Google held their Chrome/Chrome OS event on Tuesday, and one of the highlights of the event was the launch of the Cr-48 Pilot Program. The Cr-48 is essentially the first Chrome OS notebook, essentially a beta product that they are releasing to testers around the country to help evaluate Chrome OS before its proposed Spring 2011 launch. It's unclear if the notebook was built by Acer, Samsung, or some other partner, but what has surprised many as the units started arriving is how refreshing the styling is. Look at that picture at the top, there! It looks like one of the old black Macbooks, a simple design that Apple fans wish was still available for the plastic Macbook. The lack of branding might seem dull to some, but it's pretty hard to make the case that this doesn't look better than practically everything being put out by Acer, Samsung, HP, or Dell (with the exception of Dell's Adamo line).
The sad irony is that this notebook screams "prototype." When it comes time for Acer and Samsung to to release their own devices, let's all hope that Google has a hand in hardware design. We find that unlikely, though, and this notebook will recede into the background as a fondly-remembered launch device for Chrome OS.
And really, that's too bad. Seriously, why don't all PC laptops look this sensible?