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Google CEO Eric Schmidt talks about the company's new Chrome operating system in San Francisco on Tuesday.
Google Inc. showed off the first notebooks to run its Chrome operating system on Tuesday in San Francisco, challenging the dominance of Microsoft's Windows.
About a year ago, the Mountain View, Calif.-based technology company said it would create Chrome OS as a low-cost operating system for laptops and notebooks.
On Tuesday, it said the computers will be available for sale in the United States starting in mid-2011 and will come with a two-year Verizon Wireless connection.
The company said the first 100 megabytes of data transmitted per month will be free for two years, plans will start at $9.99 US per month after that. As well, consumers won't have to sign a contract.
The move capitalizes on the fact users are increasingly going to the web for services they once got from software residing on their computer. Web-based email services such as Gmail and Hotmail, and office software such as Google Docs are examples.
"On their computers, people live on their browsers within the web," said Sundar Pichai, Google's vice president of product management.
Chrome is both the name of the company's web brower and its new operating system.
Also on Tuesday, Google unveiled its web app store for games, news and other applications. The Chrome web store — expected to be up and running later Tuesday with an initial offering of 500 apps — is aimed at Chrome browser's 120 million users. That's up from 70 million users in May.
Still, Google has said in the past that users of other browsers will also be able to use apps they buy at its store.
Apps will include those from gaming company Electronic Arts, the New York Times and Amazon, whose executives were invited on stage to demonstrate apps designed for their products.