X

Document scanning coming to Chrome OS

Google fills in a gap in its browser-based OS, building software to run scanners and an interface to let Web apps use it.

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Expertise Processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science. Credentials
  • Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
Stephen Shankland
2 min read

Chrome OS logo on a Samsung Chromebox
Chrome OS logo on a Samsung Chromebox. Stephen Shankland/CNET

Slowly but surely, Google is shortening the list of tasks people can't do on devices running Chrome OS, the company's browser-based operating system. The newest example: support for scanners.

Right now, people with Chromebooks and Chromeboxes typically have to move to a machine running Microsoft Windows, Apple OS X, Android, or iOS, to run their scanners. That's a hassle for users, and it hurts Chrome OS's competitiveness.

Technology called Lorgnette will build the ability to run a scanner into Chrome OS, though. In addition, Google is working on a programming interface that will let Web apps use the new service.

Chrome watcher and Google employee François Beaufort spotted the interface Friday, described in a Thursday email to a mailing list. According to Beaufort, the interface will let a Web app discover scanners attached over USB or a network and retrieve the scanned image.

The proposed interface can let a Web app tap into Google's Lorngette software or other operating systems' scanning software.

Handling peripherals is a tricky business for Chrome OS. The operating system uses Linux under the covers. But the software written for Chrome OS that people actually use works at a higher level, running in the browser. Interfaces for these Web apps don't always exist, so Web developers can't always write software that does what native apps for Windows or iOS can do, for example.

Mozilla is running into the same issues with its Firefox OS, a browser-based operating system designed for mobile devices. Mozilla has been gradually fleshing out the suite of interfaces, too, so Web apps can tap into hardware features such as accelerometers that indicate a phone's orientation or cameras used for video chats and photography.