The Mountain View company’s laptops now access your recent photos, share files wirelessly with your smartphone, and will soon connect to your Bluetooth headset with the click of a button.
Google wants to remove the boundaries between Chromebooks and Android smartphones. The Mountain View company had already made several announcements along these lines during the last CES in Las Vegas and at its Google I/O conference. It has just announced that new continuity functions between the two environments will soon be deployed.
Your photos in the Phone Hub
Unveiled last year, the Phone Hub function allows access to the main functions of Android without having to take your eyes off your Chromebook. You can thus consult and respond to messages received on Android from your laptop, or even consult the level of charge of your smartphone or use the Internet connection of the latter directly from the Chromebook.
The next update of Google computers will go a little further since it will allow you to access the latest photos captured with your Android smartphone. The Phone Hub will indeed display a carousel of your recent photos on which you only have to click to download them and open them on your computer.
Easy Internet connection and instant Bluetooth pairing
Android’s Nearby Share feature will add another string to its bow. In addition to file sharing, you’ll soon be able to use it to connect your Chromebook to a known Wi-Fi network already registered on your Android smartphone. You will no longer need to share passwords.
Also, connecting a Bluetooth headset or earbuds to your Chromebook should soon be much easier. Google has just announced that Fast Pair technology, which allows you to connect a Bluetooth device quickly, will be available this summer on Chromebooks. To take advantage of it, however, you will need to have a compatible Bluetooth headset or earphones.
After activating Bluetooth on the laptop, it will automatically detect compatible devices nearby, and display an on-screen alert offering to connect to them. Fast Pair-enabled devices are then automatically synced with your Google account, allowing your Chromebook and Android smartphone to then automatically connect to them whenever you need them.
Source :
Google