Google introduced a new Samsung Chromebook on Thursday, Oct. 18, touting refreshed specs and an unusually low $249 price tag.

The new machine is the first Chromebook to use an ARM chip instead of an Intel one, and Google introduced it as an additional laptop for users who do their primary computing work on a Windows or Mac computer.

While Google's Chromebook has seen some success in school settings, it never sparked mass adoption. The search giant has constantly improved both the software and hardware, and earlier this year it introduced the Aura interface, allowing users to view multiple windows at the same time. A few months later, Google brought further software tweaks to the operating system and the Chromebox, a desktop running Chrome OS.

With the new Chromebook, however, the company aims to focus more on users who want a simple extension of their home network rather than targeting the school-and-business market.

The latest Chrome OS machine made by Samsung will be called simply "the new Samsung Chromebook," according to Sundar Pichai, Senior Vice President of Chrome and Apps. The device is designed to be faster, cheaper, and easier to use than comparable laptops, and will soon become more widely available in brick-and-mortar stores. Availability, however, is limited to the U.S. and UK.

Specs & Features

The new Samsung Chromebook is the first consumer-oriented laptop to ship with an ARM A15-based Samsung Exynos 5250 or "5 Dual" system-on-chip (SoC). The 5 Dual was designed to deliver great performance in smartphones and tablets.

With several windows RT devices en route, Google made significant efforts to differentiate its offering. According to Pinchai's speculations, most Windows RT devices will be more expensive than the new Chromebook, while running on something other than the newer A15 chip.

"Certainly some [Windows devices] will be on A9," said Pinchai.

The new Chromebook made by Samsung comes in a Wi-Fi-only version, weighs 2.5 pounds, and is 0.8 inches thick. It sports an 11.6-inch display, supports 1080p video at 30 frames-per-second (fps), and has a claimed battery life of 6.5 hours. While previous Chromebook offerings featured built-in 3G connectivity and a limited amount of free access from Verizon Wireless, the low price tag of the new Samsung Chromebook may compensate for the Wi-Fi-only availability.

Other features include 16GB of internal storage, 2GB of RAM, as well as a free 100GB pool of cloud storage on Google Drive, available for two years with the purchase of the new Chromebook.

"We really want people to rely on keeping their information in Google drive so they have access to their information everywhere," said Pinchai, as cited by Ars Technica.

The new laptop running on Chrome OS will also feature a full-sized keyboard and trackpad, one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0 port, and an HDMI port. Meanwhile, the lack of a fan should make it run quietly.

Software Updates

Google reiterated that it updates its operating system every six weeks. The latest improvements highlight one-click access to Google Play, as well as one-click access to a Windows or Mac device.

"We've really made it easy for consumers to remote into a Windows or a Mac machine," Pinchai said of the Chrome OS' remote desktop service.

Google also said it was working on making integration with Android smartphones and tablets more seamless, with a single sign-in to access various Android devices from the Chromebook and vice versa.

The new version of Chrome OS also includes some improvements to offline capabilities. Users can now access any movie downloaded from Google Play even offline, while a shortcut now allows easy access to editing and viewing Docs offline. A version of Gmail is also available with one-click access.