Lenovo took a bit of a left turn in its product line with the release of the Yoga Book, a smaller and relatively inexpensive 360-degree convertible device with a unique touch-sensitive and lighted keyboard. With a Wacom digitizer and active pen support, the Yoga Book is an interesting notetaking device that offers the intriguing choice between Windows 10 and Android.
Toward the end of 2016, Lenovo indicated that a Chrome OS version could make its way to the market at some point. Now, however, it appears that a Chromebook version of the Yoga Book might not become available after all, as Liliputing reports.
It’s important to note that Lenovo never promised a Chrome OS version, but rather merely indicated “a lot of interest” in creating one. Lenovo’s vice president and general manager for the company’s Android and Chrome computing business group said during an interview that the overall saturation of Chrome OS machines meant that a Chrome OS Yoga Book could make some sense.
Based on some code that’s contained in the Chromium open source project that is involved with Chrome OS, the Chrome OS version of the Yoga Book was likely code-named “Pbody,” and that code contains a reference to Pbody now being “dead.” The same code goes on to provide a solution to an issue that was discovered with the keyboard that might help with further Chromium OS projects.
Chrome OS isn’t yet optimized for tablets and convertibles, and so perhaps Lenovo is simply going to wait until Google adds more features that would better support all of the Yoga Book’s functionality. It’s also entirely possible that Lenovo is looking farther down the road at new hardware.
In the meantime, if you’ve been looking forward to a Yoga Book running Chrome OS, then your wait might just have been extended. If the Yoga Book still appeals to you, then you can always break down and pick up the Android or Windows 10 version instead.
