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Google will unveil more details about its Googlebook lineup next month — 126 days after it first announced plans to launch an all-new type of laptop. For those who missed the announcement back in May, Googlebook is designed to supersede Chromebooks, the bestselling notebooks powered by a lightweight desktop operating system called ChromeOS, based on Google's ubiquitous web browser of the same name.

Invitations to a dedicated event scheduled for September 15 in New York City have been sent out to media, specialist blog Chrome Unboxed has reported. Google is expected to unwrap the first Googlebook hardware and confirm the biggest missing details about its Chromebook replacements, including release date and price tags.

Google executives will be in attendance to demonstrate the new operating system that powers Googlebooks, which the Californian firm has previously described as "an opportunity to rethink laptops". This is similar to what we've heard from Microsoft, which launched a separate category of laptops — dubbed Copilot+ PCs — that offer exclusive Artificial Intelligence (AI) features in Windows 11 that aren't available with the standard installation.

Meanwhile, Apple reserves its own AI features for devices running its custom-designed silicon, which started to roll out worldwide from 2021 onwards. It's these devices that will be capable of using the swathe of new Siri AI features announced at its developers conference earlier this summer.

Whatever software powers the experience on the Googlebook, it's expected to bring together the best of ChromeOS and Android, with code that's primarily based on Android. Whatever it's called, Google has made clear that its new laptops will be packed to the rafters with Artificial Intelligence (AI) features.

One example, dubbed Magic Pointer, lets laptop owners shake the cursor back and forth to summon a Google Gemini icon that will trigger a dedicated AI function for the next item that you click. If you click on a photograph, Gemini will summon a blank box to type in a prompt for an adjustment that you'd like to make — speeding up your edits, while clicking on a date in an email will see Gemini offer to set up a meeting for you.

It's a clever idea, and the first major rethinking of what a cursor can be since the introduction of the right-click in Windows 95 in 1995 or the addition of different levels of pressure-sensitivity for the trackpad on MacBook models first launched by Apple in early 2015.

Googlebook also arrives with the ability to generate your own custom-designed widgets with exactly the information that you're looking for. Gemini can bring in information from across the internet, or connect to some of the most popular Google apps — like Gmail or Calendar — to create a personalised dashboard.

For example, Google can spotlight an upcoming flight or hotel booking from your calendar, or add a countdown to a holiday in a glanceable widget that sits on your desktop. These widgets can be pinned to your desktop, like those that've long featured in the Android operating system, also developed by Google.

Like Chromebooks, this new Googlebook can load Android apps. When you sign in with the same Google Account as your smartphone or tablet, you'll be able to launch windowed versions of your favourite apps and continue where you left off without switching back and forth between the laptop screen and your smartphone.

"For instance, what if you’re in the zone on your laptop but start to get hungry?

"You can tap a phone app, get that order out quickly and get back to it. Or if you get a reminder for your daily Duolingo language lesson, you can pop over and finish it without ever leaving your screen. It just works," Alex Kuscher writes in the Google blog.

"We’re also making it incredibly easy to access files from your phone right from your Googlebook’s file browser. With Quick Access, you can easily view, search or insert your phone’s files on your laptop — no transfers needed."

Google has long been rumoured to be building an all-new operating system that combines the best of Android and ChromeOS, but it's unclear whether Googlebook is the first device running this as-yet-unnamed software.

Google says that only Googlebooks will feature a glowing bar of LEDs on the outside that uses the brand colours of the US search company, a hardware feature that separates these laptops from Chromebooks. If that sounds familiar, it's likely because Google just announced swirling colourful LEDs on the back of its latest Android smartphones, Pixel 11 Pro Fold, Pixel 11 Pro and 11 Pro XL.

Dubbed HiLight, this is used to spotlight when a specific contact is calling, so you can choose to leave your smartphone facedown or pick up. Like an Amazon Echo, it also swirls when Google Gemini has heard the wake word and is listening to your command.

It's unclear whether the Googlebook will borrow the same features, or use its glowing LEDs for something completely different.

Everything from your Android phone can be easily accessed with a few clicks, including fully-fledged Android apps with no need to download them again, and any files, pictures or videos stored on the device

With any luck, the upcoming September 15 event will also reveal details on how much you can expect to pay for the first Googlebooks. The US firm has launched laptops at a range of different prices over the years, with the original PixelBook — a premium Chromebook designed to compete with MacBooks — starting from £999 when it landed on store shelves in 2017.

But its more affordable Pixelbook Go cost £629 when it arrived in January 2020.

"Every Googlebook will be built with premium craftsmanship and materials, coming in a variety of shapes and sizes," Alex Kuscher summarises in the blog post, suggesting these laptops are not designed to be the affordable option from Google. Crucially, Google won't be the only company making Googlebooks.

Like Copilot+ PCs, released under the Surface lineup from Microsoft but also made by several third parties, companies like Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo will be creating their own Googlebooks this year. These Chromebook successors will be "built from the ground up for Gemini Intelligence," Google has promised.