Google Chrome, the second most popular Internet browser, is now available on Android. Currently, it’s in beta and only for 4.0 ICS devices. Chrome has been out since 2008, but it never did come to mobile devices.

This has quite a few speculating as to why and why the tech giant never made it happen. Well, it seems that they finally have and so far, the reviews are pretty solid overall. This is sure to get Opera and Firefox riled up as they have their own mobile browsers.

Personally, I’ve used Opera mobile for quite some time and love it, but being that Chrome for Android can sync all my data such as bookmarks, browsing history, etc., it’s a no brainer to switch.

Via CNet:

“The new browser, unlike the stock Android browser, is available in the Android Market so that people don’t have to wait for handset makers to offer it through an operating system upgrade. But its reliance on newer hardware acceleration interfaces means it only works on Ice Cream Sandwich, which despite emerging last year on Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus smartphone remains a rarity in the real world.”

“Chrome for Android includes the desktop version’s V8 JavaScript engine, has gesture-based controls for moving among multiple tabs, synchronizes with the desktop version of Chrome, and shuts out plug-ins including Adobe Systems’ Flash Player and Google’s own Native Client. With its performance and features, Google expects Android users to increase their browser activity.”

With great reviews and it not even out of beta yet, we’re sure to see it improve.

Do you use Google Chrome? If not, what’s your Internet browser of choice?

Google Chrome Now Available On Android is a post from: The Inquisitr

Although it kicks Firefox’s ass, Chrome does have its own limits.

Google Chrome Incognito is a post from: The Inquisitr

When we think of Internet browsers, we think of a free means to access and enjoy everything the Internet has to offer. However, there’s money behind Internet browsers such as Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc.

Internet analyst Gene Munster of company Piper Jaffray, a middle-market investment banking firm, says that Chrome could be worth as much as $1.5 Billion for Google. That’s quite a bit of dough for something that is only a few years old.

Munster explains his findings further:

“Google is paying Mozilla $300 million a year over the next three year to feature its search engine in Firefox, a rival browser Google is challenging with Chrome. Munster, who also feels Chrome is exerting enough pressure on Mozilla and Microsoft to make their browsers better for the Web, used the financials of this Google-Mozilla arrangement to make his case for Chrome’s valuation.”

“If you assume that Chrome could generate $300 million in annual revenue through its essentially identical market share (and growing) with a 5x revenue multiple, Chrome would be worth $1.5 billion,” Munster wrote in a research note Jan. 4.”

You see, the incredibly popular browser at over 200 Million users, isn’t just a way for you to discover everything there is to discover on the Internet. It’s a means of getting you to search, find, and discover content that happens to be monetized via, you guessed it, Google.

That’s where the real money is at and with the deal with Mozilla, it allows Google to increase it’s market share which benefits them in numerous ways.

Google Chrome Could Be Billion Dollar Business Says Internet Analyst is a post from: The Inquisitr

Fans of arcade classics were rejoicing when a port of MAME (Multime Arcade Machine Emulator) popped up on the iTunes app store back in December, but all of the excitement quickly led to disappointment as Apple removed the app from the app store only a few short days after it made its debut.

While it’s not likely Apple is going to change their mind, regardless of the app’s legitimate (legal) uses, arcade junkies have another alternative available to them now – this time, it’s on Google Chrome. Google engineer Robert Muth is responsible for the port, which he says took him about 4 days.

Muth wrote a rather extensive case study on porting MAME to Google Chrome’s Native Client. It’s a pretty tech lingo-heavy write-up that will likely appeal to developers more than anyone else, but it’s a worthwhile read if you’re curious as to what goes into porting software such as that to Native Client.

If this is the first you’ve heard of MAME, the emulator allows users to play classic arcade titles such as Pac-Man, Galaga, and just about any other arcade title released in the 80s and 90s that you can think of. There’s a catch, of course: in order to use it legally, you need to own the actual board for the game you’re playing.

You can pick up the app by heading over to the Google Chrome app store and downloading the “Robby Roto” arcade game, which includes the port of MAME. It is, of course, copyright-free and thus legal to download. If you have other ROMs available to you, you can upload those and run them through the app as well.

via Engadget

MAME arcade emulator ported to Google Chrome is a post from: The Inquisitr

Supergiant Games announced today that new DLC, titled “Stranger’s Dream”, is on the way for Bastion next week on both PC and Xbox 360.

Those who downloaded Bastion on Steam for free automatically when the DLC is made available on December 14. Xbox Live players will have to pay for it, but not much – all you have to do is download a Title Update and purchase the content on the Marketplace for a measly $1.

The DLC will add in a new “fully narrated Who Knows Were sequence, bigger and more challenging than the others. You’ll gain a bit more insight into Rucks’ backstory as well as the history of Caelondia if you can survive this fight.”

You’ll also get a new Score Attack Mode that starts you off at level one with all Spirits and Idols. You’ll be graded on your combat performance, and you’ll also have the option of repeating an area to boost your score.

Lastly, the DLC will add in a “No Sweat Mode” for, well, people who suck at the game, to put it honestly. You’ll be able to experience the Bastion story without having to worry about losing any progress when you’re beaten down by Bastion‘s enemies.

In related Bastion news, Supergiant Games just launched the game on the Google Chrome meaning, if you were so inclined, you could play it straight from your Chrome browser right now. The game costs $14.99 on Chrome and will also be getting the Stranger’s Dream DLC when it releases next week and, like the PC version, it will also be free on Chrome.

Bastion getting ‘Stranger’s Dream’ DLC next week is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Samsung Series 5 Chromebook is about to give folks in Europe their first taste of the Chrome OS and it’s set to arrive this Friday, June 24th.

The Friday debut will offer several models including the €399 (£349) Wi-Fi model and the €449 (£399) 3G model. For those prices users can expect a battery life up to 8.5 hours, Intel dual-core processor, WLAN and a 4-in-1 Card Reader.  Users will also get a 12.1″ display, Full-size Chrome Keyboard, and an HD Webcam with built-in digital microphone and stereo speakers

The European release will be available in the following countries:

UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy, while other countries will be added in the coming months.

Samsung Series 5 Chromebook Coming To Europe June 24th is a post from: The Inquisitr

Anyone using Google’s CR-48 netbook can now update their systems with the company’s newest OTA version 0.12.433.48 which brings with it some much needed fixes.

Included in the update is Flash 10.2.158.22, a new file manager context menu and some new icons and avatars meant to spice up the browsers user interface.

[image: Engadget]

Google Updates Chrome OS, Offers It to CR-48 Owners Through OTA is a post from: The Inquisitr

Google – the enemy of all productivity? Last year the search engine giant gave the world free browser-based Pac-Man. This year, it’s free Angry Birds. This is the start of the collapse, people. Next year, we’ll all be spearing each other over the last handful of clean water.

A browser-based version of Rovio’s physics-y game has appeared on Chrome Web Store. Why? Because Google wants to show what the latest Chrome browser is capable of. And destroy all productivity (see paragraph one).

Hence, Chrome users can now download and play the first level of the game for free, something that Google Chrome Senior VP Sundar Pichai has claimed would not be possible in a browser one year ago. The fact that browsers can now handle this kind of technology is thanks to quicker graphics rendering speed – the current Chrome is ten times faster than earlier versions.

You can even play the game offline (as it’s stored in the browser’s cache), and there’s a set of exclusive Chrome-themed levels on the way.

[Via Venturebeat]

Play Angry Birds online for free is a post from: The Inquisitr

On December 7th in San Francisco Google will hold a press conference to discuss some “exciting news about Chrome.”

While we can’t be sure the news will focus on Google’s soon to be released Chrome OS, it would definitely make the most sense given the all hype surrounding the Linux based OS.

We should also expect that Google will announced their new Chrome Web App Store. Some Google analysts are also pointing to the announcement of Google’s first Google branded Chrome OS netbook.

Interestingly the event clashes with the D: Dive into Mobile which is happening just a few miles down the road at the same time.

Google Announces December 7th Chrome Event is a post from: The Inquisitr

Google Chrome OS won’t be ready for download in 2011, at least that’s the current news from Acer’s Jim Wong.

Wong told a group of reporters at the company’s global press conference that Acer would employ the operating system on their netbooks, once Google Chrome OS was made commercially available for use “next year” during the “consumer launch.”

If you can’t wait until 2011 there may be some hope, Google is still planning to launch their own branded netbook, hopefully with better media coverage than the Google Nexus One, which could bring at least one Chrome-book to the market for early adopters who don’t mind dealing with any bugs that might pop up.

According to Digitimes 75,000 units are being produced by Google and they will feature a rumored Intel Atom Pine Trail processor, although that information has yet to be confirmed by Google

Note: The device above is an Engadget creation and probably doesn’t resemble what will be the final Google based netbook design.

Google Chrome OS Consumer Launch Delayed Until 2011, But Not Completely is a post from: The Inquisitr

Google announced today that it has teamed up with three American airlines to offer customers free wi-fi on domestic flights with Gogo Inflight Wi-fi.

The service, which normally costs $11 for a 24-hour pass (or $5-$8 for a mobile device on a 1.5 hour flight) will be available on AirTran, Virgin America and Delta flights from November 20th until January 2nd. Google announced the promotion on their official blog, but there’s also a dedicated site about the weeks of free wi-fi.

The in-flight wi-fi thing seems to be an effort to boost the profile of Google Chrome, albeit subtly:

We were excited by the response from last year’s free holiday Wi-Fi program, and thought that this would be a perfect holiday gift to help you stay connected to your loved ones as you head home. You can find out more about this partnership at  www.freeholidaywifi.com. If you haven’t tried Chrome yet, remember to download the browser before you take to the skies, or try it when you’re back on the ground.

Do you think you’ll get a chance to avail yourself of the service this year? Is this super cool, or will you have less of an excuse to fall off the radar while traveling?

Google to offer free wi-fi on three domestic carriers for holiday season is a post from: The Inquisitr

Faint whispers in smoky hallways (maybe not so smoky considering tech companies are in California where smoking is almost illegal) are leading some sites to believe that the Google Chrome OS will release this November. Yes I do mean as in this month.

According to reports the Chrome OS will launch on a Google sponsored Netbook, just like Google did with the Nexus One.

According to SlashGear:

…Supposedly, Google’s Chrome Netbook is expected to be made by Inventec and will be shipping 60,000 to 70,000 units in their initial shipment. After this Chrome notebook is announced, the source that spoke with Digitimes reports that Acer and Hewlett-Packard will follow up with products in December. Both follow-up products will be manufactured by Quanta Computer.

Are you ready to try out the Google Chrome OS? If it’s as light weight and functional as Google Chrome I’m sold.

Google Chrome OS About To Sneak Up On Everyone This Month is a post from: The Inquisitr

Google’s Chrome browser has passed Apple’s Safari out into third place for US browsers, a milestone the newer browser option achieved in the UK last October.

Chrome, which debuted in October 2008, has been steadily gaining on Mozilla’s Firefox as an Internet Explorer alternative. IE now has a 52% market share, with Firefox following at an impressive 28.5% of users. Chrome edged in ahead of Safari in recent StatCounter data, with 8.97% to Safari’s 8.88%. StatCounter pulled the data from 847 million page views in the US.

The breakdown is a bit different among UK users, with about 55% still using IE. Firefox grabs a much larger share of the (steak and kidney?) pie across the pond, with just over 38% of users favoring it. Even the admittedly underrated Opera is trouncing Safari over there, with 4.4% to Safari’s 3.9% share.

Chrome’s rapid rise is impressive in the browser arena- while Firefox has burrowed deep into the market as a place users go when they graduate from IE, it’s had over seven years to get there. Chrome hasn’t even been available for two, and some of that time is beta only, and without options for Mac or Linux.

Have you ditched Firefox to come over the the Google side? What’s your go-to browser? Is anyone still using Flock?

Chrome surpasses Safari in US popularity, now ranked third is a post from: The Inquisitr

Yesterday, reports circulated that Google had banned internal use of Windows due to “security flaws.”

Today, Google confirmed a Q4 release for the much-anticipated Chrome OS at an Asian trade show:

“We are working on bringing the device later this fall,” said Google vice president of product management Sundar Pichai at CompuTex Taipei, Asia’s biggest IT trade show.

“It’s something which we are very excited by … We expect it to reach millions of users on day one,” he said.

The Chrome OS was originally expected in 2011, but it looks like it will now hit around the same time as the Chrome Web Store. Pichai also confirmed that the focus is laptops and netbooks:

“For Chrome OS, we are focused on laptops for this year,” he said at a news conference later in the day.

The Chrome OS will, of course, be free. No actual date has yet been confirmed for the release.

Google confirms Chrome OS release in ‘late Fall’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

Today at Google I/O, Google announced a yet-to-be-opened Chrome Web Store for web-based applications.

Although the app store looks like it will be set up in Chrome, “anyone using a modern browser that supports these web technologies” (such as HTML5) will be able to run the apps. A sparse post on the Chromium blog talked a bit about the initiative:

Google Chrome users who find web apps in the store will be able to create convenient shortcuts in Chrome for easy access. Also, developers will have the option to easily sell their apps through the store using a convenient and secure payment system.

VP of product management at Google Sundar Pichai demonstrated some of the apps that will be available in the Chrome Web Store, including a Sports Illustrated app and a Lego Star Wars game. Tweetdeck and the game Plants vs. Zombies were among apps mentioned for the upcoming app store, too.

You can read a bit more about the Chrome Web store on Google’s official blog, and if you’re interested from a developer’s standpoint, Google has published some “preliminary documentation” here. No specific information on when the store will open has been made available as of yet.

Google announces Chrome Web Store at Google I/O is a post from: The Inquisitr

Although I’d been occasionally trying out the builds before that, most were buggy so I didn’t give the browser a serious shot until the beta came out. Despite still not having extensions, Chrome does offer Webkit’s developer tools, including resource tracking, a similar feature offered in Firebug in Firefox, and the one tool I can’t live without.

This by no means is a definitive review of what Google Chrome has to offer, and instead offers my observations and issues. As of around a week ago, I’ve been using Chrome as my primary browser (be it I’m still using Safari for some sites) on two machines.

The need for speed

The promise of Google Chrome from day one (before it launched on Mac) is that it was said to offer a quicker browsing experience. While I can’t offer definitive figures to back that up, there’s no doubt that it is a quick browser. The difference between Firefox and Chrome is distinctly clear in my use, although the speed difference Safari vs Chrome maybe not as much. If you’re in the United States on a super fast connection, you might not notice it as much, however here in Australia, be it on an ADSL 2+ connection that is supposed to offer 24mpbs down (well, it only registers 13mpbs down), the speed counts when browsing sites outside of Australia. Latency between here and San Francisco for example is around 230ms vs 22ms when hitting a server based in Melbourne. I’d suggest that the slower your connection, or the more remote in the world you are, the more you’ll notice the quicker browsing in Google Chrome.

Compatibility

Being based on Webkit, the same engine that powers Safari, compatibility shouldn’t be a major issue, and yet maybe once a week I hit a site that won’t play nicely. One site I use semi-regularly actually states that it’s not compatible with Google Chrome yet, but they’re working on it; mind you, things seem to work fine on the site, well 99% of the time anyway. I don’t think compatibility is probably a serious consideration if you’re looking to switch, although the ability to run an addon that allows me to pretend I’m using another browser would be nice.

The One Search/ URL Box

If there is one thing I hate in Google Chrome (and one reason why I might yet return to Firefox) is the one box for search and URL’s, or what Google calls the “Omnibox.” For those who haven’t tried the Omnibox, you use the one box to “type both web addresses and searches in Google Chrome.” It simply may be a case of old habits dying hard, but I liked a separate box for search; that, and I regularly would type the name of the site into the URL box in Firefox to get to the site, vs the actual URL. In Firefox, it would (presuming it was the first search result in Google) automatically take you to that site, in Google Chrome it takes you to the search results. I’m sure that’s good for Google in a business sense (after all, they get to show you more ads) but it sucks in terms of usability because you have to go through an extra step to get to where you already know where you want to go.

Spellcheck

Perhaps I haven’t ticked the right box, but Google Chrome for Mac Beta doesn’t appear to have a spell check. That’s not a huge issue as I run posts through a commercial grade non-browser based spell check anyway, but having red lines under words with issues is helpful in Firefox.

Overall

My switch from using Firefox primarily to Chrome was helped by one other factor: on my current model (and maybe 5 month old) Macbook Pro, Firefox completely borked after the last major upgrade. No bookmarks, no going back a page, and some error message about conflicts on the computer. Despite a fresh install (and very little installed on the machine outside of Firefox), still the same problems. On my main MacPro, I didn’t have the same issues, however having switched to Chrome earlier on the laptop, I ended up following on my main machine about a week ago.

I don’t regret making the move, even if I keep forgetting that typing a site name into the Omnibox now means another step before getting there.

Google Chrome for Mac Beta despite not being a final release has in my experience been completely stable, quick, and mostly a pleasure to use. Once they add support for extensions, I’ll probably end up using it for a long time to come. Well worth a look if you haven’t tried it yet.

Google Chrome For Mac Beta, One Month In is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Google Chrome OS centric Netbook won’t release until sometime in late 2010, however specs for the device have been revealed, although not yet confirmed by Google.

According to Gizmodo, the netbook will come equipped with an ARM-based CPU and NVIDIA Tegra chipset, while also featuring a netbook standard 10.1 inch display. The netbook is also apparently slated to feature a multitouch-capable touchscreen, 720p HD video and a 64GB Solid State Disk (SSD) plus 2GB RAM.

The unit will also offer a ton of connectivity in the form of 3G, WiFi, Ethernet and Bluetooth, alongside an audio in/out port, card reader with various formats supported and a webcam.

If those reports are in fact correct, the below $300 price tag may also stick, but only if users are willing to sign a subsidized contract with whichever mobile carrier decided to pick up the Chrome OS netbook. [Via Gizmodo]

Google Chrome OS Netbook Gets “Unofficial” Specs Confirmation is a post from: The Inquisitr

One of the most waited features for Google’s Chrome browser, other than a working version for Mac fans, has to be the extensions that let you add new features and options via plugins. This is the same thing that has made Firefox one of the most popular browsers and has also held back a wider adoption of Google’s browser.

Well as of today that has all changed as Google has opened up the Extensions pages for Chrome fans. Currently there are about 300 plus extensions for you to choose from and I would imagine now that it has gone live that number will increase.

First you will need to make sure you have the most current version of Chrome installed

Once you have taken care of the bit of browser housekeeping you can get to the good stuff of checking out the new extensions you want to install. To do this simply open a new tab in Chrome and you will see the Extensions link at the bottom along with a jigsaw type icon in the lower right.

As you install your pick of extension goodness you will see the icons/buttons associated with the extension (if required by the extension) appear in the addressbar area.

Now I’m not a big user of extensions but I know people who are and held off on switching to Chrome because of this – well they have no reason now.

Yes folks Google Chrome now has extensions is a post from: The Inquisitr

Google had an event yesterday to give us deets on the upcoming Google Chrome OS, and Steven told you a bit about it here.

If you are, as Steven said, swimming in the “ocean of Google kool-aid” and you’ve got to take the OS for a spin ahead of the 2010 release, with a little elbow grease and some downloading, you can get an idea of what’s under the hood. A torrent is available on The Pirate Bay, and GDGT has set up a bit of a one stop shop for all your Chrome OS under the tree box-shaking needs. (GDGT has options for running it with VMWare, Virtual Box or a USB stick.)

I’ve not had a chance to give it a go, but Engadget was on it, offering some first impressions of Chrome OS. Indeed, as Google trumpets in the video below, the speed the Chrome browser is known for seems to be the first point of woot- reported time from boot to login is about ten seconds. Apps like GCal and GMail were reported to be “choppy,” but that could be down to the relative youth of the project.

Check out the video below for a peek if you’re not enterprising enough to test run it, but if you do, let us know in the comments.

Chrome OS available as VMWare download is a post from: The Inquisitr

It was expected that Microsoft would attempt in some fashion to downplay Google’s Chrome Frame plugin that is designed to replace Internet Explorer’s web rendering engine with the one that power’s Google’s own Chrome browser. Of course they didn’t let us down in that fashion calling the plugin as a security threat for users of IE and the Internet. What wasn’t really expected was for Mozilla to come out publically on the same side of the fence as Microsoft.

Google’s reasoning for creating and releasing the plugin is that they just couldn’t get IE to play nice with their upcoming release of Google Wave so rather than wasting valuable time trying they created the Chrome Frame plugin.

While Mozilla agreed with Microsoft about the security issues Mitchell Baker, CEO of the Mozilla Foundation, argues that it could end up being detrimental to the user experience

According to Baker, Chrome Frame’s browser-in-a-browser will confuse users and render some of their familiar tools useless. "Once your browser has fragmented into multiple rendering engines, it’s very hard to manage information across Web sites. Some information will be manageable from the browser you use and some information from Chrome Frame. This defeats one of the most important ways in which a browser can help people manage their [Web] experience."

Source: Computer World – Mozilla slams Google’s Chrome Frame as ‘browser soup’

In addition vice president of Mozilla Mike Shaver had this to say in a cnet interview

Specifically, Shaver said Chrome Frame can disable IE features and muddle users’ understanding of Web security matters. And users of the reviled IE 6 browser, he added, often won’t be able to run Chrome Frame anyway because their computer is locked down to prohibit changes or lacks sufficient power in the first place.

"As a side effect, the user’s understanding of the Web’s security model and the behavior of their browser is seriously hindered by delegating the choice of software to the developers of individual sites they visit. It is a problem that we have seen repeatedly with other stack plug-ins like Flash, Silverlight and Java, and not one that I think we need to see replayed again under the banner of HTML5," he said.

Wow … Mozilla sides with Microsoft over Google’s Chrome Frame plugin is a post from: The Inquisitr