Your Next Chromebook Is Getting a New Key

On Tuesday, Google announced the new Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus, which, at just over 2.5 pounds, is the company's thinnest and lightest Chromebook Plus so far. The Chromebook comes with specs like 8GB of RAM, an Intel Core 3 100U processor, 256GB of storage, and a 15.6-inch OLED display, but none of these are what caught my eye. What piqued my interest, though, was that the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus comes with a brand new key: Quick Insert.

When you press Quick Insert, you pull up a new menu full of actions and functions. According to Google, this menu will offer AI tools like "Help me write," which uses AI to rewrite a first draft (or even a final draft), in addition to non-AI features like emoji and GIF selection; a list of your recently opened websites to quickly copy and paste relevant links; Google Drive search for attaching things like files, photos, and documents; and tools like a calculator, a date stamp, and a unit converter. As someone who doesn't use a Chromebook, it reminds me a bit of the menu in Google Docs you can access by typing "@."

Credit: Google

The Verge says this new key replaces the search and launcher button on some previous Chromebooks, but that doesn't mean Quick Insert is getting its own dedicated key. Instead, it shares the stage with Caps Lock. On supported Chromebooks, this key will say "caps," with an icon of a diamond with a plus symbol inside, denoting "Quick Insert." Perhaps the fact it isn't a dedicated key is why the function is also coming to older Chromebooks: Google says that Chromebook users without the Quick Insert key can still access Quick Insert from a keyboard shortcut, so there's no need to buy a new machine just for this function. (Not that anyone realistically would.)

That said, Google will start adding the key to more Chromebook and Chromebook Plus laptops starting next year, and will introduce an AI image generator to Quick Insert as well.

Other Chromebook features

Along with the Quick Insert key, Google announced a handful of new AI features for Chromebook Plus machines. That includes "Help me read," a tool that summarizes different types of text via a right-click; Live Translate, which will place AI-powered translated captions on your screen, whether you're watching a show or taking a video call; Recorder, an audio-recording app that uses AI to identify different speakers and produce transcriptions; as well as new AI video call features to enhance the quality of your voice and appearance.

In addition, Google highlighted a handful of new features coming to all Chromebooks, such as the ability to chat with Gemini from the OS rather than the web, a three month free trial of Google One AI Premium, a "Welcome Recap" of whatever you did on your Google devices since you last logged into your Chromebook, a new do-not-disturb mode called "Focus," and the ability to pin files to your home screen.