Google opens first retail store to promote Chromebooks
Google Inc. has opened its first retail store in London to display Chromebooks and promote the always-connected laptops, according to the company’s official website. The search giant opened Chrome Zone Sept. 30 in an electronics superstore in the hope that consumers will spend time discovering web applications on a Chromebook and chat with Chrome specialists. “Many things in life, like football and rock music, are best experienced in person. Chromebooks are no exception,” Laura Thompson, Google’s product marketing manager, posted on the Google Chrome blog. Google’s Chromebooks, unveiled in June this year bearing the brand names of South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. and Taiwan’s Acer Inc., are supposed to offer users a quicker and simpler experience by storing all software and data using cloud computer technology. So far, only the 12.1-inch Samsung Chromebook is for sale at Chrome Zone, with Acer’s 11.6-inch version yet to be launched in the U.K., according to the U.K.-based online news TechRadar. Thompson said Google will open more Chrome Zones in additional locations in the U.K. over the next few months, but did not say whether the retail store concept will make its way to other countries. Chromebooks are currently being sold in the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and South Korea.
