Potential next-gen Chromebook Pixel board spotted in Google’s Code Source

Google’s Chromebook Pixel series has never been sold in Australia and while we enjoy the Android based Pixel C, there’s Chromebook fans who have imported either the 2013 or 2015 (or both) Chromebook Pixel from the US. The Pixel is the best of the range and a next-gen Chromebook Pixel could be already in the works according to entries in the Google’s Chromium OS code review.

The references in the source were found by Jacob Gwiazdzinski, are to a board called ‘Chell’, which he says has 16GB of RAM, Intel’s Skylake processor, a backlit keyboard and of course, the famous multi-coloured Pixel lightbar.

Google has never been backwards in listing upcoming boards for Chromebooks in the Chromium Code review groups, even Chrome evangelist Francois Beaufort has often referenced new board entries previously.

Chromebook Pixels have always been aspirational products, designed to show what the platform can do. The 2013 and 2015 Chromebook Pixel are both delightfully nice to use, with keyboards, touchscreens and trackpads that match any hardware from any other vendor on the market – though you do pay for that hardware, with prices starting at $999USD for the lower end model of the current 2015 Chromebook Pixel (currently out of stock in the US).

Google released the first Chromebook Pixel in 2013, and a follow-up with two processor configurations (i5 and i7) as well as different RAM (8GB and 16GB) configurations in 2015. Technically, based on their previous release cycle, this next-gen Chromebook isn’t really due for release until next year, that is if Google keeps to the same 2-year release cycle – or this could be a successor to the Pixel C, which started its life in the Chrome code source as the RYU frankenboard, before ending up as a premium Android tablet.

We’ll see what the future holds for the ‘Chell’ board is in due time, but for now it’s nice to know that it’s out there, stay tuned.