Google will be announcing sales of the new Chrome laptop in a $20 a month “student package” that combines both hardware and online services, according to an unnamed senior Google executive cited byForbes. The new offering will allow budget conscious students to try out the Chrome Laptop, potentially seeding the market for future demand, as students move into the workforce. Forbes speculates that it could even be a precursor to an enterprise offering in the future, which is completely plausible considering that the company is already offering its Google Apps Suite to businesses for $50 a year....

It has beenannouncedtoday that Google is making a new investment in Ireland, bringing a €75m data center to Dublin. Google has acquired an 11-acre plot of land and an existing building in order to build the facility which will help run the company’s online services and provide 30 full-time and contractor jobs. Big tech companies are often attracted to Ireland by favorable tax conditions, although the weather may have also been a factor in this latest move, with Ireland’s cool climate helping keep servers from running hot in an efficient way....

An Android engineer onGoogle’s support forumshas suggested Google will patch the Nexus S reboot issue “within one to two weeks”. Earlier in the month,Google acknowledgedthat there could be an issue with its new flagship phone or Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) operating system after a number of users reported that their Nexus S devices were randomly rebooting, often during phone calls. At first Google suggested it could be a bug caused by the device itself, prompting users to contact the manufacturers of the Nexus S; Samsung....

Google’s Chrome Browser is to undergo some changes in a “major overhaul” according toConceivablyTech. There are two big reported possible changes planned to take place. The first and most significant UI change comes in the the removal of URL bar. The second is the ability to use multiple user profiles in parallel. The elimination of the URL bar is one suggestion from four possible layouts, all with different types of navigation: The classic navigation version, compact navigation, sidetab navigation as well as a touchscreen version....

Google and Sprint have partnered to release a new mobile payment system that uses Near Field Communication or NFC.Bloombergreports that the service will be launched on May 26th and will be available on phones from Sprint. The service will, at least initially, be available only on specially equipped Android phones from the carrier and will be compatible with NFC payment systems. The program is scheduled to begin in 5 cities including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington DC....