Welcome to the Tech Mem Ride Home for Wednesday, August 29th, 2018. I'm Brian McCullough.

Today, a bunch of new laptops from Dell, Amazon might jump into the free TV game, Google

updates Wear OS, and why the world's oldest blockchain has been hiding in plain sight since 1995.

Here's what you missed today in the world of tech.

A whole slew of new computers were announced by Dell today. Let's start off with the

premium $599 Inspiron Chromebook 14, with a 14 inch touch screen display, core I 3

processor, Intel UHD 620 graphics, and 4 gigabytes of RAM. This is not some cheap Chrome OS convertible with a crappy

processor and a plastic shell. Let me have ours sing its praises.

The new Inspironon Chromebook looks and feels similar to Dell's Windows-based Inspiron machines.

It has an all-metal body and somewhat flattened hinges that allow it to rotate into tablet mode.

Even with its metal design and 14 inch FHD touch screen, the new Chromebook weighs under

four pounds and doesn't feel as hefty as other 14 inch machines. By going with better specs and a more

attractive design, Dell wants to attract an aging generation of

Chromebook users, those who have grown comfortable with Google's OS after using it for years in school.

Some may want a Chrome OS device that looks better and works harder than the $300 devices they're

accustomed to using and one that doesn't break the bank like Google's Pixelbook does."

Dell also announced updates to the whole range of convertibles in its Inspiron 7,000 and 5,000 lineups, and they all feature a new thermal design

that puts vents behind the hinges.

You won't even see the vents, but Dell claims they're way better at heat management.

You can customize these 7000 and 5,000 bad boys to suit your needs, Core I-5 or I-7, up to

32 gigabytes of RAM and the 13 inch convertible can even support up to 1 terabyte of

SSD storage. The Chromebook 14 will be available October 23rd. The Inspiron 7,000 and 5,000

...