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A new Chromebook, with the name Jongpil Jung attached to it, has been discovered in the Chromium repositories which seems to indicate a new Samsung Chromebook that will feature a detachable keyboard assembly. Several previous Samsung Chromebooks, namely the Samsung Chromebook Pro and Chromebook Plus, were also associated with Jongpil Jung in previous Chromium entries. The newly hinted Chromebook – referred to in the commits as “Nautilus” – has only been in development since September, so it could be at least a few more months before it hits the market, unfortunately.
As to the device itself, all that can be derived from the commits is that it will be powered by Kaby Lake. That’s Intel’s x86, 64-bit processor built on the 14-nanometer process. It will also feature, as mentioned above, a keyboard and mouse combination that is completely detachable. There’s no indication as to which connector will be used to accomplish that, but the commit shows a check whether the keyboard and touchpad are attached at power-on, so it is reasonably clear that Nautilus will be able to act as a tablet-style device when those are not attached. That could be a significant feature since, especially if it has Google Play Store enabled, it could be used more like a more traditional Android tablet. Meanwhile, reattaching the keyboard would let the user get down to completing the kinds of tasks a traditional laptop might be used for. Moreover, the ability to use it as a tablet without the keyboard adding bulk to the device could feasibly make using Samsung’s renowned stylus – the S Pen – much more intuitive and easy than on other devices.
In fact, judging by the processor associated with Nautilus, the newly discovered Chromebook could turn out to be very similar to another Samsung device that’s already available. The Samsung Galaxy Book features the same processor and also ships with a detachable keyboard configuration. That device, however, runs Windows out of the box. With that said, this could easily be a version of that which runs Google’s Chrome OS instead and bears many of the same features. So, it could arrive with an S Pen and a keyboard that links up via magnetic Pogo pins. However, it may be best not to speculate until more information becomes available either through the Chromium repository or from Samsung itself.