LEAK: GOOGLE CHROME NOTEBOOKS COMING IN JUNE/JULY

Neowin has confirmed from a reliable source that the Google Chrome OS based notebooks will be available for "purchase" in late June/early July. The search giant also is planning on using an unconventional form of distribution to customers. Google will be selling the devices as part of a subscription based model with Gmail to customers. It's not clear if this applies to mainstream Gmail.com users, or to Google Apps premier customers.

According to our source, Google plans to make the notebooks available for $10-$20 a month per user, and will provide hardware refreshes as they are released as part of the package, and will replace faulty hardware for the life of the subscription. On top of this, Google will make the devices available for a one time payment as a normal retailer would, but is likely to not distribute the devices directly. Instead, the company will distribute them in a fashion similar to the way Android is distributed.

ACER UNVEILS 3D LAPTOP

Wondering when computer makers would follow the lead of television manufacturers and get around to making an affordable 3D computer? Acer has just announced just such a laptop, the Acer AS5745DG-A54E/L (great name Acer, everyone will remember that one....NOT!)

The 3D notebook will feature a 15.6-inch screen, an NVIDIA GeForce GT 425M GPU with NVIDIA’s 3D VISION at 120Hz, a 2.53GHz Intel Core i5-460M processor, 4GB of RAM, a 640GB hard drive, HDMI, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi b/g/n and a 1.3-megapixel webcam. It also ships with 3D VISION glasses, of course. Pricing hasn’t yet been announced, though Acer did say the AS5745DG-A54E/L will be available in Japan on December 3rd for “less than” 100,000 yen, which is roughly $1,200 US. Acer has not yet addressed availability outside of Japan. [BGR]