Googlebook gets its first big update: 31 fixes in a month
· BehindLines newsroom
A little over a month after launching its Googlebook laptops, Google is distributing its first major update, called the November update. According to 9to5Google, it bundles 31 fixes and improvements along with firmware updates. Chrome Unboxed, which points to an official post on the Googlebook Help Community, describes it as a reassuring package delivered quickly, and says it arrives over the air and can be downloaded from the settings.
The main fixes
The most visible work concerns memory. On the 16 GB models from Acer, Asus and Lenovo, Google has reduced the memory used by on-device artificial intelligence, which should make multitasking steadier. The browser also holds up better with many tabs open, and background Wi-Fi handling has been consolidated.
On the display side, several faults disappear on the HP and Dell XPS models: a black screen with sound still playing for protected video (Netflix, for example) on an external monitor, a graphics-driver crash that could restart the machine when a USB-C dock was unplugged, and flicker in 60-frames-per-second HDR video. Zoom becomes more stable with background blur and 3D avatars.
Audio, typing and the Linux terminal
USB audio interfaces and microphones such as the Focusrite Scarlett and Elgato Wave no longer suffer a buffering defect that could stop recording. Bluetooth Low Energy mice reconnect after a restart, and ASHA-compatible hearing aids can be chosen as the audio output. On the HP and Dell, the gap between picture and sound with Bluetooth earbuds is fixed.
Keystrokes are now registered reliably at the PIN prompt after waking from sleep, and the keyboard on the Acer Googlebook 14 responds better when changing modes. The Linux terminal, still in beta, keeps its sessions open after wake-up, and 9to5Google notes that what is typed there is no longer written to diagnostic logs. A boot-priority problem that could trap a device in a reboot loop after an interrupted update is also resolved.
Who it concerns and its limits
Owners of the HP Googlebook 14 and the Dell XPS Googlebook 13 are the most affected: 9to5Google counts eight and nine fixes respectively. All machines receive the latest security patches. Neither article gives a version number or a precise rollout schedule, and Chrome Unboxed says it would still like to see progress on desktop workflows, notably virtual desks.