Google has announced that Chrome 21 is ready for the beta channel. As always, the changelog isn’t spectacularly impressive, but there are a couple of new stuffs worth mentioning.

Google has been consistently pushing the boundaries of what a web browser can do. After enabling browsers to render sophisticated 3D graphics with the help of WebGL and Native Client, Google is aiming for plugin-less support for hardware peripherals like webcams and gamepads.

The first new feature in Chrome 21 is support for getUserMedia API that can be used to access the user’s webcam and mic without relying on any third-party plugins like Flash. Google is dubbing this as the first step towards “enabling high quality video and audio communication as part of WebRTC, a powerful new real-time communications standard for the open web platform”. Google currently has a few cool demoes to showcase what this piece of new technology can do. However, don’t expect it to gain prominence until other browser developers also move to support it. Opera 12 for desktop and mobile is the only other browser to support getUserMedia.

The other new feature is a JavaScript API called Gamepad. As the name suggests, this API allows browser-based games to directly access any standard gaming controller that is attached with the user’s system.

Both of these enhancements represent another step towards realizing Google’s dream of a fully featured browser based operating system.

In a separate announcement, Google also revealed that Chrome 22 onwards it will be dropping support for Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard).

One of the coolest features of Chrome for Android is its ability to sync tabs with its desktop counterpart. You can start researching a topic on your desktop, leave for work, and continue researching from your phone while in the subway. Now, Google is taking this feature to its logical next level. The latest Google Chrome beta supports tab syncing across multiple operating systems and devices.

The new beta makes all of your tabs from one system available on all other systems. You can simply click on the “Other devices” link in the “New Tab” page to access open tabs from any system on which you are logged in with your Google account. This feature was first spotted in the bleeding-edge versions of Chrome (including the Dev Channel, Canary, and recent Chromium snapshot builds) by Geek.com. Now, Google will be gradually rolling out the “Other devices” menu to Beta channel users over the coming week. If you want to take tab syncing for a spin, download the latest Chrome beta from here.

After managing to remain unscathed for four consecutive years, Google Chrome has finally been breached, and Google is rewarding the hacker with $60,000. Google Chrome’s security features were bypassed successfully by hackers in both Pwn2Own and Pwnium.

Pwn2Own is an annual hacking fest sponsored by HP, which challenges hackers to breach fully patched web browsers and operating systems. Google Chrome was the only browser that couldn’t be hacked for the past four years. This year, it was the first to fall. A team from the French security firm VUPEN, lead by its co-founder and head of research Chaouki Bekrar, managed to take complete control of a fully patched 64-bit Windows 7 (SP1) machine within five minutes by using two zero-day exploits. VUPEN also claims to have zero-day exploits for Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari.

This year, Google is also running its own competition called Pwnium, which has a total bounty of $1 million. Google decided against sponsoring Pwn2Own, since its new rules don’t compel hackers to responsibly disclose vulnerabilities to the software developer. VUPEN itself intends on selling the exploits to its clients. Sergey Glazunov, a Russian university student, managed to bypass Google Chrome’s sandbox feature in Pwnium.

The breaches mean that Google will no longer be able to tout its clean record. However, Chrome developers aren’t mourning. While announcing the contest, Chris Evans and Justin Schuh from Chrome’s security team had explained that they have a big learning opportunity when they receive full end-to-end exploits. “Not only can we fix the bugs, but by studying the vulnerability and exploit techniques we can enhance our mitigations, automated testing, and sandboxing”.

Chrome: Keeping up with the stream of news throughout the day can be difficult. If you're looking for a way to stay updated without heading over to Google News repeatedly, GNews is a Chrome extension that allows you to quickly glance at hot topics and move on with your day.More »

Google has just unveiled Google Related – a new tool which lets you discover useful and interesting content while you browse the web. Right after they killed Google Toolbar for Firefox 5 and future versions, this new feature is exclusive to Google Chrome and Internet Explorer only.

Here is how Google related works from your browser.

When you visit a website, Google related scans the content of the current page and offers contextually related content in the Google related toolbar. A thin bar will appear at the bottom of the browser, suggesting news, images, YouTube videos, blogs and other useful content that Google thinks might interest you. These suggestions are real time in nature and they will change when you navigate from one page to another page.

For example: If you are reading a page on Wikipedia, Google related will show you videos, photos from Google image search and  webpages which has similar content. You can watch the videos without having to leave the page so this feature acts more like an assistant, which algorithmically predicts the type of content which might interest you and shows the same at the bottom of the page.

Oh and you also need to grab the Google related extension for Chrome or get Google toolbar for Internet Explorer, either one is mandatory for the service to work.

Google has been increasingly focusing on user satisfaction these days. Google Instant pages, Instant previews, Google Plus, algorithmic improvements in search – everything is part of Google’s strategy to improve the overall user experience of users. After refining the improvements at the “search” level, I guess Google wants to bring the same experience at the browser level. The by-products are already here – Google Instant pages, which speeds up web browsing and Google related, which offers contextual content relevant to the page you are viewing.

Google has all the data about the pages you are visiting from Google Chrome. Coupled with Google related, Chrome Data and your Google Plus stream data, they can easily figure out which pages satisfy you the most and which sites you visit frequently. It won’t be surprising if Google eventually starts showing updates and posts from your Google Plus stream in the Google related bar. After all, Google is going “The Social way”’ these days.

Firefox and Opera users are out of luck.

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.

Google has just released Google Chrome 13 to the dev channel and it has a lot of new features which include a working version of Multiple Profile switcher, experimental new tab page and tab grouping. Additionally, Google Chrome 13 also adds a new feature called Compact Navigation and the ability to restrict Google Instant to search.

The new development version also adds an option to enable the Web Audio API and an option to allow "Background Apps" to continue running even when Chrome is shut down.

Background Apps are Google Chrome Apps  which provide users with functionality that quietly runs in the background without intrusion. Background Apps could be apps that regularly check your email or Twitter account and notify you of new updates. The new feature in Google Chrome 13 will allow apps to continue running.

The new "Background Apps" feature is enabled by default, you can disable it by going to "Options -> Under The Hood" and deselect the checkbox next to "Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed".

Google Chrome 13 also features a working version of the profile switcher which allows users to use different profiles for different Chrome windows. This will allow users to work with different profiles without having to keep logging in and out. Google Chrome 13 also has the latest Flash player – Version 10.3.181.14.

Google has been working on the experimental new tab page for a while and it looks like things are finally taking shape in Google Chrome 13. When you enable the feature from about:flags, you will see a new tab page which now lists most visited sites and apps in tabs. It also has additional tabs but they don’t have any content. The new tab feature could allow users to create customizable tabs where they can list out different apps, however, there is no option to customize them right now.

Google Chrome 13 also has an option to hide the toolbar which can be done by right click on a tab an selecting "Hide the toolbar" from the menu options. Using this option hides the Omnibox and extension icons. I would prefer to have a keyboard shortcut to enable and disable this feature.  You will need to visit the about:flags page and enable the "Compact Navigation" feature to get this option.

Finally, Google Chrome 13 also adds a new option to restrict Google Instant to only searches. Prior to that, Google Instant would kick in even when you load any webpage. This could get annoying and a feature to disable it is a great addition. You will have to enable this feature in about:flags too.

Overall, it looks like Google Chrome 13 is shaping out really well. Some of the features like multiple profiles and new tab page are really exciting. Hopefully, these changes should hit the beta and stable channels soon.

The much awaited laptop powered by Google Chrome (a cloud-based operating system) is all set for launch on June 15.

Here are few things that you need to about the all new Chromebook.

How does it work?

The Chromrebook should always be connected to the Internet in order to make use of its functionalities. In other words, everything will be on cloud and you’ll need Internet to access all of the apps, documents, photos, movies etc. Installing softwares or updating them, taking backup of files or running anti-virus checks and all other PC related tasks will be eliminated as everything will be done over the cloud.

Who will release the laptops?

Google has tied up with Samsung and Acer which will release laptops powered with Chrome OS.

The Samsung’s device will come with 12.1-inch screen with an 8-hour battery life and will retail for $429 (Wi-Fi enabled) and $499 (3G enabled laptop), while Acer’s device will be an 11.6-inch display and a 6.5-hour battery life. Acer’s notebook will start at $349 and up.

No storage

Since Chromebook is Internet based, all of the files and folders will be stored on the cloud. The laptops will be highly integrated with the cloud services and there will be no storage space available. However, the laptop will have slots to plug in other storages devices.

Boot-up Time?

According to Google, Chromebooks will boot in about less than eight seconds. Once it is up and running it’ll check for any updates and will reboot up with the latest version.

Offilne mode?

Yes, you can work with your Chromebook if you’re not connected to the Internet. You can access Google Docs, Google Calendar and Gmail accounts without an Internet connection. (You won’t be updated with new notifications/mails if you’re not connected to the Internet)

Security

Chromebooks uses the principle of “defense in depth” to provide multiple layers of protection, so if any one layer is bypassed, others are still in effect. Your files and folders will be protected and will be kept safe.

Availability

Chromebooks will be available for sale from June 15.

Laptop Specs

Acer Specifications:
11.6″ HD Widescreen CineCrystalTM LED-backlit LCD
2.95 lbs. | 1.34 kg.
6 hours of continuous usage 1
Intel® AtomTM Dual-Core Processor
Built in dual-band Wi-Fi and World-mode 3G (optional)
HD Webcam with noise cancelling microphone
High-Definition Audio Support
2 USB 2.0 ports
4-in-1 memory card slot
HDMI port
Fullsize Chrome keyboard

Samsung Specifications:
12.1″ (1280×800) 300 nit Display
3.26 lbs / 1.48 kg
8.5 hours of continuous usage 1
Intel® AtomTM Dual-Core Processor
Built in dual-band Wi-Fi and World-mode 3G (optional)
HD Webcam with noise cancelling microphone
2 USB 2.0 ports
4-in-1 memory card slot
Mini-VGA port
Fullsize Chrome keyboard
Oversize fully-clickable trackpad
Oversize fully-clickable trackpad

Google Chrome 12 (v12.0.712.0) has made it to the development channel from the Canary Build. The new version adds a few new features to the browser and contains more behind the scenes updates and code refactoring.

One of the new features in Google Chrome 12 is called multi-tab select (Windows only). This feature allows you to select multiple tabs using the Ctrl button and perform actions on them like reloading all webpages or closing tabs among other things. I tried working with this feature but could not use it very well.

Another new feature available in this build is an experimental new tab page (through about:flags). The new experimental tab page adds a paged navigation for apps which will allow users to scroll through all the installed apps. It looks like it is more geared towards touch interfaces. However, this experimental new tab page is in its infancy stage and does not do much as of now.

Chrome 12 also has a new experimental feature called FPS counter which will display a page’s actual frame rate (FPS) when hardware acceleration is active. Other than that, the V8 engine has been updated to 3.2.3.1 in all versions of the browser.

Barely a few days after Google released the Google Chrome 10 to the stable channel. They have updated the Canary Build to Google Chrome 12. Chrome Development channel is still on Google Chrome 11 which means that it will get rolled out to other channels soon.

The latest version has been bumped to 12.0.701.0 whereas the current development build is at version 11.0.696.3. I haven’t seen any new changes to the user interface or settings in this build, but I do know that there are some really big changes in them.

I will continue looking at what changes have been pushed to this build and will update this post with more information about them. One thing I am happy though is that couple of bugs I had reported have been fixed in this build.

Last month Google released the beta version of Google Chrome 10 to the public. Chrome 10 used the new V8 engine which made it 2 times faster than the previous version. In addition to that, it also included a new settings page which is similar to what is found on a Cr-48 Netbook.

Today, Google has released Google Chrome 10 to the stable channel, making the update available to everyone. Google Chrome 10 also supports password sync, so you can sync your passwords and access it on any computer. In addition to that you can also set a secret passphrase for the sync to secure your synced data. Google Chrome 10 also comes integrated with the latest Flash player, so you will be using Flash 10.2.

If you are using the stable update, this new version should automatically be pushed to you shortly. You can also go to Settings -> About and check for updates. Alternatively, you can download Google Chrome 10 from http://www.google.com/chrome.

So go ahead and experience the latest and greatest browser from Google. It’s fast and you won’t be disappointed.

Have you ever visited a website on a browser to be shown a message that the website cannot be loaded? Well, I have been through that several times. It could be due to a DDoS attack or due to a website suffering from heavy user traffic. However, the browser message is not always useful to end users.

That said, if you are a Google Chrome user (dev version for now), there is some cloud intelligence being used to determine why a website is down, whilst providing users with an option to still surf the webpage through a Cached copy available on Google.

A couple of years back, Google kick-started the speed race among browsers with Chrome’s superlative performance. The very first release of Chrome blew everyone away with its V8 JavaScript engine, which was miles ahead of the competition. Now that some of the other competitors like Opera have caught up (and perhaps surpassed Chrome), Google is doing it again.

A short while back, Sundar Pichai, VP of Product Management, unveiled Crankshaft – a new compilation infrastructure for V8. Judging from the benchmark results posted at the Chromium blog, it won’t be an understatement to say that Crankshaft dramatically improves Chrome’s JavaScript rendering speed.

Two years ago, I was introduced to Google Chrome, one of the fastest browsers I had ever used for a while and it still continues to be one of the fastest. You can read my first impressions of Google Chrome.

Google Chrome also has one of the fastest development cycles, and has quickly reached version 6.0 for their stable version and version 7 for their development cycle. Chrome 7 is exciting in several ways with the introduction of hardware acceleration and voice translation along with Chrome Labs which should be part of dev channel shortly.

Today, Chrome has celebrated its 2nd birthday with the introduction of the stable version of Chrome 6 for the masses. Chrome 6 is 3 times faster than the first version of Chrome, which shows leaps and bounds of improvement.

The thing I have liked about Chrome is the simplicity and speed. Over the past two years, Chrome has definitely made simple more simpler with subtle changes that have made using the browser a delight. Since it’s initial release, Google Chrome has added Chrome Extensions, auto-correction and several other features which make the browser one of the best available today.

If you haven’t used Chrome yet, I would definitely suggest you give it a go by downloading it at http://www.google.com/chrome. Don’t forget to read about all the Google Chrome Extensions we have talked about in the past too.

Happy 2nd Birthday Google Chrome.

It’s no secret that Google sees the browser as a central part of future computing devices. The Chrome OS is just one of the many manifestations of this particular vision of the future. In Chrome OS, the browser (Google Chrome) is used to do everything from listening to music to editing documents and creating spreadsheets.

While Chrome OS based devices are still a few months away, Google is working hard to get its browser ready for various form factors. Just yesterday, we reported that future versions of Chrome will future GPU Acceleration that will enable it to do heavy duty computing (like scaling videos) with ease. Now DownloadSquad has discovered that speech recognition has been enabled in the latest Chromium builds. Of course, Chrome isn’t the first browser to get voice recognition. Opera received voice navigation support as far back as 2005 with Opera 8. However, this feature works only on Opera for Windows, and since its initial release there has been very little further improvement.

Google has also uncorked a few other handy features in Chrome, including support for device orientation and Google Labs. The former is an essential feature for netbooks, tablets and other accelerometer enabled devices. The latter on the other hand will enable curious users to get a taste of the latest features being cooked up by Google. To access it simply type about:labs in the omnibar (address bar). For now, Windows users can enjoy tabs on the left, while Mac users can play around with Google’s implementation of Tab Expose.

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Google has made every attempt to keep Chrome secure and safe from hackers. However, it was only a question of days before someone outsmarted their annoying sandbox and today is the day.

Google Chrome has been hacked by a browser plugin! The plugin checks for login account details on Gmail, Twitter and Facebook and runs with the help of JQuery. Once again, this is a proof of concept hack and will not leak any information retrieved in the process.

The hack has exploited the access to DOM, which the plugins are allowed. The hack can also be used to steal cookies and hijack sessions as reported by the hacker Andreas Grech on his blog.

He writes,

The Google Chrome browser allows the installation of third-party extensions that are used to extend the browser to add new features. The extensions are written in JavaScript and HTML and allow manipulation of the DOM, amongst other features.

By allowing access to the DOM, an attacker can thus read form fields…including username and password fields. This is what sparked my idea of creating this PoC.

A Mozilla Firefox employee, Asa Dotzler, in his blog,  has estimated from the recent download stats of both Google Chrome and Firefox that, for every one new user of Google Chrome there will be 2.5 new users of Firefox. He has also created a graph in which you can see the download rates of both the browsers. Here is the graph:

It is difficult to say which is good. Firefox has been ruling the browser industry for a long time, while the new baby, Google Chrome has also made a tremendous growth in a short span of time.

However, I personally feel that, one factor for the exponential growth of the Chrome browser is advertising. Google has been advertising its browser everywhere. Starting from its homepage, Chrome ads are on, almost every page of Youtube. They also have promoted it offline by creating banners all over Europe.

Within a fairly short time, Google Chrome has managed to make a name for itself. Its impressive performance coupled with Google’s aggressive promotion has allowed it to zoom past Opera and Safari. However, fame always comes with a price to pay.

The increased adaption of Chrome has prompted malware developers to focus their attention on Google Chrome. According to BitDefender, there is already at least one malware, which is specifically targeted at Chrome users.

The trojan in question spreads through unsolicited emails, which lures unsuspecting users by promising better e-mail management features in Chrome. Once a user clicks on the supplied link, he is taken to a look-alike of the official Google Chrome extensions page, which serves an executable file (.exe) that spreads the infection.

It is worth noting that the malware does not directly exploit Google Chrome. Instead, it just uses it as an vehicle for fooling gullible users. The lesson in this case is simple – always pay attention to what you are downloading and from where you are downloading.