge, and animating when Gemini is addressed.

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The software combines the Android technology stack with desktop foundations from ChromeOS. Google says signing in transfers an Android phone's settings, saved passwords, Wi-Fi networks, and messages with end-to-end encryption. Three features connect the devices: Continue On, which resumes a task started on a phone from the laptop taskbar; Files, which allows browsing and opening phone photos and documents from the computer; and Cast My Apps, which streams phone apps into a desktop window.

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Gemini tools include Magic Pointer, which brings the assistant to whatever is on screen when the cursor is wiggled, and can organise a calendar or translate text; Rambler, which converts speech into formatted written notes and supports multiple languages; and Create My Widget, which generates custom desktop widgets from plain-language descriptions. Google says Gemini acts only on request and can be switched off.

The device runs desktop Chrome with extensions alongside Android apps, and supports native applications including Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and CapCut. A year of GeForce NOW is bundled with each purchase. For developers, Googlebook includes the Antigravity agent development platform and a full terminal environment capable of running tools such as Claude Code.

The launch places Googlebook in direct competition with Apple's $699 MacBook Neo, as Apple moves further into lower-priced laptops. Google previously attempted a premium ChromeOS device with the Pixelbook in 2017 and the Pixelbook Go in 2019.