Four months ago, Robby shared a very interesting product that was quietly sitting at a local Best Buy. There wasn’t anything overly unusual about the Anker PowerPort Atom USB-C charger itself but the packaging displayed a surprise we were super excited to see. Three simple words. “works with chromebook” adorned the back of the box in the form of a small sticker that included the familiar Chrome logo.
At that point in time, there was no word from Google about this new branding and as the weeks passed, we saw no new products carrying the badge. We were stoked about the potential of this marketing because Chrome OS users are, for the most part, in the dark when it comes to peripheral compatibility. So many products “just work” with Chromebooks but there hasn’t been a clear-cut way for shoppers to know which ones to buy. This would remedy that.
Today, Google has finally announced that the “Works with Chromebook” branding is official and they have bagged some pretty big name partners to wear the badge. Belkin, Kensington, Logitech and of course, Anker are just a few of the accessory makers that are and will produce peripherals that are certified to work with Chrome OS.
Works with Chromebook accessories can be found at Amazon.com, Best Buy (U.S. and Canada), Walmart.com, and Bic Camera (Japan) with more retailers coming soon. I did a quick search at Walmart and found that Anker and Cable Matters are already listing “Works with Chromebook certified” devices such as chargers and adapters. This is a big step forward for Chrome OS. The next step, in my opinion, will be retailers actually adding a “Works with Chromebook” category to their online stores to make it even easier for buyers to filter compatible products. You can find more information and the list of manufacturers on the Works with Chromebook website.
