Chrome netbooks from Samsung and Acer will soon hit the shelves as Google has staked a lot on these mobile devices. But, amidst the sea of other netbooks, laptops, and tablet PCs, what do these new “Chromebooks” offer? Whether they will generate the interest among businesses or consumers is still unknown, but we’ll soon find out as the netbooks are scheduled to be available in June 2011.

Industry insiders have speculated that these Chromebooks are full of hype and offer nothing new to brag about. In fact, they may be just like any other laptop, but with less flexibility – but that may be exactly what will make them a hit with corporate IT departments and Information Security departments. Information can’t be stored on the device so if they are broken or stolen, you just go get a new one. That’s the beauty of cloud computing.

Users can access Google Docs, Webmail, or any apps available in the Google Chrome store. Because of the limited functionality, the Chromebook offers longer battery life but for $350 to $500 it may not be worth it to some as compared to other standard netbooks which are available between $230 and $530. Though final verdict will come after the release, lets just hope this isn’t another Nexus One-type of hardware experiment for Google.