LOS ANGELES, USA: Good OS, the open source startup that introduced gOS, a Linux operating system with Google and Web applications, on a $199 Wal-Mart PC last November, announced that gOS Rocket will debut Monday, January 7 during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas and online.

Rocket is packed with Google Gears, new online offline synchronization technology from Google that enables offline use of web apps; gBooth, a browser-based Web cam application with special effects, integration with Facebook and other Web services; shortcuts to launch Google Reader, Talk, and Finance on the desktop; an online storage drive powered by Box.net; and Virtual Desktops, an intuitive feature to easily group and move applications across multiple desktop spaces.

gOS Rocket introduces gBooth, the first of many web apps to come specially customized for gOS. gBooth is powered by gOS spin-off, meebooth, a browser-based web cam application that makes it fun and easy to capture photos, add special effects, and share across Facebook, YouTube and other web services. To introduce a gOS compatible web cam, gOS and meebooth partnered with leading web cam manufacturer Ezonics to create the "gCam," a web cam compatible with gOS and gBooth.

"After over a decade in the traditional web cam business in Wal-Mart and other major retailers, we're revamping Ezonics in 2008 to be 'Web 2.0' focused and 'Linux' conscious," says Ezonics' CEO Liu Ping. "We are excited to work with gOS to launch the gCam as a first of many Linux friendly, cloud devices."

At the center of Rocket's new desktop is a gorgeous Google search box, enabling users to perform Google searches directly from the desktop. This new feature launches Google search results in Firefox, the leading, open source web browser. Surrounding the Google search box is an attractive desktop environment comprised of new wallpaper, icons, digital clock, and other new desktop elements.

"Like most of our customers, we absolutely love the gorgeous design and simplified navigation that gOS provides," says Paul Kim, director of marketing for Everex. "With the release of Rocket, the gOS team has once again shown the industry how to make a great looking operating system intuitive and easy to use."

Rocket includes Google Gears to enable offline use of web apps. Google Reader, which allows you to read all your news and blogs in one place, is the only Google application to currently work offline with Google Gears and has been added to the gOS desktop. Launching Firefox will reveal a new custom gOS homepage that prominently features a continually updated list of web apps that work with Google Gears to allow offline access.

"Rocket, the second major release of gOS, launches with Google Gears to further advance our computing into the cloud," said David Liu, Good OS's CEO. "I am also excited to release gBooth with gCam, marking the first of a series of web products we will help build to create a gOS software hardware ecosystem for the cloud."

Other new features in gOS Rocket include:

* Virtual desktops: Available on the desktop, allowing easy grouping of applications across multiple desktop spaces
* Online Storage Drive: available on the desktop, allows easy online backup and file sharing powered by Box.net.
* Adobe Flash 9 for Linux: preloaded, allows instant use of YouTube, gBooth, Google Talk
* Updated Wi-Fi Manager "Exalt": for improved reliability