Through its official blog, Google has unveiled a new update for Chromebooks that introduces various innovations, including the detection of the performance of USB-C cables connected to the device, the ability to take notes in italics with a stylus and improvements to the zoom functionality and the UI overview.
Better notes with italics on Chromebooks
Last year Google launched Cursive on select devices, and now the company is rolling out the feature on all Chromebooks that support a stylus. Cursive will be pre-installed on all eligible Chromebooks, but you can download it by going to cursive.apps.chrome and tapping “install” in the toolbar.
Zoom and pan improvements on Chromebooks
Currently the docked zoom feature creates a split-screen, where the bottom half is the standard screen and the top half is the zoomed version. With the new update you can control the size of the enlarged part of the screen to suit your preferences or the content you are viewing.
The overview experience has also been updated. With continuous panning, the rest of the screen follows when you move the cursor, and you can also use the keyboard to control panning by pressing CTRL + ALT + arrow keys.
Warnings for USB-C cables with limited functionality on Chromebooks
Many USB-C cables look identical but work differently. Eligible Chromebooks will now warn you if the USB-C cable you’re using doesn’t support displays or doesn’t work ideally on your Chromebook, plus you’ll get a notification if your cable doesn’t support high-performance USB4 / Thunderbolt 3 standards.
This feature is initially available on Chromebooks with 11th or 12th Gen Intel Core CPUs and USB4 or Thunderbolt support but will be extended to more devices in the future.
