Whether Chrome OS is up and coming or down and going is still a point of contention, though. It could be that LG is trying to stay in Google’s good books and is doing its bit by putting out a box at Cookie Monster's behest - taking one for the team, as it were.

Or it could be that the concept is starting to get traction. This, after all, was exactly how early Androids appeared - one at a time at considerable intervals with a lot of cat-calling and noises off. Android went OK in the end.

So LG’s effort covers another bit of device territory: the desktop flatscreen monitor market gap. It joins half a dozen little clamshell Chrome OS types and one ‘Chromebox’ (manufactured by Samsung). LG’s effort is designed as a desktop monitor and has a full HDMI port at the back so users could plug in a PC if required and swap back and forth.

LG says its going after schools and offices and call centres with this one, rather than individual users, which is slightly perplexing as I might actually want one myself if the price is right (read my journey into the cloud series - above left)

That fact will be known at the upcoming US CES show in in January. The Chromebase has, in addition to its 21.5 inch screen, 2 Gig of memory, 16 Gig solid state storage. The computer has keyboard, mouse, speakers and webcam.