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Faster Google Chrome Beta Release Gives You New Reasons to Ditch IE Anew

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How does web page loading speed of 2700 frames-per-second sound to you? If you don’t think its fast enough, I don’t know what else is.  That’s actually the speed that  the new Google Chrome Beta Release promises to give. And while the Google Chrome folks are still busy preparing the results of their speed test you might want to start downloading the new release now, either for your Linux, Windows or Mac machines.

And to encourage you some more, the Official Chrome blog tells us:

Today’s new beta release incorporates one of Chrome’s most significant speed and performance increases to date, with 30% and 35% improvement on the V8 and SunSpiderbenchmarks over the previous beta channel release. In fact, looking back in time, Chrome’s performance has improved by as much as 213% and 305% on these two benchmarks since our very first beta.

If browser speed is not really a big thing for you, Google Chrome Beta’s new features might entice you to get the browser. This new release offers not only bookmark synching capability also browser preferences such as themes, homepage and startup settings, web content settings and language. This means that you don’t have to do all those stuff again in all your installation of Google Chrome on various machines.

For current Chrome users, if you loved Chrome extensions and Incognito mode, well you can now use extensions while in the said browser mode.

Other new features of the new Google Chrome Beta release include geolocation APIs, App Cache, web sockets and file drag-and-drop capabilities.  Chrome also welcomes Adobe Flash Player plug-in into the fold – allowing you to browse rich, dynamic websites.

If you haven’t switched to Google Chrome yet or if you’re still using IE, now is the best time to join the world. Grab the new Chrome Beta Release now.

Originally posted on May 4, 2010 @ 5:38 pm

Google Chrome Beta with Translate and New Privacy Option

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So aside from gaining market share, Google Chrome which is currently in beta 4 is also busy improving itself.  It’s latest feature as announced by the Google Chrome blog is a tool for translating a foreign language webpage plus additional privacy settings to make your browsing experience even safer.

Google Chrome Beta’s translate feature now sits  on top of every webpage which are in a language other than your own preferred language setting.  All you need to do is to click on the translate button and Chrome will translate the webpage into your preferred language. This is very useful if you visit a foreign website often. Now, you don’t have to load Google’s translation page – http://translate.google.com on another browser tab, paste the URL of the webpage you want to translate to read the translated text.

If you’re a blogger or writer who source your materials from international sites, specifically those written in languages other than English or your own native language, this feature is also useful. If you noticed when you use Google’s translation tool, the translated webpage takes a new URL. If you copy and paste that on your site and somebody clicks it, the link will return an error page.

With the new Google Chrome feature, the translation happens right on on the browser tab where you load the webpage in foreign language. The URL does not change, so you can copy and paste it to link to your site.

Another new feature of Google Chrome beta is the new privacy settings under the “Privacy” section of Chrome’s Options dialog. This lets you control how browser cookies, images, Javascript, plug-ins and pop-ups are handled on a site-by-site basis. This is in addition to Chrome’s incognito mode which lets you browse websites without leaving a trace of which sites you visited.

With these enhancements, Google is really prepping up its web browser to become a major contender in the web browser market.

Originally posted on March 2, 2010 @ 5:52 pm

Google Chrome for PC Adds Bookmark Sync and More Extensions

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Google has just released the latest and more stable release of its Chrome Browser for Windows PC.  This means that Chrome browser users will now have access to more than 1,500 extensions available at the Chrome browser extension gallery. Extensions, in case you’re not aware are just like Firefox’s add-ons or plug-ins.  It adds useful functionality to the Chrome browser. An example of Google Chrome extensions include notifications.

To locate extensions that might be useful, find them at the Chrome browser extension gallery and click install. The process runs quickly and before you know it, the extension is already on your Google Chrome browser.

In addition to extensions, the latest version of Google Chrome OS for Windows PC also has bookmark sync.  This feature allows you to sync your Google Chrome browser across all the computers you use, be it at home or in the office. More information can be found in this handy guide.

Other features that the latest release of of Google Chrome OS for PC include – integration of new HTML5 APIs such as LocalStorage, Database API and more.

And the new Google Chrome OS is faster as well and registers a significant 42% difference from last year.

Originally posted on January 25, 2010 @ 2:49 pm

Google Chrome for Mac is Out to Steal Safari Users

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Finally! Google has released the first official beta of Chrome for Mac. If you’ve been waiting for this for such a long time, you’d waste no time and download it to see how Google’s controversial browser works on your Mac.

So, what’s so exciting about Chrome for Mac, anyway?  Well, if you’re like me who has been alternating between using Mac and Windows and you fell in love with Chrome on Windows the moment it was released, Chrome for Mac will give you the same feeling.

Google takes the whole Chrome for Windows experience to give us Mac users the same if not faster, cleaner and simpler browser. Chrome for Mac has the Omnibox feature, so say goodbye to the browser address bar and the search bar of Safari. You may now enter URL on or do a web search on one browser bar.

In addition, the several Chrome themes were also brought along, although I’m really looking forward to more Mac-optimized Chrome themes in the future.

But most importantly and perhaps what matters really is Chrome for Mac’s speed.  Google claims that Chrome for Mac launches so fast that there’s hardly even time for the application icon to bounce in the dock. And Google was not kidding about it. Indeed Chrome for Mac knows what “fast loading speed” really means.

Alright, enough of the blabber. Stop reading now. Check out the attaced  video showing how Chrome for Mac works or better yet download the Beta version on your Mac and experience using Chrome for Mac yourself. But before you do that, you might want to say goodbye to your Mac’s Safari browser first. You might not use it again.

Originally posted on December 8, 2009 @ 4:41 pm