Chromebooks are quickly becoming a thorn in Microsoft’s side as they threaten its Windows business by offering an inexpensive alternative. In fact, Chromebooks have made real gains especially in the U.S. education market at the expense of Windows and could soon begin to make further inroads in other sectors such as business. In response, Microsoft has been working with hardware partners to drive down the cost of Windows laptops to better compete against Chromebooks. One of the first such notebooks could well be the HP Stream 14.
The US$199 Windows-powered notebook was revealed ahead of its official announcement thanks to user guides found on HP’s own website (much as the HP Chromebook 11 G3 was also discovered). The Maintenance and Service Guide goes as far as giving us a complete rundown of the specifications:
- Processor: 1.0GHz quad-core AMD A4 Micro-6400T
- Operating system: Microsoft Windows 8.1
- Cellular connectivity: None
- Other connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0
- Display: 14-inch HD (1366×768) WLED
- RAM: 2GB
- Internal storage: 32GB/64GB
- External storage: SDXC cards
- Rear-facing camera: None
- Front-facing camera: HD
- Ports: 3.5mm audio jack, 1 USB 3.0 port, 1 USB 2.0 port
- Battery: 2,960mAh
- Dimensions: 34.4 × 24 × 1.79 centimeters
- Weight: 1.75 kilograms
- Colours: Silver, Purple, Green
- Other: Four Beats Audio speakers
There is no word on availability at this point. With IFA 2014 just around the corner, perhaps Hewlett-Packard will announce both the HP Stream 14 and new Chromebooks. One thing is clear: HP has no allegiance to either platform at this point and is more than willing to offer both to consumers and let them make their own choice.
All we need now are some larger images!
Sources : Hewlett-Packard // MobileGeeks