Tag Archives: Chrome 5
thechromesource Daily: Links for 8/10/10
Posted on 10. Aug, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 
0 Comments
The SSL Search extension for Chrome was released by Google in beta to allow for secure searching.
A Google Mobile event is happening August 12 to show off something new.
After many requests to improve the Contacts function in Gmail, it has now been updated.
Journalist Jeff Jarvis sees some concern about the Google-Verizon net neutrality proposal carving out certain areas of the internet.
The Stable Channel of Chrome was updated today with a new version of the Flash plugin.
thechromesource Daily: Links for 7/26/10
Posted on 26. Jul, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments
Google Punch is likely a new feature for Apps collaboration, at least according to compiled reports by TechCrunch.
Chrome 5 stable has been updated; the version is now 5.0.375.125 and has been patched with security fixes.
Here’s a look at what Google is doing to address IPv6 – including slowly making its services compatible.
Google is struggling to rebuild its business since it took a stand on self-censorship against the Chinese government.
Google engineer Rob Pike is frustrated by the complexities he faces using the C++ and Java programming languages.
WSJ: Chrome Browser Now at 7.24% Market Share
Posted on 08. Jul, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 5 Comments
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Google’s Chrome browser worldwide share is now at 7.24%. This is impressive to consider since Chrome was launched in September of 2008 and has blazed through versions and innovative features with new releases, currently at version 5.
The question at hand, now that Chrome is at number three of all browsers, is if it can challenge Firefox. NetApplications, the source for the Wall Street Journal Data, puts Firefox in second place to Internet Explorer at 23.81%. In an interview with Gizmodo, Mozilla Open Source Evangelist Christopher Blizzard said that the threat of Chrome overtaking Firefox does not seem to be one of his concerns. In fact, he believes that the fact Mozilla focuses solely on the browser will give his organization competitive advantage.
“What we’re gonna have, I think, with Firefox 4 is that we’re gonna have a Javascript engine that’s a generation ahead of everybody else, which will be pretty interesting. We’re the only one that makes browsers! We don’t sell ads, we don’t make operating systems. We don’t sell hardware. We just make browsers,” Blizzard told Gizmodo’s Matt Buchanon.
And in terms of competing directly against Google, “As long as we stand behind the technology that we have, and continue to improve and invest in it as a mechanism for getting the larger goals done, we’re gonna be fine. I’m not that worried about competing with them.”
That’s good to hear Mozilla has no qualms going up against Chrome. It will be for the best, in the long run, for there to be competing web browsers pushing technology forward – more like web platforms than browsers at this point actually. Firefox’s beta releases of version 4 have shown that they aren’t a afraid of taking something in Chrome and making it a feature in their browser to remain a worthy rival. Anyways, remember when it was only Microsoft that dominated the browser market? It was a black hole in terms of web innovation. Plus IE was hacked a lot, not really a fun time to remember.
By the way, NetApplications by all accounts must be the authority on browser share. In the past, there have been disputes over the validity of calculating browser share worldwide, but major publications seem to quote NetApplications most often in browser research.
From Zero to Almost Ten Percent: How Chrome Surpassed Safari
Posted on 30. Jun, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments
It has been big news recently that Chrome has overtaken Safari as the third most used browser in the U.S. While this statistic is one that’s skewed towards the United States since Chrome and Safari have been neck and neck, the reality is that Chrome took third place worldwide over Safari back in September.
The main reason that America has lagged in this regard is probably the fact that Apple sells so many computers in the United States, coming with the well regarded WebKit-based Safari.
But the point of this post is to understand how Chrome got this far in a period of two years. When I first tried Chrome as an early adopter-type in the beginning of 2009, I liked the design interface and the idea of “sandboxing” where every tab was its own process. The problem with Chrome at that time was one of compatibility: there were sites that did not function correctly with Chrome, a surprise to me because of its WebKit roots.
Over time, which really isn’t long by Google’s measurement, Chrome evolved. Many sites needed to adapt some functionality to Chrome, but for the most part it was the folks at Google working fervently to make the best browser available. Perhaps they knew that they were making the foundations of an operating system at the time, who knows?
Extensions
In December 2009, Google launched the Chrome Extensions web site, an opportunity for the company to better compete with Firefox’s vaunted library of add-ins. Not only did they take an existing idea, they improved on it by putting security limits around extensions at their site, making sure that proper measures are taken to make sure that personal data and important computer processes cannot be compromised through the browser. Clicking around at the Extensions site the other day it appears that there are over five thousand now available.
Translate
In the beginning, Google offered an extension that you could install into Chrome and translate different languages of the web. Then they started adding it into the development Chromium builds, and finally it was released with the launch Chrome 5 to users a few months ago embedded in the browser itself. This feature is so easy to use, and it unlocks the web for everyone to read no matter their language. Google took an existing service they had and put it right into the browser where it’s the most useful.
No Messing With Flash
Maybe Google sees something in Flash that Apple doesn’t, but they decided to take a very different approach to handling Adobe Flash than Cupertino. Instead of eschewing it completely, Google has embraced the technology. Flash is used in YouTube videos, for some streaming music sites and I’ve recently noticed it needs to be installed to use Google Analytics. So, unlike other browsers that require you to install it and then update to newer revisions manually, Google preempts any inconvienence and risk by making it a part of Chrome.
In the End
Relentless innovation has gotten Chrome browser this far. This is due to Chromium as an open source resource as well as the amount of manpower that Google has thrown towards it in anticipation of Chrome OS. I didn’t even get to talk here about interesting features like the omnibox, bookmark sync and geolocation, but they are an aside to these three major developments that are propelling this browser’s growth. How much market share can this browser take from Internet Explorer and Firefox in the months and years to come?
thechromesource Daily: Links for 6/24/10
Posted on 24. Jun, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments
Is Chrome OS certification coming soon? It seems inevitable, and Network World seems to think so as well.
The Chromium Blog has announced that browser extensions will now be able to run in Incognito Mode.
Chrome 5 now has the Flash Player enabled by default with a new stable upgrade that was released today.
It appears that open source is making some headway in the enterprise market.
The FCC is in talks with Google and major telecommunications companies about regulation of internet traffic.
Opera Thumbs its Nose at Chrome Speed Tests
Posted on 31. May, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments
Always outnumbered in users but not one to back down, the folks at Opera have put out a video in jest of the Chrome speed test clip that was released by Google in celebration of the stable release of Chrome 5.
And, in case you may not remember the Chrome speed tests video, here it is.
Browser Tests: Which of the Current Generation is Best?
Posted on 29. May, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 3 Comments
Here is a video that pits Chrome 5, Firefox 4, Internet Explorer 9, Opera 10.5 and Safari 4 against each other. Using a good array of speed tests, including one for JavaScript, the SunSpider test and the Peacekeeper Benchmark, you might be surprised to see some of the formally fastest browsers on the market are starting to fall behind the pack.
It’s clear that Google is directing a lot of resources into the development of Chrome. Witness the fact that Chrome 6 in now in the development channel, and the browser was first introduced in 2008. It appears that major financial and development time is what is going to win the title of best browser, so it doesn’t come as a shock that IE9 is pulling itself up by its bootstraps and start moving up the rankings.
An interesting point: some seem concerned about the fact that Android and Chrome OS are being developed concurrently, and that the logic behind doing something of this nature is faulty. But the reality is that Chrome is not going anywhere. Massive resources are being used to develop this platform, and along with the fact that Google TV will use Chrome as well, I don’t see Android and Chrome merging anytime soon. Plus, perhaps with Chrome OS Google will be better able to handle the fragmentation issues that have plagued Android via its auto-update technology.
What do you think? Should Android and Chrome be merged? Or does it make sense for the two to be separate, one used for phones and one for computing?
thechromesource Daily: Links for 5/22/10
Posted on 22. May, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments
Google is expecting outside developers to grow business in a synergistic way, with both sides benefiting from the partnership.
Here’s a breakdown of the competition for interactive TV that Google faces with their own service coming out in the fall on DISH Network.
As expected, Google has locked down searches with Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption.
There are a lot more issues involved now that Google is a full fledged tech company with search no longer the central element of their business.
The beta (Chrome 5) and development (Chrome 6) versions of the Chrome browser were updated this week.
Chrome 5 – Bigger, Badder and Faster
Posted on 05. May, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 2 Comments
No doubt that it has been big news about all of the new features included in the new release of Chrome 5, which is a beta yet should be going stable quite soon. Some of the biggest features include integrated Flash, a revamped V8 JavaScript engine and geolocation. Also: an overhauled HTML based bookmarks manager, an extension-capable Incognito Mode and the ability (finally) to organize your extensions the way you want them.
Let’s also not forget the fact that although Chrome has been known for its speed, this element has been amped up even more for the newest realease. Look at how much faster Chrome has gotten since its inception in 2008.
With all of the new elements in Chrome browser, one has to start to wonder what Mozilla, Microsoft and Apple will do with their respective browsers. Quite frankly, I’m not sure that these other companies are going to be able to keep up with all that Google is doing to build the best browser available, especially since it is available for all of the major operating systems. This coupled with the fact that Chrome also has its own open source community, Chromium, certainly lends itself even more credit.
Let’s also not forget slick marketing. The ads that have been released touting Chrome are thoughtful and very original. Who else is trying to sell you their browser technology this way, or even at all?
thechromesource Daily: Links for 5/5/10
Posted on 05. May, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments
They are keeping at it marketing the speed with which Google’s Chrome browser can render pages, especially for Chrome 5.
Google plans on launching its own e-book store, according to the Wall Street Journal.
There’s a new look to Google Search that has been introduced, and the company is telling people that there are even smarter changes to come.
The Mobile user interface has also had a design refresh.
For the year, Google has acquired ten companies, spending more than $250 million to do so.
thechromesource Daily: Links for 5/4/10
Posted on 04. May, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments
Chrome 5 Beta has been updated; it now has a faster V8 engine, as well as new HTML5 features and overall improved performance.
PC World’s JR Raphael posits that the Google TV project will run a version of Android called Dragonpoint.
The Chromium Blog has a case study posted on how four different development teams created their Chrome Extensions.
Google recently invested $38 million dollars on two wind farms owned by NextEra Energy Resources.
Google’s stock has performed well since it went public, but can it get up to $2,000 per share?
UK Gmail users can rejoice – the @gmail.com domain will soon be available after a legal dispute of the name has been resolved.
Chrome 5 Dev Update Makes Bookmark Manager a Tab
Posted on 29. Mar, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 2 Comments
Along with some improvements to Translate and Incognito modes, the Chrome 5 Dev update also changes the way that the bookmark manager is run. That’s because instead of it running in a windows as it has done traditionally, the Chromium folks have decided to make it run in a tab of its own. This is a good idea for several reasons, but here is a screenshot to explain what I mean because it does look a bit different:
The best part of this is that you can right-click on the bookmark of your choice, delete it, open in a tab, open it in a new window or even go into Incognitio mode in a new window if you want:
Seems like an intuitive feature, and with the impending release of Chrome OS on has to think that Google wants to eliminate any sort of windowing system that they can and keep tasks strictly in tabs. This is especially true for certain platforms like tablets, but it makes me wonder if they will eventually move things like the Task Manager into a tab as well.
I would assume that is the plan, since the whole idea of Chrome OS is to create a totally different type of operating system. That means creating something that is probably going to be based solely on tabs. Of course, I could be wrong but I think that in order for Google to differentiate themselves from other tablet/netbook systems, that is the path which they will take.
Seeing something like this further proves that. We will see more of this in the development version of Chrome browser as time goes on, because it’s the easiest way to get UI feedback for the time being.
If you’re interested in getting the dev channel for Chrome 5, go here.
