Google Drive is a place where you can create, share, collaborate and keep all your stuff. Of course, there are times you want to start a new document right away–say, to take notes in class or prepare a last-minute presentation for your boss. 

To make it even easier for you to create stuff quickly, Documents, Spreadsheets, and Presentations–now called Docs,Sheets, and Slides–are now available as apps in the Chrome Web Store. Once installed, shortcuts to these apps will appear when you open a new tab in Chrome. 

If you use a Chromebook, you’ll see Docs, Sheets, and Slides in your apps list by default following the next update to Chrome OS in a few weeks. 

The Chrome Developer Tools team recently launched new features and made several UI changes to improve your development and debugging workflow.

Develop for mobile 

Since we launched Chrome for Android, you’ve been able to use Chrome Developer Tools to debug and profile mobile web pages and web apps.

Today, we take this feature one step further by introducing device emulation support in Chrome Developer Tools. Device emulation includes, among other things, native User Agent and dimension overriding. This allows developers to debug mobile browsers on different devices and operating systems via the Settings Menu. So, now, you can emulate the exact device metrics of devices like the Galaxy Nexus and the iPhone to test your media query-driven design.

Chrome Developer Tools also supports single touch event emulation to make it easier to debug mobile applications on the desktop.

Profile rendering performance 

The Timeline’s Frame Mode feature now allows you to profile Chrome’s rendering performance, remove the jank and deliver the silky smooth performance users expect from your apps. To learn more about this topic, check out the recent "Jank Busters" video from Google I/O.

Preview your log items

The console now prints a user-friendly snapshot of the object properties taken at log time, whereas by expanding the object manually, you can still see its live content. This is especially useful when logging an object in a loop and observing its mutation. With this change, we resolved a longstanding bug many of you prioritized on crbug.com.

Play with experimental features

You can now try new experimental features in Chrome Developer Tools by visiting chrome:flags and enabling them there. Once you do that, a new tab called “Experiments” will be visible in the settings menu, allowing you to enable and use any of the following experiments:

• Snippets (essentially multi-line console on steroids) 
• Source mapping support for SASS 
• Native memory profiling 
• Geolocation / orientation override 
• FileSystem inspection 
• Canvas inspection 
• CPU activity in Timeline 
• CSS Regions support 

Some of these experimental features are almost ready while others have just landed and need some more refining. In either case, we’d love your feedback before we bake these fully in Chrome Developer Tools. You can also read our recently updated contribution guide if you’re interested in helping us make the tools better.

To get more information on all of Chrome Developer Tools features, check out our “Chrome Developer Tools Evolution” talk at the I/O 2012. You can also follow Google Chrome Developers on Google+ or @ChromiumDev on Twitter for more news on changes landing in Chrome Developer Tools.

Chrome: When you need to send a private email to someone, you don't want it to sit around and be easily readable by anyone. SafeGmail is a Chrome extension that adds PGP-like encryption to you emails, and requires a simple answer to a question to unlock. More »

When you make a browser the default system web browser in Windows 8 you may notice one of two things. If the developer of the browser has made available a special version of the browser for Windows 8′s startpage, then you will have access to two versions of the browser. The first is the regular desktop version of the browser, the second the start page version of the browser. Depending on where you are and which programs you are using to load websites, you may end up using either one of the browsers.

If you do not want that, for instance if you prefer to open websites always on the desktop as it provides you with better window control options and all that good stuff, you may be glad to hear that there is a way to force the browser to always open on the desktop even if it originally would open the web page on the start page version of Windows 8.

To do that, you need to do a bit of Registry tweaking. Save the following commands as chrome.reg on your computer and run the file afterwards. It will make the necessary changes so that Google Chrome always opens up on the desktop. Please note that you may need to display file extensions first to save the file as a .reg file and not a .reg.txt file. You will also see an UAC prompt which you need to accept to complete the process.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ChromeHTML\shell\open\command]
“DelegateExecute”=-

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Chrome\.exe\shell\open\command]
“DelegateExecute”=-

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Chrome\.exe\shell\opennewwindow\command]
“DelegateExecute”=-

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Chrome\.exe\shell\run\command]
“DelegateExecute”=-

Whenever you open a website now in Windows 8 that will open in the default browser, it will open on the desktop of the operating system and not the start page. Now, if anyone could figure out how to do the same for the Firefox web browser, I’d be eternally grateful. (via My Digital Life and Ilev)

Yesterday, Google suddenly unveiled, in cooperation with Samsung, the first ARM-powered Chromebook and for remarkably affordable price -- $249. There also is a $329.99 model, that includes 3G. Both are available for pre-order now from major retailers, and Google Play will join stores selling the WiFi-only model next week.

The question: Will you buy? It's the right time to ask, because the price is so appealing. From my initial testing, about 24 hours now, it's hard not to recommend this new Chromebook, if for no other reason than price. But as I'll further explain in my forthcoming first-impressions review, there are plenty of trade-offs for the price -- and benefits, too.

For Whom?

At this early stage of testing, I see two major buying categories for the new Chromebook: Someone who considered an older model (but was put off by the price), or even purchased one, and buyers looking for something else that doesn't require purchasing a new PC. The latter group could include everyone owning one or more aging PCs to those new to computing and put off by it. Easy is the best way to describe any Chromebook, from setup to ongoing management to daily use. If you can navigate a browser, you can use Chrome OS.

Google and Samsung unveiled the second-generation Chromebook, the Series 5 550, in May for $449. A 3G model sells for $549. I wouldn't recommend either 3G Chromebook. The cellular radio simply is not good enough, when Verizon, which provides the service, is largely standardized on much faster 4G LTE.

How do the WiFi models compare?

$249 Chromebook: 1.7GHz Samsung Exynos 5250 dual-core processor (ARM); 11.6-inch matte display, 1366 x 768 resolution, 200-nit brightness; 2GB RAM; 16GB SSD; SD-card slot; Webcam; USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports (one each); WiFi A/N; Bluetooth 3.0 compatible (dongle required); HDMI port; Chrome OS 23. Weighs 2.5 pounds (1.1 kg) and is 0.8 inches thick.

$449 Chromebook: 1.3GHz Intel Celeron 867 dual-core processor (x86); 12.1-inch matte display, 1280 x 800 resolution, 300-nit brightness; 4GB SDRAM; 16GB SSD; Intel HD graphics; webcam; two USB ports; Bluetooth 3.0 compatible (dongle required); DisplayPort; WiFi A/N; Gigabit Ethernet; 4-in-1 media card slot; and Chrome OS 21.

Yesterday, BetaNews reader Bobby Frank asked: "Should I swap out the two Samsung 550's i just bought last week for my teenagers for this new model and save myself a total of $500? Will this new model perform as well? Btw, is an ARM processor better than the one x86 in my kids' current Samsung 550?"

I answered:

Performance is absolutely slower on the $249 Chromebook. The Q is what's good enough for the money. I really like the keyboard and overall ergonomics better of the cheaper model. At the request of someone on Google+, I did quick Peacekeeper benchmarks yesterday from my live account (extensions loaded) rather than guest account: 971 for $249 Chromebook, 1848 for the 550. The newer one has Chrome OS 23, but the older is (supposedly) up to date at Chrome 21.

Bottom line: I find video to disappoint on the cheaper model compared to the older one. If the teens do Netflix and YouTube, this might not be best choice. Otherwise, the higher screen resolution, better keyboard and coolness (no fan needed with ARM) make up for what performance what your teens will loose from the 550.

I will rerun the same benchmarks from guest mode for my first-impressions review. Meanwhile there is another value proposition regarding both Chromebooks. The cheaper one comes with 100GB Google Drive storage -- two years, for free.

To publish an app in the Chrome Web Store, developers need to prove they own the domain that hosts their application. Until recently, the only way to do this was through Google’s Webmaster Tools. Today, we are simplifying the process further by allowing you use Google's site verification service to prove your association with a verified site.

Suppose you want to publish an app on the Chrome Web Store and have it associated with your company’s existing site, but you don’t have the ability to use any of the current verification methods e.g. you’re not allowed to upload a verification file to the root directory. The site verification service option in the edit page for each item listed in your Chrome Web Store developer dashboard allows you to request association of your app with your organization’s site:

When you choose an existing site from the drop-down menu or click “Add a new site”, the current registered owner for the site will receive a notification of your request to be associated. The owner can see who is making the request, and then approve or deny the request appropriately. That’s all there is to it! (Note: if this checkbox isn’t available, it may be because there’s no current owner of the site or you already have an outstanding association request).

We hope that this new feature will further streamline the process for publishing new apps on the Chrome Web Store, and allows you to focus more on developing your app and less on process. Have any questions or comments about using Google’s site verification service? You can reach us on our developer forum for store-related questions or head on over to the Webmaster Help forum.

Native Client (NaCl) enables you to write high-performance apps that run your C and C++ code in the browser. With the new Native Client add-in for Microsoft Visual Studio and the new Native Client debugger it just got a lot easier.

The Visual Studio add-in makes it easy to set up, build, run, and debug your app as a Pepper plug-in and as a Native Client module. If you are porting an existing application to Native Client, building as a Pepper plug-in is a convenient intermediate stage for development enabling you to gradually rewrite the app to use the Pepper APIs (video).

The Native Client debugger, affectionately called nacl-gdb, works on Windows, Mac, and Linux and is now available in the SDK. So whatever your development platform, you can now spend more time coding features and less time chasing bugs with printf.

Following the Native Client philosophy of being OS-independent and open source, nacl-gdb is based on... well... gdb! For those of you who are not excited by a text interface, the Visual Studio add-in makes interacting with the debugger easier. If you use a different development environment that can interact with gdb, you can point it to nacl-gdb and use the same commands plus some additional NaCl-specific commands.

Whether you’re an existing Native Client developer or thinking about using Native Client for your next project, now is a great time to grab the SDK, write an amazing app, and quickly squash any bugs you find. We look forward to questions on Stack Overflow and ideas and comments in the discussion forum.

A year ago we released a technology preview of Dart, a project that includes a modern language, libraries and tools for building complex web applications. Today, after plowing through thousands of bug reports and feature requests from the web community, a new, more stable and comprehensive version of Dart is now available and ready to use.

With this version of the Dart SDK, we’ve made several improvements and added many features:

• A faster Dart Virtual Machine that on some Octane tests outperforms even V8. 
• A new Dart to JavaScript translator that generates fast and compact output.
• An HTML library that works transparently on modern browsers.
• A library to interoperate with JavaScript code.
• An easy to use editor.
• Pub, a new package manager
• Dartium, a Chromium build with native Dart support.
• A server-side I/O library.
• A language specification describing the Dart semantics, including new features.

Over the following months, we will continue to work hard to evolve the SDK, improve Dart’s robustness and performance, and fine-tune the language while maintaining backwards compatibility.

You can download the Dart Editor from dartlang.org. It comes with a copy of the open-source SDK and Dartium. Thanks again for all your feedback - keep it coming.

Do acronyms such as YOLO, LOL, and OMG drive you crazy? Perhaps you'd rather not see a particular slur in your internet browsing? If you're a Chrome user the extension In My Words has you covered; it will replace any word or acronym you hate with your preferred word when using Chrome. More »


 

And a laptop. Following the recent Pwnium 2 competition, a hacker nicknamed “Pinkie Pie”, has successfully compromised Google’s Chrome web browser and received a free Chromebook and a cash prize of $60,000. Earlier this year, Pinkie Pie and Sergey Glazunov have also reaped a reward of $60,000, following the successful escape of everyone’s beloved sandbox. [...]

Opera Mobile concept coming up next week. With the approaching launch of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, it appears that some Google Chrome fans have decided to create a mockup on how the favorite web browser would look like running on a WP8 hardware. The result? See the pictures below. For even more pictures, [...]

Reports began to appear yesterday on Google Chrome’s official support forum about a new extension that installed itself automatically in the browser. Chrome users noticed that the Settings Protector extension appeared on the extensions page of the browser without their doing. According to reports, the extension installed itself automatically in the browser. The only information displayed on the extensions page is the name of the extension, Settings Protector, and its version, 1.0.

No information have been provided about Chrome versions, new software installations, updates, or anything else that may be related to the automatic installation of the extension. Right now, it is not clear what triggers the installation of Settings Protector in the browser. It sounds like an extension that would ship with a security program, but it can as well be installed through exploits of the browser or the operating system, malware that managed to compromise the system, or as part of an adware offer of regular applications.

Here is how you can check whether Settings Protector is installed on your system. Open the Chrome web browser and click on the settings icon at the top right. Select Tools > Extensions from the context menu and look for Settings Protector 1.0 there. If you find it there, disable it or click on the trashcan icon to delete it from the browser.

I highly suggest to run a scan with Malwarebytes AntiMalware and Dr.Web CureIt to make sure it was not dropped by malware still running on the system.

If you are as obsessed with the speed of your web pages as we are, then you may have heard of mod_pagespeed, an Apache module that automatically optimizes your web pages for performance. Since we introduced mod_pagespeed in 2010, we’ve been focused on improving its functionality, to help developers increase the performance of their web pages. Today, after 18 releases, mod_pagespeed is now officially out of beta.

More than 120,000 sites are already using mod_pagespeed to take advantage of the latest performance optimization techniques. To learn more about mod_pagespeed and how to incorporate it in your site, watch our recent Google Developers Live session or visit the mod_pagespeed developer documentation site.

As part of our ongoing effort to reward exceptional vulnerability research in the security community, we hosted the Pwnium 2 competition at Hack in the Box 2012 in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

We’re happy to confirm that we received a valid exploit from returning pwner, Pinkie Pie. This pwn relies on a WebKit Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) compromise to exploit the renderer process and a second bug in the IPC layer to escape the Chrome sandbox. Since this exploit depends entirely on bugs within Chrome to achieve code execution, it qualifies for our highest award level as a “full Chrome exploit,” a $60,000 prize and free Chromebook.

Security is one of Chrome’s core principles, and we work closely with the security community to continually make the web safer for users. In that spirit, we're hosting Pwnium 2 at Hack in the Box 2012 in Kuala Lumpur this week.

Participants will be able to demonstrate their pwns against Chrome at 9 a.m. Wednesday local time (1 a.m. GMT for folks keeping track). We’ll be actively analyzing any submissions we receive, and will announce successful exploits and prizes during our talk at 5 p.m, Thursday (9 a.m. GMT) on the evolution of Chrome’s vulnerability rewards program.

Stay tuned!

Posted by Chris Evans, Software Engineer

Chrome/Firefox: HTTPS Everywhere, the browser extension that keeps your data from falling into the wrong hands, has updated to double the number of web sites it supports. If you aren't using it, you should be. More »