If the damp blanket of leaves warming the ground is any indicator, then we’d say that fall has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere. That means Google’s Chrome OS is due . What better time for DigiTimes to cite sources from “component players” claiming that the first smartbooks featuring the Chrome OS will launch later this month. According to the Taiwanese rumor rag, Google will follow a similar strategy as its Nexus One and be first from the gate with the launch of a self-branded Chrome OS notebook manufactured by Inventec — the ARM-based machine will not be sold through normal retail channels and is expectated to ship a very modest 60,000 to 70,000 units. Acer and HP are then rumored to be launching Quanta-manufactured Chrome OS gear as early as December while ASUS waits to gauge market reaction. Of course, if all of this is true then we should be getting a Google event press invite right about, well, now. Google-branded Chrome OS smartbook launching this month? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 02:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink