Looking for a simple way to push websites from your desktop browser to your iPhone? If you're using Google Chrome (or Chromium), you might want to take a look at the Prowl extension.

You'll need to sign up on the official Prowl website first and generate an API key for yourself. Once you've got that, grab the extension and add your key in its options screen. After that, simply click the cat icon in your browser actions area to send a push notification to your iPhone of iPod touch via the Prowl app ($2.99 in the App Store). Prowl is a nice alternative for users who don't need to push items frequently -- if you do, you're probably better off with an app/extension combination like ReadItLater.

If you're not familiar with Prowl, you might be asking why it costs $2.99. It's actually a very powerful little app and can redirect notifications from a ton of other sources -- including Adium, Transmission, Google Voice, Twitter, Drupal, WordPress, and many others -- so it's well worth the price if you like being kept in-the-know while you're out.

Tab Candy for Firefox isn't even officially out yet, and there's already a Chrome competitor; TabSense presents you with a list of your current browser tabs, divided by window.

It gets points for effort, but at this stage, TabSense definitely feels half-baked. Clicking the name of a tab doesn't actually activate it, but it detaches it from its current group (window). Dragging tabs from group to group does work, though, and it causes the tab to move between windows, which is pretty cool. The extension doesn't pop up a whole bunch of Chrome windows. Instead, you see only one window, and all of the others are hidden. That's nice, too.

There's a quick-search box in the top-right corner, which allows you to search tabs by name, and it does work (it highlights the tab that you're looking for). There are no thumbnails. Also, the groups are temporary and were not saved when I quit Chrome.

The main problem at the moment is with activating tabs; I was unable to actually show the tab that I tried to access. As I said, clicking it didn't work. But still, this alpha-grade extension shows some promise, even if it lacks most of Tab Candy's "wow" factor.

We've sung the praises of the art of keyword bookmarking before, but the number of keywords in your setup can quickly get out of control. Reader Swc oxcart shows us an easy way to keep track of all your bookmark keywords. More »

Using the build in downloader to download smaller files is usually not a problem in modern web browsers. It is however different if lots of files need to be downloaded, or if the files have a larger size than the usual files that are downloaded. The first problem becomes apparent when the simultaneous download restrictions of the web server or web browser kick in, the second when large downloads fail and cannot be resumed. Besides, the download stops if the web browser is closed.

Download managers have a solution for both problems. They can queue up as many files as the user wants and offer resume capabilities if the web server does the same.

Firefox users have Flashgot, a great add-on that integrates download managers into the web browser. Windows Chrome users now have a comparable solution by the name of oGet which adds support for about thirty different download managers.

Among the download managers supported are popular programs like BitComet, LeechGet, FlashGet, GetRight, Free Download Manager, Orbit Downloader or Mass Downloader. Users who do not find their download manager among the supported programs can add it as a custom downloader.

Once the extension has been installed it displays the options menu. Here it is possible to select a default download manager from the available supported download managers, or configure custom manager. The extension recognizes installed download managers immediately, all others are not available for selection.

All downloads can from that moment on be redirected to the configured download manager. This is done by either pressing Ctrl-Alt and left-clicking on a file download link, or by shift-right-clicking if the option has been enabled in the extension’s options. The Shift Right-click option offers to download only the file the mouse hovers over, or all download links on a page, which is very comfortable.

Specific file types can furthermore be redirected to the download manager directly by configuring the integration mode settings in the options. This sends the downloads of those file-types with a left-click to the download manager.

chrome download manager

The download manager integration works as expected after the initial configuration. Bad news is, that the extension is currently only supporting Microsoft Windows installations of Chrome. The download manager integrater is available for direct installation in the Chrome Extensions Gallery. (via Tech Trickz)

A handy tip from reader swc_oxcart for anyone giving Chrome Web Apps a try in the development version: right-click on a web app pinned tab, and you'll see a "Show toolbar" option. While Chrome's no-address-bar web apps are helpful in focusing on just one site, if you need to copy a URL or reach your extension buttons, this restores them to their standard place. [#tips] More »

The HTML5 test gives you one huge, bold number denoting your browser's HTML5 support level.

Simplicity is the key here: you just get a number. The number you see above is for Chrome Canary. Firefox 3.6.8 (my browsing workhorse) only scored 139 (and 4 bonus points).

It's important to understand that this is not a benchmark. It doesn't use any of the HTML5 features to render anything; the browser is simply asked, "do you support this?" and the site takes its word for it.

The "bonus points" come from audio/video codec support, as well as SVG and MathML for plain HTML. If that sounds like a bunch of acronyms I just stuck together, feel free to ignore it. What you should know is that the bonus is a bonus; not strictly HTML5, but stuff that usually goes along for the ride.

Another interesting aspect is that not every feature is worth one point. For example, the "Web applications" category has three tests, and is worth a total of 14 points. The "Gnolocation" group (under "Related specifications") has just one test, worth 10 points.

So the number you get isn't a count of features, but more of a weighted evaluation. Still, what's great about the site is its simplicity - it's a very easy way to convert people over to a more modern browser. Just have them point their trusty IE6 at HTML5Test, and then show them what you get on your awesome, modern browser. It's easy to understand, which is the whole point.

Yesterday we set out to find the most pixel-friendly browser on Windows machines. Today, designer and Lifehacker reader Kyle Dreger took it upon himself to determine which OS X browser makes the best use of your precious screen space. More »

Google Chrome’s Incognito Mode is a private browsing mode, in which the recording of information about the web browsing session is blocked. No records are stored in the web browser or on the computer system. That’s helpful to improve the privacy of a web session, or to avoid problems when using public or third party computer systems.

Google Chrome users can launch the private browsing mode manually in the web browser, or automatically by launching the web browser with the private browsing startup parameter.

The Chrome extension Autonito adds a third possibility. Chrome users can define websites in the extension that should always be loaded in incognito mode. Websites are added or removed in the extension’s options. The extension will automatically launch a new incognito window whenever a Chrome user clicks on a link pointing to a website included in the list, opens the site from the bookmarks or enters the site url into the address bar.

The extension currently has difficulties with cookies, which are stored in the browser. It is likely that the developer will update the extension as this is a known issue. It is however possible to work around that issue.

google chrome incognito

It is possible to block cookies from specific websites in the Chrome options. Open the Chrome options by clicking on the Tools icon and selecting Options from the context menu. Switch to Under the bonnet, and click on the Content Settings button.

A click on Exceptions displays the configuration menu to add cookies to a whitelist or blacklist. Simply click on Add, enter the domain name in the pattern field, and select Block from the available actions.

block cookies

Autonito can automate the usage of the incognito mode in Chrome. The only possible problem that we see is that the list of sites that are automatically launched in incognito mode is available in the browser. But the list does not necessarily mean that the site is visited by the user who has configured it.

Autonito can be downloaded from the official Google Chrome Extensions Gallery.

Foreword: My dear American brethren and sistren, stop reading now: Spotify isn't available in your country. Rdio should be out soon though!

Spotify Chrome Extension is a bit of a misnomer. It's not an official extension, nor does it really utilize any of Spotify's functionality, but it is a whole lot more useful than any other Chrome extension out there. Once it's installed, you can select some text (an artist's name), hit the new Spotify button on your browser chrome and BOOM! you're rewarded with search results from Spotify's extensive music database. Click a result and the song starts playing in Spotify. Neat.

The problem is, you can only search by artist. You can't select the name of an album and search for that -- neither can you do the same for record labels. Also, there's no way to push the button and enter your own search string -- you're only given that option if a previous search returns no results.

So, it does one thing and it does it well; I just wish it did a bit more. It would be a few seconds' work to add album searching. But hey, perhaps I'm being a little unfair: the extension is brand new. I just hope the developer hasn't abandoned this neat little extension -- it has promise!

Firefox 4 Beta is out with a revamped UI, Google Chrome continues to gain popularity, and Opera has a slick new version. Let's take a look at which browser uses your screen the best without wasting space. More »

Cloud based music service Spotify announced a new Chrome extension for users to preview music in their browsers with. Users can highlight the name of an artist or group in their current web page and preview music by the artist using the Spotify extension. Unfortunately U.S. users are still in the dark since the Extension requires the Spotify application to be installed, which is still only available in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the United Kingdom, France, and Spain. (Click the image above for a closer look.) [Spotify] More »

Roughly two weeks ago, media (and Microsoft, quietly) jeered when Google missed its implementation deadline with the city of Los Angeles for its Google Apps contract.

Google last year positioned this contract, which is supposed to provide the city's 34,000 workers with e-mail and other collaboration applications, as a shining example of how the Google Apps suite is besting Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite.

The contract was expected to be fulfilled June 30 and while some 10,000 employees were shuttled over to Google Apps from Novell GroupWise, security concerns among the Los Angeles Police Department slowed the full implementation.

The delay has lifted, Google said in a brief note August 4. LA's city council voted to complete the city's move to Google Apps.

Still, Google has to compensate LA for the hundreds of thousands of dollars it stands to lose as a result of the delay.

Firefox/Chrome: If you spend a lot of time on YouTube, you've probably noticed the new Autoplay bar that pops up on the bottom of your screen with recommended videos—and here's how to get rid of it. More »

Football season is coming soon. There are also many other sports events like baseball, tennis, golf and soccer that are in full swing. For die-hard sports fans out there, I found some handy Chrome extensions to help you track all the games, matches and player stats.

The Are You Watching This?! Sports extension alerts you when games get interesting via colored icons, so you know when to turn in. It lists the scores, news and TV listings for many professional and college sports in the US.

For those who need an edge in your fantasy sports leagues, there are a few Chrome extensions that can help you improve your fantasy team fast. Pickemfirst Fantasy Sports works with Yahoo!, ESPN, CBS and many other fantasy sports websites. This extension brings you news, stats and blogger opinions about all the players mentioned on the web page currently displayed in your browser.

Tweetbeat Firsthand brings in recent tweets from people and organizations mentioned in the page you're looking at. With this extension, you can see what players, coaches, sports bloggers and commentators think about upcoming matchups.

If following sports online is not enough for you. StubHub's Event Ticket Finder helps you find last-minute tickets to your favorite sports events right in your browser.

These are just a few extensions to help you stay on top of your game, and you can find many more in the Chrome extensions gallery.