This £60 gadget transforms any HD television into a fully-fledged computer

The chocolate bar-sized gadget plugs into any HDMI or USB port – giving users access to the full Chrome operating system (OS).

Chrome OS is a lightweight operating system built by Google. It boasts a small handful of native applications, but is now compatible with Android mobile apps and can use Google's own services, including Documents, Sheets and Slides, offline.

The small Google computer, dubbed the Chromebit, is built by Asus. The company has previously manufactured Google's Nexus 7 tablet.

The Chromebit includes a Rockchip RK 3288 processor, quad-core Mali 760 graphics chip and 2GB of RAM.

Google says it will launch later this year in three different colours: blue, orange and black.

VP of product management at Google, Caesar Sengupta said: "Asus actually really pulled off a marvel of engineering here, squeezing everything into this size."

Google has only released details on its US pricing, which will be "less than $100" – around £65.

The pricing suggests Google thinks the Chromebit will appeal to the education market, which has already adopted its low-cost Chromebook laptops.

The portability of the HDMI dongle means it can easily be moved between classrooms and quickly switched between screens.

Google revealed the Chrome OS-drive along with a refreshed lineup of low-cost Chromebooks.

Amongst the new range was the Asus-made Chromebook Flip. 

The $249 Flip (around £150) bears more than a passing resemblance to Lenovo's popular Yoga tablets and other flippable "all-in-one" computers that double-up as tablets.

Asus says the Flip will come equipped with 4GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and a battery that tops out at 10 hours.

The premium, all-metal device is just 15mm thin, weighs less than 1kg and will be available later this spring.