ReadWriteWeb's Joe Brockmeier published a provacative post about Chrome Operating System Wednesday.

The premise? Google, which behind new-old CEO Larry Page has been trimming a lot of dark-matter projects, may want to clip Chrome OS now rather than invest any more money in it or the Chromebooks in the market.

The reason? People aren't buying them, partly because they're not as aggressively marketed as other Google products, but mostly because they lack the full-flavored capabilities of Windows PCs or Macs. And you need a Web connection to use them.

You just can't run on-premise software on Chromebooks. Sure they boot up in 8 seconds, but they have little flash storage because they are all about Web apps. The great thing about PCs and Macs is people can do both local software and Web apps.

Chromebooks from Samsung and Acer debuted this past summer, but Digitimes believes these major PC vendors may have only sold 30,000 units since that time.

That may explain in part why Samsung and Acer have slashed WiFi Chromebook prices to $299 from $429 (Samsung) and $349 (Acer) in time for the holidays.

You can fault Google and its OEM partners for failing to market the notebooks well enough. To its credit, Google is trying to punch up interest.

The search engine is inviting potential customers to test Chromebooks at the Samsung Experience in New York City and has tapped Virgin America to let travelers on four different flight routes check out and use Samsung Series 5 Chromebooks paired with complimentary WiFi access for the duration of their flight.

Folks who fly Virgin America from San Francisco, Chicago O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth or Boston can "check out" a Series 5 Chromebook from a so-called "Chrome Zone" near their departure gate.

Moreover, Chromebooks recently got a fresh log-in UI, so Google is doing its part. It's part just might not be big enough, though.

The problem with the Chromebook is that people can't do enough with it out of the chute, and the clock has been ticking on the notebooks since their launch earlier this year.

I picked up the Cr-48 this time last year and a Series 5 this past summer. I enjoy them, but not so much that I'd rather use them than this Dell Latitude Windows 7 notebook I typed this on, or even my Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 to do Web surfing or blogging.

I can Skype on my Latitude, and do a whole lot of things loads of on-board storage and on-prem apps allow me to do--and surf the Web to my heart's content.

The simple fact is that we're in a hybrid world of computing--on-premise apps and Web apps. Windows and Macs support both well enough, but Chromebooks are only good for the Web apps.

Since on-prem apps outnumber Web apps quite a bit, Chromebooks have a huge disadvantage, hampered as they are by the lightweight OS.

Google meant well, but Chromebooks are ahead of their time and not actionable enough. We're moving to the Chromebook world of the cloud, but not fast enough.

I believe Brockmeier's theory that Google hasn't canceled Chrome OS and its devices yet because it sees it as core to its cloud computing strategy. And to admit failure in Chrome OS would deal more than a glancing blow to the company's cloud credibility. How else will Google drive more Google apps into businesses to unseat Microsoft?

My guess is that within a year--likely less--Page will pull the plug and will bid adieu to Chrome OS as an experiment in the cloud.

Another quarter, another Chrome Operating System tablet rumor begans to build.

Since the introduction of Chrome OS two summers ago, the search engine has been fond of posting mock drawings, UI designs and videos in its Chromium open source code Website showing Chrome OS running in a tablet.

I noted in April that CNET discovered changes in Chrome and Chrome OS source code that point to the progress of a Chrome OS slate.

Here is the latest clip, albeit from a non-Googler Web developer named François Beaufort, who posted via Google+:

I may have been bullish on Chrome OS tablets in the past, if only because I like to see Google push the envelope.

But having used Android tablets - I own a Galaxy Tab 10.1 and have tested the HTC Evo View 4G, Galaxy Tab, Motorola Xoom and Toshiba Thrive -- they all sync in the cloud. What will a Chrome tablet offer me the Honeycomb tablets can't?

There are two more key reasons I'm not so keen on Chrome OS tablets. Ready?

First, Apple's iPad has humbled Android "Honeycomb" tablets, which everyone knows is Google's software design.

Does anyone know anyone putside Googlers and Silicon Valley who has purchased -- not received at Google I/O -- an Android tablet and not returned it? Right.

So the Android brand for tablets, unlike its massive share for smartphones worldwide -- Gartner shows 43.4 percent -- is tainted and weak.

Second, and this is clearly a premature judgment -- outside Googlers, Silicon Valley and Google I/O attendees who received a Chromebook free, does anyone know anyone who has purchased a Samsung or Acer Chromebook?

Right. So let's not get giddy about a Chrome OS tablet -- for all intents and purposes a hybrid of the two elemtns described above.

It's clear to me Google would be unwise to bring to market when Android tablets and Chromebook have yet to take flight in the market.

Disagree? Discuss below and/or in Google+ if you prefer.

Google is taking to the skies to market notebook computers based on its Chrome Operating System, the lightweight platform designed to tout Web applications over local software.

The search engine has tapped Virgin America to let travelers on four different flight routes check out and use Samsung Series 5 Chromebooks paired with complimentary WiFi access free for the duration of their flight.

Google's marketing goes bigger than that. Folks who fly Virgin America from San Francisco, Chicago O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth or Boston can "check out" a Series 5 Chromebook from a so-called "Chrome Zone" near their departure gate. (See picture at right and map here.)

Users will be able to log on immediately and begin using the Chromebook rental immediately with complimentary WiFi in the terminal and continue using it on the flight before dropping it off at the destination gate's Chrome Zone.

The beauty of the Series 5 is it has an 8.5-hour battery life, so the Chromebook should have any traveler covered for the duration of their flight, including layover time when they get off to connect.

Moreover, Google is including Chromebooks in the rooms of travelers booked to stay at the Ace Hotel New York, sort of like a complimentary bottle of water you see occasionally in travels.

Ace Hotel guests may then use the Series 5 anywhere, in or out of the hotel, with free WiFi and 3G connectivity.

Moreover, Google has written two Web apps for this little partnership: The Ace New York Field Guide, which "tips you off on the hottest spots in town, from cool clubs to unique boutiques," and Beat the Boot, a game where players must get the highest score possible in the 8 seconds it takes to boot a Chromebook.

The Virgin America and Ace Hotel Chromebook offers start July 1 (today) and run through Sept. 30.

This is really impressive forward-thinking marketing from Google, a company not exactly possessed with the marketing graces of Apple or other hip high-tech companies.

You can bet that if this experiment proves popular, Google will expand it ... sort of like pushing Google Offers all over the country versus Groupon and LivingSocial, albeit without competition.

Really, have you ever seen free Windows PCs or Macs on flights or hotels? No, they're too expensive and too personal. As a cloud-based commodity machine that lets users log on and grab their apps from anywhere, the Chromebook is a winner.

A few months ago, Google made a bold move to enter the Netbook market with a new web-based OS called Google Chrome OS. In the initial months, Google gave out free netbooks to few users called as Cr-48. I was one of the few lucky users to get my hands-on the Cr-48 netbook and found it pretty usable while travelling and performing tasks such as creating documents, emailing and more.

The idea of a smartphone based on Google's Chrome operating system is getting some attention, but analysts don't necessarily agree on the possibility.

Anton Wahlman, a former sell-side equity research analyst covering the communications space, wrote on TheStreet.com that Google will launch its own Google Phone and that it will be based on Chrome OS, not Android.

He sees Google taking the Chrome OS cloud paradigm, which means Web applications only, to the phone form factor.

This device would only have two major software parts -- the OS and the only allowed browser. However, the OS treats the browser as a de-facto hostile application, not allowing it to modify the OS including locally install any applications.

The idea is that by not allowing locally stored apps to populate the phone, Google would improve security. Wahlman also suggested that this would threaten RIM's BlackBerry Enterprise Server product:

There would be no traditional need to monitor and restrict the end user device using such comprehensive and active tools. The BES could be replaced by a much simpler management console which would focus more on device access, activity in the browser, and overall account device management only. Google could easily design such a product, causing a lot of headache for RIM.

Seems like a strong position, right? Wahlman's idea has weight because Samsung is planning on building a completely cloud-centric phone, which could be based on the open-source Chromium project that propels Chrome. Motorola may also be mulling a cloud OS to put its eggs in a basket other than Android.

I went to find analysts who either agree or disagree with this idea and found one of each.

IDC analyst Al Hilwa told me the idea of a more complete dependency on the cloud is probably more suited for phones than for personal computers. Hilwa explained:

Given that phones are sold with connectivity, are more prone to loss, and in some cases have to be extremely low-cost such as to replace feature phones, and can require tighter enterprise management, then there is likely a market for cloud phones. Positioned for the right scenarios and at the right price, cloud phones may be viable. Of course the existing notion we have today of smart apps will be different for these cloud phones, so I see this as a separate platform from Android, with its primary capabilities being messaging and browsing, with lightweight browser apps.

Independent industry analyst Jack Gold had a different take, noting that a phone that only works when you have a strong data signal and can't load apps is useless. Gold noted:

"What if I want to check my calendar while on an airplane? How do I play games if I have to do it online only, or enter CRM data while in the basement of my client's building?"

Moreover, Gold said Google would have to do so much engineering to Chrome to make it work as a phone OS that they would end up with Android all over again.

He also disagreed with Wahlman's argument that building a Chrome phone would provide a cost advantage over an Android device.

So pretty much everything this fellow says is wrong, except for the security piece. He is correct that most phones have severe security issues that could be mitigated if everything was available as a cloud service only and never loaded on the phone. But the need to connect at all times, and the amount of data transfer required (and the resulting massive increase in data per month required, at a metered rate) makes this impractical.

What Gold said makes sense, but we also must acknowledge that there are cloud phone plans afoot by at least one phone maker.

I'm not a smartphone technology expert, so I ask gentle readers: Do you think a Chrome OS-based phone is possible and what would it take for this model to work?

Google officials said at Google I/O that Chrome Operating System notebooks from Samsung and Acer would be available June 15 online from Amazon.com and Best Buy.

That's still the case, but Google said it came in possession of a limited number of Samsung Series 5 Chromebooks, which I got to play with at a Samsung party in San Fran last month.

The Series 5 notebook boots in 8 seconds and boasts a file system that supports documents and a media player for video and music, as well as integration with Picasa to let users manage their photos on Chrome computers.

Renowned for its largess to employees, Google could have seeded the Chromebooks to its employees.

Instead, the search engine smartly hewed to consumer loyalty and instead opted to sell them to people who signed up to be a part of the Cr-48 pilot program last December. Google offered the 3G models for $499 a pop.

Google did this exclusively through Gilt, a "members only" e-commerce Website that sells designer goods. Google told me:

We were able to get our hands on some early Samsung Chromebooks before they go on sale June 15, so we wanted to find a way to make them available to our biggest Chrome enthusiasts. We teamed with Gilt Group to provide early access to our eager applicants of the Chromebook pilot program last year.

The offer, which began an ended June 1, looked like so:

Google Chromebooks apparently went like hotcakes on Gilt because there are no more available. But how many Chromebooks was that exactly? What is a limited number to Google? 100? 1,000? 10,000?

While Google reported that "we're happy with the sale," it declined to answer that key question, which would allow me to better gauge the demand for these machines, at least 5,000 of which will begin shipping free to Google I/O attendees.

Given that Google targeted pilot program members, my guess this was an early adopter frenzy and isn't fairly indicative of how Chromebooks will fly in the broader, more fickle and discerning consumer market.

I expect to get a Series 5 to test from Samsung next week. I will review it and do a slideshow on it post haste.

Many publications have called attention to the new Google Chrome Web browser advertisements Google began running on network television May 3.

The 90-second ad spot, dubbed "The Web Is What You Make of It," shows a father who sets up a Gmail account for his daughter.

He begins emailing her pictures (from Google's Picasa Web Albums) of her life's stages from birth to roughly the age of 6 or 7, at which point he's uploading YouTube videos of her riding a bike and taking ballet.

The father is accessing all of this Web-based email, photo and video content from the Chrome Web browser. See for yourself:

Given the emotionally powerful content of the ad spot, it would be easy to overlook Google's broad message, which is this: People can host their email, photo and video content in Google Web services such as Gmail and access it from Chrome forever.

Google is essentially promising that users will be able to create their digital scrapbook and access it through Chrome. Ironically, this is not unlike the Microsoft Live TV ad that touts shuttling content "to the cloud."

According to The New York Times, which spoke to Google about the ad:

Google says it cares so much about promoting Chrome because the more people use the Web, the more they use Google. For example, when Chrome users enter search queries in the big box at the top of the browser, which Google calls the omnibox, they go directly to Google search results.

David B. Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School, told the Times: "The problem for both Firefox and Chrome is how are they going to convince customers that they have a significantly better product, worth the hassle of actually going and downloading something that's new and different."

Sure, Google is looking to increase exposure for the Chrome browser, which has more than 120 million users (according to Google) and commands (according to Net Applications), there is another reason why this is significant.

Google will rack up only so many users via the "download" route. So where else can Google build Chrome market share? Via the Chrome operating system, which is expected to arrive on netbooks and/or notebooks this summer.

As a lightweight, Web-based Chrome OS is a departure from Microsoft Windows or Apple Mac operating systems that reside locally on and serve as central command for PCs and laptops.

Chrome OS is the platform on which the Chrome browser will run. Chrome browser is to Microsoft Internet Explorer as Chrome OS is to Microsoft Windows, only running entirely in the cloud, which is where the email, photos and videos of people such as the father in the ad spot, are stored.

Getting the picture now? With Chrome and Chrome OS, Google is preparing for a full-frontal assault on the Windows personal and professional computing dynasty. Spotlighting Chrome on TV will build awareness for the coming Chrome OS push.

Google last December promised delivery on Samsung and Acer machines in the second half of 2011. That timing is still on target.

We already know Chrome OS machines exist, such as Samsung's "Alex" netbook, and there have been whispers that Google will sell consumers netbooks or notebooks as a subscription service with Gmail for $10 or $20 a month.

I expect we'll hear more about how Chrome OS is coming along at Google's I/O developer conference in San Francisco next week.

Google's Don Dodge is having a grand ole time with his Google Chrome-based Cr-48 test notebook.

I have fun with mine, too, and I've been installing apps from the Chrome Web Store left and right, including Google Docs, Google Reader, Google Maps, Amazon Window Shop, TweetDeck and NPR for Chrome. All worked well.

Noting that the Chrome Web Store has over 2,000 apps and over 10,000 extensions and themes, Dodge likes "apps for News like USA Today, NPR, New York Times, and ESPN. In the entertainment category there were tons of apps like ClickerTV, CityVille, and Rhapsody. There are thousands more apps that I have yet to discover."

Dodge and I, it seems, are in similar frames of mind for the new notebook. I think it's important for users to share their app experiences, what works and what doesn't from the Chrome Web Store.

I, too, am writing this blog post on my Cr-48, but would love to know about additional productivity and collaboration applications from the Chrome Web Store.

Unlike Dodge, however, I don't see myself going totally to the cloud just yet, even though the idea of procuring the apps over the Web is fast and fun.

I mean, how do I get all of my apps that aren't in Picasa Web Albums into the Cr-48 when I can't install software to manage photos, let alone upload pics from my Canon Powershot to the notebook.

Right now, my Droid X is more valuable for picture taking and management. Just point, click and upload to the Web. Porting legacy pics to the Chrome OS notebook is a mystery to me for now.

Gmail creator Paul Bucheit and coiner of Google's "Don't Be Evil" credo has as good a non-technical explanation of Google's cloud strategy and Chrome Operating System on his personal blog Dec. 18.

Bucheit added the color after his cavalier tweet, "Prediction: ChromeOS will be killed next year (or "merged" with Android)," kicked the proverbial hornets' nest.

As Bucheit explains it, the cloud is essentially synonymous with mobile computing, which we pundits believe is synonymous with computing freedom. He wrote:

For example, in the bad old days, you would install a copy Outlook or other email software on your PC, it would download all of your email to your computer, and then the email would live on that computer until Outlook corrupted its PST file and everything was lost. If you accidentally left your computer at home, or it was stolen, then you simply couldn't get to your email. Information behaved much like a physical object -- it was always in one place. That's an unnecessary and annoying limitation. By moving my e-mail into "the cloud", I can escape the limitations of physical location and am able to reach it from any number of computers, phones, televisions, or whatever else connects to the Internet. For performance and coverage reasons, those devices will usually cache some of my email, but the canonical version always lives online.

Later, he added that one way of understanding the cloud "is to view the entire Internet as a single computer."

This computer is a massively distributed system with billions of processors, billions of displays, exabytes of storage, and it's spread across the entire planet. Your phone or laptop is just one part of this global computer, and its primarily purpose is to provide a convenient interface.

He just summed up Google's cloud computing strategy better than Google ever did with its jargon and high-level geek speak.

Naturally, Bucheit points to the Gmail Android client, which is constantly syncing and caching users' Gmail between their smartphones and desktop access to Google's cloud of servers.

For the purpose of Chrome OS, this means doing away with installing software locally on each machine. The machines let users download Web apps for easy access. Everything is in the cloud.

He also suggested Richard Stallman, who criticized Chrome OS and the cloud at large last week, had taken a "curmudgeonly" position.

Why does Bucheit think Chrome OS is in trouble, or at least in a tough position?

I actually like the idea of ChromeOS, so why did I predict its demise? The answer is that we already have millions of devices that almost meet the same ideal, and they are running iOS and Android.

Put that way, it makes sense. Apple's iPad and tablet based on Android are blowing up the consumer electronics market. Perhaps Chrome OS is a year too late?

I can't presume to know whether Chrome OS will fail, though I suspect it may on netbooks. As I wrote last week, if the Web OS makes its way to tablets -- remember, it's open source -- I can see this technology playing quite well.

If not, well Google has ordered 60,000 Cr-48s we media and blogger types can enjoy as hobbyists.

There's a fun, potentially contentious debate afoot now that Chrome Operating System has been released on the Cr-48 test flight notebook.

Pundits are coming out swinging against Chrome OS, predicting its outright demise, or possible merger with Android, Google's other operating system.

With nearly one quarter of smartphone market share in the U.S., and 300,000 smartphone activations per day, we know from more than just anecdotal evidence or speculation that Android is here to stay as much as Apple's iPhone.

So what of Chrome OS, the Web operating system atop which Web apps will run in Chrome browser? Gmail creator Paul Bucheit tossed this zinger on Twitter this morning:

"Prediction: ChromeOS will be killed next year (or "merged" with Android)."

He explained: "Because ChromeOS has no purpose that isn't better served by Android."

Don't listen to him, he still uses the FriendFeed service he co-created and sold to Facebook.... just kidding! Bucheit is no doubt bright, but is he right about Chrome OS?

With officially-sanctioned Chrome OS netbooks slated to arrive from Samsung and Acer in mid-2011, this prediction seems a bit steep.

There would have to be serious issues or a serious lack of demand for the demise of Chrome OS 6 months after its launch on mass-produced devices.

But if the machines don't sell -- and they will be duly challenged by an iPad 2 and myriad Android tablets by the time the arrive -- Bucheit could be proved prescient.

It is worth noting, as Search Engine Land's Greg Sterling correctly reminded us, that Google Co-founder Sergey Brin said in 2009 that Chrome OS and Android could merge one day.

I have heard the same from IDC analyst Al Hilwa for the past year. Most recently, he told me:

In the long run, I still see some of the Chrome OS ideas filtering into Android to allow users to dabble with more cloud services without making an all-or-nothing choice.

It's hard for people to see how Google can juggle two OS', especially when the potential for Chrome OS' and Android's applicability are similar: Web access, with an bent on mobile.

Remember, Google released Cr-48 with WiFi and two years of 3G capability from Verizon. Google wants you to be able to print Google Docs and other content via Chrome OS from a cab, so there's no question it views Chrome OS as a mobile technology.

While I can't see Chrome OS running on smartphones, it seems well suited for tablets. For example, there's no reason why Google can't reproduce the funky Cr-48 keyboard to create a compelling virtual keyboard for a Chrome OS tablet.

If I had to pick one of Bucheit's predictions, I'd guess Chrome OS could be wed to Android, but it won't happen in 201. I'm not going to predict beyond that.

Remember, a year ago at this time there was no Apple iPad to trigger a tablet avalanche that is now eating up netbook market share.

Former Googler, FriendFeed founder and Facebook-er turned investor Paul Buchheit just tweeted this zinger:

Prediction: ChromeOS will be killed next year (or “merged” with Android)

Considering his former employer just launched the Chrome OS pilot program last week, the comment may sting a little over at Mountain View, although it should be noted Buchheit is hardly the only one predicting that Google’s Linux-based operating system will go the way of the Wave soon enough.

Google to date has posited that Android and Chrome OS, its two operating systems, address different markets that will remain distinct despite the growing convergence of the devices they run on (netbooks, tablets, smartphones). Google co-founder Sergey Brin, however, has very recently stated that Google will likely “produce a single OS down the road”.

Ironically, the key architect of the Chrome OS project, Matthew Papakipos, left Google over the Summer — for a job at Facebook, Paul Buchheit’s most recent former employer.

If the man’s less-than-140-characters prediction is right on the money, Android will become the dominant operating system – and considering its current traction, that would hardly be a surprise – while Chrome OS will perish before 2011 is over.

Update: more from Buchheit in the FriendFeed thread:

ChromeOS has no purpose that isn’t better served by Android (perhaps with a few mods to support a non-touch display).

I was thinking, “is this too obvious to even state?”, but then I see people taking ChromeOS seriously, and Google is even shipping devices for some reason.

Do you agree with his assertion, or do you think Chrome OS and Android can co-exist?

Google demoed its upcoming Chrome OS this morning, giving us a closer look into how it's actually going to work on real-world devices—including their pilot program hardware.

One week ago, Google CEO Eric Schmidt surprised we media folk at the Web 2.0 Summit with the news that Chrome Operating System was a "few months away."

Try as I might, I never did get a good reason why. Now it seems Google, after months of hyping the Chrome browser on ESPN.com and The New York Times online, has turned to serving up print ads. For Google Chrome. The Web browser?

Search Engine Land discovered this ad Nov. 21 in the Los Angeles Times, which advertises not just Chrome but educates on Web browsers in general.

Google actually launched the "online guidebook" Website called "20 Things I Learned about Browsers and the Web" three days prior to the ad running, and I didn't think much of it beyond it being a celebration of the browser. A pretty dry one at that.

After all, Google has been doing a lot of this since launching Chrome in 2008. The most recent I remember is the cool HTML5 and Chrome-based Arcade Fire experiment. In October 2009, Google launched Whatbrowser.org, which defines what a Web browser is and lets users download the applications that let us surf the Web.

It's 2010. I think anyone that is searching Google knows what a Web browser is.

When SEL's Danny Sullivan asked Google about the ad campaign, Google fed him a stock answer:

We're running these ads in several newspapers in major cities in the United States to raise awareness about the guidebook and point readers to it, especially if they find it useful and educational. We hope some readers will pick up a new factoid or piece of insight even from the ad itself about how browsers and the web work. They'll be running this month.

Who are they kidding? Sorry, but the people who go to Google each day don't care a lick about what goes into a browser, let alone TCP/IP and data packets, which is indeed a part of the browser "handbook."

Most people would rather study paint drying to divine some deeper meaning.

Perhaps the ads and Websites are marketing foundations for the Chrome OS ecosystem. Indeed, the author of the blog post is a Chrome marketing manager.

If someone asked me to guess Google's strategy here, I'd say the browser is important as the gateway to Google's cloud, which is the essence of its strategy on the desktop and mobile Web going forward.

It's a lot easier to grok a browser that people can see and touch, and then perhaps ease people into the concept of the cloud: this ether of Web data, supported by fields of servers, and ultimately accessed by the browser.

But will it help people buy Chrome OS netbooks when they're available? That's the real question, isn't it?

It looks like Chrome OS, Google's most anticipated software project of the year, is on the verge of finally launching. TechCrunch uncovered the fact that the browser-based OS has already hit Release Candidate stage, which is the step that comes right before a full-blown release. Most likely, Google's engineers are now hard at work squashing bugs and getting ready for Chrome OS 1.0.

Further evidence of this lies in a thread over at Google Code where a Google employee referenced 'November 11' a couple of times in reply to new feature requests. As in, Google would only consider adding new features after November 11. And that certainly makes sense, since usually while you prep a software project for release, you freeze any new feature additions and focus on ironing out the last kinks.

So it seems plausible that Google will release Chrome OS on November 11, or at least code-freeze it then and maybe wait until November 19 to unleash it - that's the one year anniversary of the event where they first showed it. Either way, they will be able to make that initially promised 'in time for the holiday season 2010' target after all. And Chrome OS-powered netbooks (or even tablets) could be on your lap very soon.

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:

Google Aug. 19 opened Chrome Web Store to developers in a preview, preparing for an October launch to the public.

Developers can upload apps, package them and install them in Chrome using the latest Chrome dev channel. They may also integrate Google's payments and user authentication technology.

Google May 19 introduced the Chrome Web Store at Google I/O to help developers put free and paid Chrome Web apps in front of consumers.

The store will enable the roughly 70 million users of the Google Chrome Web browser to not only find Web apps, but create shortcuts in Chrome to access them easier.

Google developers Mark DeLoura and Michael Mahemoff showed off the latest progress of the Chrome Web Store at the Games Developer Conference in Europe, which is fitting because the Web Store is initially geared around serving online games for Web users.

Google May 19 introduced the Chrome Web Store at Google I/O to give help developers put free and paid Chrome Web apps in front of consumers.

The store will enable the roughly 70 million users of the Google Chrome Web browser to not only find Web apps, but create shortcuts in Chrome to access them easier.

The Chrome Web Store will rival Apple's App Store (What, does Android Market have to be the only Google rival to Apple), but instead of apps for Android smartphones, it will boast apps for tablets and other devices based on Chrome. More on that soon.

The Googlers told the crowd that the Web Store would be open for business in October, according to gaming blog 1Up.com.

Google will collect a 5 percent processing fee, but developers will reap the rest. That should make it duly attractive to programmers tired of giving 20 percent or 30 percent of their app sales.

Why is Chrome good for games? Its speed, of course, as DeLoura points out in this presentation:

Chrome Web store hasn't launched yet, so who cares? Why is this so exciting?

Opportunities for Chrome Web Store center around the forthcoming Chrome Operating System.

The first tablet computer based on Chrome OS is slated to hit November 26, in time for the Christmas holidays, according to this unverified scoop from the Download Squad.

Chrome OS tablets will provide a nice instrument on which users will play the games the use from the Web Store. Let's go further down this intriguing rabbit hole.

Sometime around the launch of Chrome Web Store and the Chrome OS tablet, Google will launch Google TV, bringing Chrome Web apps and TV content onto big-screen TVs, powered by a special remote control with a keypad.

That will give users an even greater surface on which to game, assuming it comes to market.

Let's go further. Web apps and specifically games and the ability for people to congregate around them online are clearly at the forefront of Google's plans for a social network (allegedly called Google Me).

The company pumped $100 million into Zynga, bought Slide, bought a little gaming startup called Pixie Labs and bagged virtual currency startup Jambool last week.

Chrome Web Store, with its obvious focus on games like Plants and Zombies, could be a a big piece of this puzzle.

Imagine users accessing and sharing games they downloaded from Chrome Web Store through the Google Me social network. Hello, Facebook!

So, yeah, you could say games are big for Google right now.