Google Chrome OS update just gave Chromebook users a cool free upgrade

T3 is a huge fan of laptops running Chrome OS, which is why you'll find so many top systems in our best Chromebooks buying guide.

And now Chrome OS has just got even better on Chromebooks, with Google's official Chrome OS 96 update bringing with it some cool new camera features.

The features, which were detailing on the official Google blog, include the ability to use a Chromebook's built-in camera to scan any document and turn it into a PDF or JPEG file, as well as to personalise an external camera's angle with a new Pan-Tilt-Zoom feature.

Scanning a document with Chrome OS 96 is done like this. Firstly, open the Chromebook's camera app and select "Scan" mode. Then hold the document you want to scan up in front of the camera – the edges of the document will be automatically detected. The document will then be automatically scanned and can be saved as a PDF or JPEG file ready for sharing.

As for using the new Pan-Tilt-Zoom feature, with an external camera plugged in to the Chromebook, open the Chrome OS camera app and then use the controls to adjust the camera as you see fit. The positioning selected will then be automatically saved so that it is ready for the next video meeting.

Excitingly, the Google blog post also says that early next year the ability to create GIFs is coming to the Chrome OS camera app. This will allow Chromebook users to record short video clips and then have them automatically turned into GIFs ready for sharing.

We consider the best cheap Chromebook today to be the Asus C523, the best deals on which available now can be viewed below.