Tag Archives: Omnibox
The Omnibox: Google Chrome’s Secret Weapon
Posted on 22. Feb, 2011 by Daniel Cawrey. 
1 Comments
A lot has been said about the Omnibox as of late, with some even suspecting that Google may want to kill it. Yet that doesn’t appear to be the case, given that the Chromium Team is now talking up the virtues of Chrome’s all-in-one box that can do more than any URL bar could in the past.
It’s all because of something called the Omnibox API, and it can be used by developers to create specialized extensions for that single text input in the Chrome browser. For example, are you a Quora addict? There’s an Omnibox extension for that.
Want to manage all of those tabs you’ve got open? There’s an Omnibox extension for that, too.
That’s just the beginning. Once developers start using this API in full force, who knows what kind of Omnibox innovation we may have around the corner. Of course, being able to type into one place what you need when you need it is one of the fastest methods of getting anything done. Just ask those who come from the command line days.
How would you like to see the Omnibox extended?
via Chromium Blog, TechCrunch
Will the URL be No More?
Posted on 20. Feb, 2011 by Daniel Cawrey. 8 Comments
What is the purpose of the URL bar in modern browsers? This is the question being posed by Google’s Chrome team. They are contemplating removing the space where you enter web addresses completely, a surely controversial change from the standard which has been a part of web browsers since the beginning.
From a user standpoint, the usage of URLs is debatable. While they are necessary in technical terms for resolving internet addresses, it may actually bode well for browser innovation to eliminate the space that is normally given to the place where you essentially “look for stuff”.
But that last statement is problematic. Google derives almost all of its money from search, and that’s the reason why they have integrated both URL lookups and search queries right into the Omnibox. The company has also flirted with moving navigation to a sidebar, but that sort of implementation is debatable.
My opinion, if it means anything for browser development, is to keep the UI the way it is. Google has already minimized the browser to its essential elements already. What good does it do to reduce the browser any more than it already has?
Yes, Chrome is harbinger for an advanced user interface that makes the internet your operating system. But what good is it to take away the URL bar for both usability and revenue for the company?
This also impacts Chrome OS, which makes me believe that this is not really an improvement. What do you think?
via ConcievablyTech
thechromesource Daily: Links for 8/25/10
Posted on 25. Aug, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments
The dev channel has been updated; Omnibox changes and wrench tweaks on Mac are part of the release.
Garrett Rogers of ZDNet calls Google’s new Voice rollout “disruptive”.
Google’s game developer advocate Mark DeLoura is leaving the company after only five months on the job.
Despite having a HTML5-based app, there are no plans right now for Google Voice on the iPhone or iPad.
Here’s a graphic that lays out all of the Google acquisitions over a nine year span.
The Chromification of Internet Explorer
Posted on 25. Aug, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 0 Comments
Do you like fast acting tabs, the Omnibox and simplicity to your browser design? Then you’re going to love Internet Explorer 9.
According to Computerworld, this image was taken from Microsoft’s Russian site. It appears that in order to save its slowly diminishing browser share, the company is willing to concede that Chrome’s design is successful enough to copy. That goes for features like a faster JavaScript engine and hardware acceleration in the browser, the latter coming to Chrome 7 soon.
Mozilla has also been heading down the same path with the beta version of their newest browser, Firefox 4.
The Internet Explorer 9 beta release will be available in September for Windows 7 and Vista, further alienating Mac, Linux and Windows XP users.
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?
Microsoft Takes Issue With Chrome Feature That Can be Turned Off
Posted on 01. Apr, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey. 1 Comments
In a video that is meant to show off the security features of Internet Explorer 8, Product Manager Pete LePage takes aim at the Chrome browser, claiming that because IE8 allows users to search in a separate box rather than doing so in an all-in-one inbox box that Google is possibly compromising a user’s security by reporting every term back to Google.
“By keeping these boxes separate, your privacy is better protected and the addresses of the sites you’re visiting aren’t automatically shared with Microsoft, or anyone else,” LePage says in the video.
“As I start to type an address into the address bar, Fiddler [a Web debugging proxy] shows that for nearly every character I type, Chrome sends a request back to Google,” LePage says. “I haven’t even hit enter yet to load the website and Google is already getting information about the domain and sites I’m visiting.”
This only partially true. You are capable of changing your search provider in Chrome, and when you do the information that you search for in the Omnibox will send it back to the engine of your choosing. Just because IE8 has two separate boxes for these functions does not make it safer.
The option for sending information back to Google when you start typing into the Omnibox can be turned off by following these instructions. I know this because I downloaded Fiddler myself and tried it to make sure.
LePage also goes on to promote the virtues of IE8′s InPrivate feature, which allows users to surf the web anonymously. Interestingly, this feature sounds eerily similar to Chrome’s Incognito mode which has been a part of Google’s browser since 2008.
Look, there’s no doubt here that Internet Explorer is facing a decline in market share. A recent graph out by Net Applications shows that Internet Explorer is dropping while Chrome is gaining. At the same time, competitors like Safari (which can be traced to Mac adoption), Firefox and Opera are filling in the space where users once had Internet Explorer as their preferred browser. If Microsoft does not go on the offensive with videos like this they risk losing even more market share.
Expect Microsoft to heavily market IE8 and eventually IE9. They will also do well if they keep copying key elements of other popular browsers if they hope to stay relevant, one of the other “industry standard” practices LePage talks about in the video.
