Exploring the Samsung ARM Chromebook 3G

Bill Childers — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 18:08:55 +0000

Back in late 2010, Google announced a "Chromebook"—a low-cost, entry-level netbook that would run Google's own operating system, ChromeOS. Google's vision of ChromeOS, although based on Linux, basically would be a giant Web browser, with all the apps on the machine running in the browser. ChromeOS would be a nearly stateless computer, with all the user's apps based in Google's cloud, running the Google Apps suite.

Google's first stab at this was the CR-48: an Intel Atom-powered netbook with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of Flash. The CR-48 wasn't a powerhouse by any means, but it had a couple cool things going for it. First, it came with 100MB of free 3G service a month. Second, it had a "developer mode" that allowed users to break free of the strict Chrome-based browser jail and expose the chewy Linux center. A CR-48 in developer mode became a usable machine for a lot of people, because the machine pretty much became a small Linux laptop.

Today—the Samsung ARM Chromebook

Fast-forward a couple years, and the first real Chromebook products are hitting the market. Quite a few Chromebooks exist today, but all of them are Intel-based (either Atom or Celeron). In late 2012, however, Samsung released an ARM-based Chromebook. This little guy is different in lots of ways—primarily, it beats its bigger brothers in size and battery life, without compromising much on performance. Speaking of performance, let's go over the specifications of the XE303—the first non-Intel powered Chromebook:

Dual-Core, Samsung Exynos 5 ARM CPU (Cortex A15, 1.7GHz).
2GB of RAM (not upgradable, soldered to the mainboard).
16GB SSD/Flash-based disk (also not upgradable, soldered to the mainboard).
ARM Mali T-604 Quad-Core GPU.
Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n).
Bluetooth 3.0 (sadly, no Bluetooth 4.0 here).
11" LCD screen at 1366x768 resolution.
One USB 2.0 port, one USB 3.0 port, one HDMI-out port and one SD card slot.
Optional 3G modem (CDMA, on the Verizon network in the US, equipped on this model).
6.5 hours of (rated) battery life.
Dimensions: 2.4 lbs (1.10 kg), 11.4" x 8.2" x 0.68" (289.6 x 208.5 x 17.5mm).
Bonus: 100GB of Google Drive included for two years.
Bonus: 100MB/month of Verizon 3G service included for two years (3G model only).

Figure 1. The Samsung ARM Chromebook, atop an iPad for Scale

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There's Browser in My SSH

Shawn Powers — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 21:44:27 +0000

by Shawn Powers

No, there's SSH in my browser! Although it may not be as logical of a combination as chocolate and peanut butter, for Chromebook users, an HTML5 SSH client is pretty amazing. Granted, Google's "crosh" shell has SSH abilities, but it's a very limited implementation. With the Chrome extension "Secure Shell", it's easy to SSH in to remote servers and interact like a traditional terminal window—mostly.

Secure Shell is getting better all the time, and at the time of this writing, it supports port forwarding, logging in with keys, socks proxying and even many keyboard shortcuts for programs like Irssi. The keyboard shortcut support isn't perfect, but for me at least, it's manageable.

Figure 1. It's simple. It's texty. It's awesome.

If you're a Chromebook user and want a real SSH client, give the "Secure Shell" extension a try. Heck, regardless of the OS you're using (I'm looking at you, Windows), it's a fast way to get a secure connection. It's being developed by Google, and it's free via the Play Store.

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