Gaming Chromebooks with RGB keyboards are on the horizon

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We’ve been hearing rumors of Google bringing gaming to Chromebooks for a couple of years now. It seems that day is near, as 9to5Google has found pointers to RGB backlit keyboards in multiple upcoming Chromebooks.

Now, we’re not saying that RGB on a keyboard means a gaming device, but go look at the market for both gaming keyboards and gaming laptops. It’s rare to find an option that doesn’t include RGB on every key. Even those that don’t typically use red or green backlights, and not the more standard white or blue.

The Chrome OS code also says it will enable per-key RGB control. That could have been to control RGB-enabled external keyboards, but the code points to specific, unreleased devices only.

READ MORE: You’ll soon be able to use your Chromebook as a 5G hotspot

9to5Google‘s code spelunking found three such devices, with the codenames Vell, Taniks, and Ripple. Taniks looks to be manufactured by a part of Lenovo, while Vell is being worked on by an original device manufacturer that recently created a bunch of HP devices.

READ MORE: Is Apple working on its own gaming controller?

Ripple is slightly different, in that the code points to a detachable keyboard, like the Apple Magic Keyboard for iPad, or the one from the Asus ROG Flow Z13 gaming tablet. It’ll be interesting to see which company eventually releases this, or if it will be one of Google’s own devices.

The other pieces of gaming on Chromebooks are in the works, as well. Nvidia ported its ray-tracing tech to ARM last year, showing that high-end graphics cards can work alongside ARM CPUs. Then, for the actual games, Google is still working out how to bring Steam to its Chrome OS.

We expect that higher-powered Chromebooks are coming. But it’s still unclear how much value they will bring over similarly powered Windows laptops.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.