Intel Offers New Easy Migration App to Move PC, Mobile Device Files to Chromebooks

With Chromebook sales expected to triple to 14.2 million units worldwide by 2017, or 5 percent of all PCs sold according to researcher Gartner’s figures, Intel (INTC) has made a point to align itself with the fast growing segment.

Its latest Chromebook move is new software called Easy Migration that could pump up the Web-centric laptop’s sales even more. The application enables the transfer of data files from a Microsoft (MSFT) Windows-based PC, Google (GOOG) Android device or Apple (AAPL) iOS iPhone to an Intel processor-driven Chromebook.

The Easy Migration application also allows users to choose files for custom migration, or to move all eligible files with the Quick Migration setting. Chromebooks typically come with a scant 16GB of onboard storage so Intel’s app transfers files not to the machine itself but rather to Google Drive where the user can readily access them.

The Easy Migration app is available at a dedicated Web page, through Google Play and the Apple App store.

In the larger view, the Easy Migration software is part of Intel’s grand plan to infiltrate the Chromebook market. In April, the chip giant announced it planned to dive in to the tune of 20 different models before the year was out, making good on the pledge in May with a bevy of Bay Trail M-processor Chromebooks branded by Acer, Asus, Dell, HP (HPQ), Lenovo, LG and Toshiba.

And, that wasn’t all. In September, HP rolled out 11-inch and 14-inch Chromebooks, replacing the ARM-based Exynos processor it used on its previous models with an Intel Bay Trail Celeron chip. One month later, Samsung unwrapped a new, 11.6-inch entry-level $250 Chromebook running on a Celeron processor, in a departure from its own Exynos 5 Octa chipset that powers its pricier, existing 11.6-inch and 13-inch Chromebook 2 models.

Intel also has offered a reference design for education-aimed Chromebooks.