Chrome OS 64 Updated With Features That Continue To Meld With Android For Larger Screen Devices

Google has published a new stable channel update for Chrome OS, which movies the operating system one step closer to replacing Android on tablets. The stable channel is now updated to 64.0.3282 (Platform version: 10176.65.0) for most devices running Chrome OS. The build packs in several fixes and security updates, while Google says that devices will begin receiving the update over the next several days.

A new tablet from Acer was spied recently at the BETT show in London running Chrome OS rather than Android, and it could benefit from a number of new features introduced with this latest build.

One of the new features is a faster method for taking screenshots on Chromebooks with a 360-degree hinge. The new feature takes a screenshot when you press the power and volume down buttons at the same time. This is the same way you normally take screenshots on Android devices. The Intent Picker for Play apps is revamped and now in the same window by default with override capability.

Google says that it has improved the lockscreen performance and enabled VPN for Google Play Apps. Android-specific enhancements include improvements for protected media pipeline and a Android container auto update optimization. Touchscreen pairing settings are also among the new features.

As for security fixes in the new update, there are additional browser mitigations against speculative side-channel attack techniques (Spectre). Google has a note in the security fixes section that states, "Access to bug details and links may be kept restricted until a majority of users are updated with a fix. We will also retain restrictions if the bug exists in a third party library that other projects similarly depend on, but haven’t yet fixed."