First-ever Chrome OS tablet spotted at education technology show

Some of the biggest players in education technology are currently showing off their wares at the Bett 2018 trade show in London, UK. Among the various bits of new education-focused hardware, it appears that Acer brought along a new tablet with a potentially game-changing feature.

Take a quick look at the image above and Chromebook fans will notice that this otherwise unremarkable tablet is running Chrome OS. The tablet’s existence was first shared by show attendee Alister Payne, a teacher working in South Africa, who shared the hands-on photo on Twitter.

The tweet has since been deleted, but the folks over at Chrome Unboxed managed to save the image of the unnamed, unannounced Chrome OS tablet.

In the original tweet, Payne hinted that the tablet is intended for grades 1, 2, and 3, which suggests it’s may have been designed for early childhood education.

The tablet appears to be an 8- or 10-inch model, although specification details are non-existent aside from confirmation that it supports a Staedtler stylus. Whether or not this particular tablet,sees the light of day isn’t all that important, however. Instead, the key takeaway is that Chrome OS tablets exist in the first place.

With the Android tablet market on life support, Google and major Android OEMs have all but abandoned the form factor. This is especially true of premium-tier tablets, which simply don’t exist outside of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3.

Chrome OS tablets have been rumored for a while. Chrome Unboxed caught word of a tablet dubbed “Scarlet” around twelve months ago, but up until now there has been more speculation than any solid proof.

With Android app support showing significant improvements on products like the Pixelbook, the prospect of Chrome OS detachables and tablets hitting store shelves is certainly an exciting prospect.

Would you be interested in a Chrome OS detachable 2-in-1 over a Microsoft Surface Pro or iPad Pro? Let us know in the comments.