The Beta channel has been updated to 7.0.517.24 for Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome Frame.

If you find new issues, please let us know by filing a bug at http://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/entry

The Dev channel has been updated to 7.0.536.2 for Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome Frame

All

• Fixed saving passwords containing non-ASCII characters (Issue 54065).
• Accelerated compositing and support for 3D CSS transforms enabled by default (Issue 54469)
• WebGL support enabled by default (Issue 54469)
• Regression fix: keep the download shelf visible when multiple sites are saved. (Issue 54149)
• Add a lab for the Page Info Bubble for Windows and Linux; Mac coming shortly.

Windows

• Fixed a problem with context menus where the presence of extension-added items prevented keyboard accelerators from working. (Issue: 54497)

Mac

• More keyboard shortcuts for Tab Overview.(Issue 52834)
• Add sqlite and javascript memory columns to task manager

Linux

• Add javascript memory column to task manager
• Make compile-time dependency on gnome-keyring optional
• Resolved problems accessing FTP sites (Issue 54395)

Known Issues

• Problems downloading some attachments in hotmail: Issue 57334

More details about additional changes are available in the log of all revisions.

If you get a lot of mileage out of the Google Voice extension for Chrome and would like to turn it into a stand alone application, Lifehacker reader aberson shows us how. More »

Do not you hate it when a flash element on a website starts automatically on visit? This can be really annoying, especially if it makes use of sound or video. While you probably expect that kind of behavior on media portals such as Youtube, you often experience a similar behavior on websites with Flash advertisements and other Flash contents.

Flash Control is an extension for the Google Chrome web browser that gives the user full control over Adobe’s Flash plugin. Flash Control blocks all Flash contents on a page by default, and offers manual and automatic options to display and use them.

The easiest option is to click on the small control in the upper right corner of the Flash element to instantly load it on the page. All, without reloading the whole page.

flash block

It is possible to block the Flash element at any time again using the same controls. What makes FlashControl special is the customizability of the extension.

Flashcontrol’s options support white- and blacklisting of sites. Whitelisted sites and elements are excluded from being blocked by the extension, while blacklisted sites and elements will always be blocked. It is for instance possible to blacklist specific elements on a site, and whitelist others. That’s a highly flexible way of dealing with Flash contents on the Internet.

A click on the icon in the Chrome Omnibar on the other hand displays additional options and links. It is for instance possible to enable Flash on the active page, unblock the website, add the website to the whitelist, disable the extension and open the options.

flashcontrol

The general options are shown in the screenshot above. More interesting than those are the whitelist and blacklist pages to block or allow contents or sites automatically.

FlashControl is a solid add-on for Chrome users who want more control over Flash on the web. Especially the option to block specific Flash elements permanently should be interesting to many Internet users.

Multiple images are supported as well. Drag in 5 or 6 favorites, and DropMocks attaches them all to the same URL.

The Dev channel has been updated to 7.0.517.24 for Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome Frame.

This release focused on resolving minor bug fixes or crashes. More details about additional changes are available in the svn log of all revisions.

You can find out about getting on the Dev channel here: http://dev.chromium.org/getting-involved/dev-channel.

Chrome: Save yourself from clicking through thumbnails links just to peek at the bigger picture. Hover Zoom automatically enlarges thumbnails to their full size without clicking through. More »

We’re excited to see developer interest in the upcoming Chrome Web Store, particularly around installable web apps. Many of you have also asked about how extensions and apps differ, and how apps can leverage extension behavior.

To answer these questions and more, we’ve published a new article to help you decide between building extensions and building apps. In the article, you’ll read about how apps and extensions vary from the user’s perspective and how they compare in their internal architecture and capabilities. We’ve also included a deep dive on the concept of packaged apps as a blend of app and extension behaviour.

We hope this article helps clarify the distinction between pure extensions, packaged apps, and hosted apps so that you can choose the approach that makes the most sense for your work and your users. To learn more about installable webs apps and ask questions to our team, check out our discussion group. We look forward to getting your feedback!

The Dev channel has been updated to 7.0.517.17 for Windows, and 7.0.517.13 for Mac and Linux.

This release focused on resolving minor bug fixes or crashes. More details about additional changes are available in the svn log of all revisions.

The launch of Google's Chrome Web Store is almost nigh, with the team behind it prepping the application market for launch by adding Google Checkout support.

That means developers will be able to get paid for their applications when the shop formally opens in October.

Google unveiled Chrome Web Store at Google I/O in May as a market for programmers to help consumers find Web apps and create shortcuts in the Chrome Web browser to access them easier.

So far, games such as Plants and Zombies appear to be the main thrust for the market. At least, games have been the popular examples shown by the Chrome team. I'm sure other, more sober apps will be available.

Google opened the Chrome Web Store to developer preview in August, adding security measures such as domain verification for the Chrome extensions gallery.

Now interested developers based in the United States who have a U.S. bank account can sign up for a Google Checkout merchant account via their developer dashboard.

Google is working to enable payment for international developers, so stay tuned if you're outside the United States and interested in selling apps through the Webstore.

For U.S. users with U.S. bank accounts, Google software engineer Qinming Fang noted:

If you're planning to use Chrome Web Store Payments to charge for apps, you'll need to complete this setup before you can accept payments. If you already have a merchant account with Google Checkout, you'll be able to associate it with your items in the store.

Google is also letting developers see how their app will appear in the store and upload promotional images that will appear as banners:

Ever finished firing off a lengthy email and wondered, "Dang, I wish I knew how many WPM that was"? No, me either. But still, as a guy who writes a lot and often gets asked by people how fast I can type I just may give Typing Speed Monitor for Google Chrome a try and see what it tells me.

Install the extension and it takes residence in your browser actions area. As you type, it'll record your speed and monitor how often you press each key. In addition to good ol' QWERTY, Dvorak and Colemak keyboard layouts are also supported. TSM's pop-up heatmap provides detailed stats about your typing including CPM, WPM, total time, and keypresses per key.

No, 61 really isn't that great... But go easy on me, it's six o'clock in the morning and I haven't had any coffee yet.

Maybe I should re-read Jason's post on how to touch type like a keyboarding ninja...

We’re excited to share with you some new features that we just added to the developer preview of the Chrome Web Store:

Starting today, you can sign up for a Google Checkout merchant account via your developer dashboard. If you’re planning to use Chrome Web Store Payments to charge for apps, you’ll need to complete this setup before you can accept payments. If you already have a merchant account with Google Checkout, you’ll be able to associate it with your items in the store. Signing up for Chrome Web Store Payments is currently available to developers based in the US who have a US bank account. We’re working hard to also enable payments for international developers and will update you with a blog post once we have more details. If you have more questions about setting up your merchant account, see this help article we created.

We also added the ability to see how your app will appear in the store. When you preview an uploaded app, you’ll see our new design of the app’s landing page. As before, your apps are only visible to you during the developer preview until the store launches later this year.

We added several options to help you customize this page with your own header image and a larger icon. You can also upload promotional images for your app now, which will appear as banners whenever your app is featured in the store. To learn more about these new options, we encourage you to read our guidelines about creating good images and icons for apps in the store.

We’ll continue to work on the web store design and add polish, but with today’s launch you can get your app’s landing page ready for the launch. For questions and feedback, we invite you to join our developer discussion group and come back to the Chromium blog for more announcements about the Chrome Web Store.

Over the last two weeks on the Official Google for Students blog, we have been highlighting extensions that help students stay connected with friends or research and write papers. For the last post in the Google Chrome Extensions at School series, we will showcase extensions that can help you stay on task and make the most out of your time.