Google delays its Chrome laptops to mid-2011

The first laptops powered by Google's Chrome operating system will not reach stores months later than expected because of software issues.

The internet search giant will release the computers, intended compete with Microsoft and Apple, around the middle of next year.

Google is trying to fix software bugs and is making sure the computers are compatible with other devices such as digital cameras, Google product manager Sundar Pichai said.

Pichai threw off dismay that Google would miss the Christmas shopping season. "Amazing progress, but we aren't fully done yet," he said in San Francisco.

The laptops will embody Google's strongest foray into consumer and business computing. Samsung Electronics and Acer will make the first computers and Intel the processors.

The first computers, for which prices have yet to be announced, will come with 100 megabytes of free wireless data transfers a month for two years, courtesy of Verizon Wireless. According to Verizon, streaming video for just two minutes every day amounts to 260 megabytes of data downloads in a month.

Google is trying to promote web-centric computing through the laptop range, in which people use online applications instead of software loaded onto PCs.

The firm opened an internet store yesterday selling about 500 games, productivity tools and other software applications for Chrome, carving out a bigger role in online media and entertainment.

The company did not explain how the Chrome operating system would contribute to profits. Google offers its Android operating system for smartphones and tablets free of charge but earns revenue from mobile advertising, which recently said was generating revenue at a $1 billion annual rate.

Google hopes Chrome will increase internet search use as Android did with mobile phones, boosting the firm's web adverts business. It will earn 5% on every application sold through its online store, enough to cover costs, while most of the revenue goes to its developers.

"It's in the best interest of Google to continue to provide enhanced user experiences where you're going to be searching the crap out of everything," said Gleacher & Co analyst Yun Kim.

Google has begun a pilot programme distributing prototypes to schools, businesses, developers and other users to collect feedback. The all-black "CR 48" prototypes come with 12.1-inch screens, 3G connectivity and webcams.

The market for computer operating systems is dominated by Microsoft, whose Windows software is used on more than 90% of the world's PCs.

Tim Bajarin, president of hi-tech consulting and market research firm Creative Strategies, said the Chrome notebooks would appeal only to tech-savvy so-called "early adopters".

"I don't believe this is an immediate threat to Microsoft, at least in the next two years," he said.