Robby Payne

Indian Hills

Writer at Chrome Unboxed

Co-Host at The Chrome Cast

Lover of all tech things, especially Google, more especially ChromeOS. Founder of Chrome Unboxed.

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Articles

It’s official: Gemini Live is coming to Chromebooks, and I can’t wait

3 days ago | chromeunboxed.com | Robby Payne

Amid all the big announcements at the recent Chromebook Showcase event – the fantastic new Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14, and the suite of new AI features – there was a smaller tidbit that was mentioned that absolutely made my day. During the presentation, it was noted that Gemini Live is officially on its way to Chromebooks.
Of all the new Chromebook Plus features, these two are the most helpful for me

3 days ago | chromeunboxed.com | Robby Payne

Last week, Google and Lenovo took the wraps off the new Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 -the most advanced Chromebook Plus yet – and a whole suite of new AI-powered features for the entire Plus lineup. And while all the updates are welcome, after digging through everything, there are two new features that – for me, at least – stand out as genuine game-changers for how I’ll use our Chromebooks every day.
Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14: the speed and battery life combo is beyond enticing

3 days ago | chromeunboxed.com | Robby Payne

For as long as most of us can remember, the Chromebook world has been defined by a painful trade-off: do you want power, or do you want battery life? You could get a Chromebook with a powerful Intel chip that could chew through any task, but you’d likely be reaching for a charger before the end of the day. Or, you could get a fanless, ARM-powered device with tablet-like battery life that might sometimes feel a step behind when you really pushed it.
The most advanced Chromebook Plus arrives alongside some awesome new ChromeOS features

5 days ago | chromeunboxed.com | Robby Payne

Last week, we had the opportunity to head up to New York and see all the latest Google is cooking up in the Chromebook, ChromeOS and Chromebook Plus space; and we’re thrilled to be able to finally get to share with you the new Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14, the most advanced Chromebook Plus yet, powered by the absolute beast of a chip that is the all-new MediaTek Kompanio Ultra.
Hands-on with the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14 [VIDEO]

5 days ago | chromeunboxed.com | Robby Payne

Last week at the latest Google Chromebook showcase event in New York City, there were a ton of new software features announced alongside the undeniable star of the show: the new Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14. Despite its simple name, this Chromebook is absolutely packed with incredible hardware, and it’s clear that Google and Lenovo have positioned this to be the new go-to recommendation for anyone seeking a high-end Chromebook Plus experience.
Gemini is now available for all Education users, with extra safeguards for younger students

1 week ago | chromeunboxed.com | Robby Payne

The conversation around the role of AI in the classroom is one of the most important in technology today. How do we give students access to powerful learning tools while ensuring they are used safely and responsibly? Today, Google is taking a massive step in that direction by announcing that the Gemini app is now available to all Google Workspace for Education users, including students of all ages.
Finally, you can use Gemini on Android for audio song identification

1 week ago | chromeunboxed.com | Robby Payne

The transition from Google Assistant to Gemini, while exciting in many ways, has come with a few frustrating growing pains. As Gemini gets smarter with complex tasks, we’ve sometimes lost the simple, everyday features we relied on with Assistant. For me, and I know for many of you, one of the biggest feature gaps has been asking Gemini to simply identify a song playing nearby.
You can now instantly turn your Google Slides into engaging Google Vids

1 week ago | chromeunboxed.com | Robby Payne

When Google unveiled its new AI-powered video creation tool Google Vids earlier this year, one of the most promising features announced was the ability to leverage your existing content. Many of us have countless Google Slides presentations from past projects, meetings, and reports just sitting in our Drive.
YouTube Music finally gets the lyric sharing feature many have been waiting for

1 week ago | chromeunboxed.com | Robby Payne

Sometimes it’s the fun, social features that make a music streaming service feel complete. For a long time, YouTube Music has been missing a popular one that Spotify and Apple Music users have enjoyed: the ability to easily share a snippet of song lyrics to your social media or in a message. Well, the wait is over. After a testing period back in April, YouTube Music is now widely rolling out its own version of this feature with shareable lyric cards.
‘Search Live’ with voice is now rolling out for testing in Google Search

1 week ago | chromeunboxed.com | Robby Payne

Of all the futuristic things Google showed off at I/O 2025, the new “Search Live” experience was easily one of the most compelling. The idea of having a real-time, back-and-forth conversation with Google Search felt like a true step into the future of information discovery. After a very limited initial appearance for some, Google is now beginning to roll out the voice input portion of Search Live more broadly to users in the AI Mode Search Lab.