The Chrome Web Store is finally here, and many of you probably have a handful of apps installed -- if for no other reason than a little eye candy on your new tab page. If you'd prefer a way to launch your apps that offers a bit more convenience and customization, check out the AppJump Launcher extension.

In addition to adding a handy drop-down panel from which you can launch your Chrome Apps, AppJump also allows you to create groups, which lets you categorize things for quick drill-down access -- which will be very useful once you've accumulated a few dozen apps.

One feature which is missing from AppJump is drag-to-reorder (which is also missing from the Chrome new tab page). I'd love to be able to move my apps around and sort them however I choose, but for right now you're stuck with whatever layout AppJump displays.

So how about it, Google? Let's start making sure that Chrome Web App developers list any geo-restrictions.

To-do lists are pretty important for getting things done; and much like text editors, every person has their own favorite flavor, and it seems like every developer has a slightly different idea of what an ideal to-do manager would look like.

Todo.ly is one take on the do-do list manager. It also comes as a Chrome Web app, so if you use multiple synchronized Chrome browsers (or Chrome OS) and install the Web app, you instantly get the same to-do list manager across all of your machines. Just that may be reason enough to set it up.

In terms of functionality, Todo.ly is pretty much what you'd expect. It supports due-dates and filters (Inbox, Today, Next). It also lets you divide your work into projects, which may have sub-projects. A task can also have sub-tasks.

One area where Todo.ly is lacking is linguistic processing: If I enter "Do something tomorrow", it doesn't set the due date accordingly. It also doesn't support hash tags, which is too bad (at least for me - I love hash tags).

Todo.ly is not team-oriented at the moment: You can't assign tasks to other people, or receive tasks. I guess they're saving that one for a future paid version.

Now that the Chrome Web Store has launched, we should have a better understanding of what these Apps are all about, right? Well, not so much. These aren't your typical apps, after all -- so it's still a little confusing. Let's take a look at what you're actually installing.

TweetDeck, the AIR-based desktop and smartphone twitter power app has finally joined its biggest competitor, Seesmic, on the Web. The new TweetDeck app for Google's fledgling Chrome Web Store brings the best of what people loved about the desktop AIR-app to the Web, in what Iain Dodsworth, CEO of TweetDeck calls: "definitely our best version of a desktop TweetDeck so far." The Chrome app supports TweetDeck accounts for syncing of read tweets, filters and search columns, and has support for almost everything social. Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare, and even Google Buzz, are present and accounted for, with Gmail support on the way.

TweetDeck for Chrome is aiming to be faster and lighter than its AIR-based cousin, which is good news for anyone who's wanted to use TweetDeck on the desktop but has been put off by the relatively large footprint the AIR app takes. It's also currently silent, but TweetDeck is looking to implement a new 'social soundscape' across all its TweetDeck products in an effort to unify the notification system -- great for knowing what's happened without having to look at your screen.

The TweetDeck Chrome app can be found in the Chrome Web Store and installed directly into your up-to-date Chrome browser.

Part of Google's "nothing but the web" Chrome OS is the Chrome Web Store, a place to buy web apps that run in-browser. Everything from games to productivity apps to social media clients is on offer in the Web Store. The other side of the equation is that developers now have a way to get paid for web apps, which should help to encourage more and better web apps in the future.

It's not like the current crop is shabby, either, though. The Web Store is launching with familiar apps like Twitter client Tweetdeck and Popcap's popular tower-defense style game, Plants vs. Zombies. There's also Flixster, eBay, the New York Times ... well, you get the idea. Brand-name apps by the hundreds are already available at launch. It's not just apps, either: the Web Store is a one-stop shop for themes and extensions, too.

For a little help navigating this brave new world of web apps, check out our screenshot tour.

Just barely after noon (Pacific time), the Google Chrome Web Store has launched! There are quite a few apps available, both free and paid, ready for you to install in your Chrome browser. The slick New York Times app that Google demoed earlier today is now available, as well as many other popular apps. In addition to apps, the web store features Chrome extensions and themes. Go check it out now! More »

Sandboxing, the process of isolation and containment of untrusted executable code, is an important tool in securing your browser, and thus your computer, against unruly malware. Google Chrome has been sandboxing HTML rendering and JavaScript execution for a while, but now they've followed through on their promise and brought sandboxing to the Flash plug-in. Not only can Chrome sandbox the built-in Flash plug-in, but also the standalone Adobe version too -- so no matter whether you're running the latest Flash beta, or the automatically-updated Chrome one, you can browse a little bit safer.

Sandboxing in Chrome is currently only available for Windows, where it's particularly important for the relatively insecure Windows XP, and is rolling out to all Chrome Dev installations on Windows automatically. If you have a particular aversion to sandboxing your Flash experience, you can easily disable it with the flag --disable-flash-sandbox. For those of you who are running the beta or stable release of Chrome, but want to try out the developer version with Flash sandboxing for Windows, then head on over to Chromium.org and grab yourself the 'Dev channel' and install it over the top of your current Chrome version.

Google Chrome can already create application shortcuts for your favorite sites via the wrench menu. The option had disappeared for a while, but made its return earlier this year. Adding Gmail to your taskbar is as simple as loading it in a tab, clicking the wrench, choosing tools and then clicking create application shortcut.

Recently, Chromium added that same functionality to Chrome Web apps. If you've got any apps installed, you can right click its icon on your new tab page and choose create shortcut. A menu like the one pictured above will appear, and you can then pin your Chrome Web app the Windows 7 taskbar or slap a shortcut on your desktop or start menu.

This is currently only available in Chromium, but expect to see Web app shortcuts make their way to the Canary and Dev builds in short order. Google is making a push to get the Chrome Web Store launched, and polished app support in Chrome will need to be in place prior to, well, whenever that happens.

20 Things I Learned About Browsers And The Web is a beautiful and educational example of what we can expect from the HTML5 Web. It was developed by the Google Chrome team to showcase both the power of its browser, and of HTML5 itself.

20 Things is fully illustrated, too, and on each page a cheesy subtitle or piece of poetry awaits. Put simply, it's a delight. If you're a hardened Web expert, spend a few minutes leafing through it to enjoy the HTML5esque features -- the offline storage, the page-turning, flipping the light switch in the bottom-right corner -- and then send the link to a friend or family member. Check the Google announcement if you want more details.

It's a damn sight better than Google's last attempt at an HTML5 showpiece, that's for sure. At least this one actually works with Firefox and Internet Explorer 9! It's a little bit slow with Opera, but there should be a hardware-accelerated beta version of Opera 11 any day now...

20 Things I Learned About Browsers And The Web is a beautiful and educational example of what we can expect from the HTML5 Web. It was developed by the Google Chrome team to showcase both the power of its browser, and of HTML5 itself.

20 Things is fully illustrated, too, and on each page a cheesy subtitle or piece of poetry awaits. Put simply, it's a delight. If you're a hardened Web expert, spend a few minutes leafing through it to enjoy the HTML5esque features -- the offline storage, the page-turning, flipping the light switch in the bottom-right corner -- and then send the link to a friend or family member. Check the Google announcement if you want more details.

Back in mid-October, I mused that the Chrome Web Store might be getting ready to open its doors, but according to MediaMemo's Peter Kafka the launch isn't going to happen any time soon.

Based on his discussions with developers who are building Web apps for Chrome, prevailing sentiment is that the Chrome Web Store will now open some time in early December. While some devs remain optimistic that a mid-November launch could still happen, Google has already missed launch targets -- casting severe doubts.

Interestingly, Kafka also mentions that some developers report receiving monetary "encouragement" directly from Google -- one individual acknowledged receive a $15,000 check. The Chrome Web Store remains enough of an enigma that these delays won't adversely affect it -- but we'd sure like to get a look at it.

Here's hoping the beta launch happens before the year is out.

Human as we are, there will always come a time in our day-to-day life that we commit mistakes. There are those which we cannot rectify and undone and there are also mistakes that we can. More often, these mistakes will be committed if we are unsure or we really don’t know what we are doing. There are also times when mistakes happen because we want things be done quickly.

I purchased an app from App Store which I think I can use with my iPad; I was wrong. So, I decided to return it to Apple and claim for a refund. Fortunately, the amount I paid for the app was credited back to my account. I wasn’t even expecting it to happen as Apple sales policy says that all transactions made or purchases are final and cannot be refunded. Maybe I was just so lucky… /> id="more-23282">

Read before you ask for refunds

Anyway, there are certain situations that Apple might consider when someone asks for a refund, and they are as follow;

1. You are an iPhone user but you purchased an iPad version of the app or vice versa. Obviously, the app you purchased will be of no use.

In some ways, GV Connect’s (the mobile client for Google Voice) re-appearance in the iPhone App Store was somewhat anticlimactic. After what felt like months of “he said, she said,” along with an FCC inquiry (holy cow, has it really been a year?), I heard the news via a retweet. While the Google web app for Google Voice worked just fine, it’s nice having a truly native version; the web app was a tad slow, and it was a pain when the account timed out, requiring you to login again.

My Google Voice needs are somewhat modest. For me, it’s the number I give out when someone wants to get in touch, but I don’t want to give them the Super Top Secret Cell Phone Number. So, PR people, headhunters, bill collectors, etc. all get the Google Voice number. Most of the time, I even turn forwarding off so it goes straight to voice mail.

For app developers, the single most important step in preparing an app for sale is to ensure it’s been properly optimized for the iTunes App Store search. This process, called Search Engine Optimization (SEO), is both a science and an art. It requires putting yourself in the place of the consumer and trying to think like they would. Mostly, it requires answering one simple question: If I was looking for an app that did X (X being the main function of your app), what would I type into the iTunes search bar?

There are three searchable aspects of your app within iTunes. These are your company name, the app name and the hidden keywords field. These all hold equal bearing and don’t affect search order. In other words, if your company name is “Smash House,” by default, your app won’t appear before the app “Smash Brothers” or one that happens to have “smash” in its name. In other words, all apps are treated equal by the search engine.