Your Next Chromebook Will Get a New Key
On Tuesday, Google announced the new Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus , which weighs just over 2.5 pounds and is the company’s thinnest and lightest Chromebook Plus to date. The Chromebook has specs like 8GB of RAM, an Intel Core 3 100U processor, 256GB of storage, and a 15.6-inch OLED display, but none of them caught my attention. What interested me, however, was that the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus comes with a brand new key: Quick Insert.
When you click Quick Insert, you open a new menu full of actions and functions. According to Google, this menu will offer AI tools such as ” Help Me Write “, which uses AI to rewrite the first draft (or even the final draft), in addition to non-AI features such as emoji selection and GIF; a list of your recently opened websites so you can quickly copy and paste relevant links; Search Google Drive to attach files, photos and documents; and tools such as a calculator, date stamper, and unit converter. As someone who doesn’t use a Chromebook, it reminds me a little of the menu in Google Docs that you can access by typing “@”.
The Verge reports that this new key replaces the search and play button on some previous Chromebooks, but that doesn’t mean Quick Paste has its own dedicated key. Instead, he shares the stage with Caps Lock. On supported Chromebooks, this key will say “caps” with a diamond icon with a plus sign inside to indicate “Quick Paste.” Perhaps the fact that it’s not a dedicated key is why this feature is also available on older Chromebooks: Google claims that Chromebook users without a Quick Paste key can still access Quick Paste using a keyboard shortcut, so no need to buy a new computer. exactly for this function. (Not that anyone has actually done that.)
However, starting next year, Google will begin adding the key to more Chromebooks and Chromebook Plus laptops, and will also introduce an AI image generator for quick insertion.
Other Chromebook Features
Along with the Paste key, Google announced several new AI features for Chromebook Plus computers. These include Help Me Read, a tool that summarizes different types of text with a right-click; Live Translate, which will put AI-translated subtitles on your screen whether you’re watching a show or on a video call; Recorder, an audio recording app that uses artificial intelligence to identify different speakers and create transcriptions; and new AI-powered video calling features that improve the quality of your voice and appearance.
Additionally, Google has highlighted several new features that will be coming to all Chromebooks, such as the ability to communicate with Gemini from within the OS rather than over the Internet, a three-month free trial of Google One AI Premium, a “Welcome Review” of everything you’ve done on on your Google devices since you last signed in to your Chromebook, a new Do Not Disturb mode called Focus, and the ability to pin files to the Home screen.