Chrome: Keeping track of everyone in the news isn't easy. Summer is an extension for Chrome that provides short, biographical info on everyone mentioned in a news story without having to leave the page you're reading.More »

iOS: Google took the wraps off of Chrome for the iPhone and iPad today, complete with the omnibar that allows for instant searches, pre-fetching pages, and swipe gestures to manage and close tabs, all on your iPhone or iPad. More »

 

iOS/ChromeOS: If you've been waiting for offline document editing in Google Docs, wait no longer. Google announced offline editing at Google I/O today, and Google Drive, Google's Dropbox-like competitor, picked up native apps for iOS and Chrome OS which allow you to view and edit documents in full screen on your iPhone, iPad, or Chromebook. More »

Android: There's nothing major to announce in the latest version of Google's official Chrome browser for Android, but today they've announce that it's finally out of beta: More »

Chrome: Ford KeyFree is a Chrome extension that automatically logs into your Google, Facebook, and Twitter logins when your phone is near your computer, then logs you out when you walk away. It's made by the car company; it looks awesome. More »

According to digital analytics site StatCounter, Google Chrome has passed Internet Explorer as the most popular web browser with 31.88% of the world's web traffic. Internet Explorer wasn't far behind coming in at a close second with 31.47%.More »

According to a note published by Macquarie Equities Research, Google is working on an iPhone and iPad version of its Chrome browser, slated for launch sometime this year.More »

Rss news feeds are still one of the best ways to receive updates and news when they happen. When it comes to apps, users have several options at hand. From desktop readers over online services such as Google Reader, to mobile readers and reader extensions for the web browser.

News Factory is a Rss reader extension for the Chrome browser that introduces several interesting new features that the majority of alternatives do not offer in this form. Probably the most interesting feature is that it will automatically parse the history of the browser for news sources, to make the adding of feeds to the reader as comfortable as possible.

Just click on the add button to add a feed to the Rss reader, or use the search form at the top to paste a website url or feed url directly that you want to add.

While that’s a cool way of providing the interested user with a list of feed suggestions, it lacks the option to import existing feeds from an OPML file or other service. But reading dozens or even hundreds of feeds is not what the extension has been designed for anyway.

There is another way of adding feeds that needs to be mentioned here. When you visit a page with a feed, or a feed url directly, you see a button pop up that allows you to add the feed to the reader application.

Feeds can be read with a click on the News Factory icon in the Chrome address bar.  By default, all feeds are mixed together in the interface. You can filter the feed listing to only display a single feed by selecting that feed’s icon in the interface.

You only see partial feeds in the reader. Each item is listed with its title, source, time of posting and the first few lines of text. A click opens the article on the original site in a new tab.

In addition to reading feeds actively, News Factory also displays notifications on the desktop when new items have been posted on monitored sites.

According to the information on the extension’s website, it can also tap into Google Reader feeds if the user is logged into the Google account. The extension is not saving any account data though, which means that users need to make sure they are logged in to use the functionality.

Chrome: The New York Times is lowering its free article allowance from 20 articles per month to 10. Make those 10 page views more pleasant with Ochs, a Chrome extension that slims down the toolbars, brings high-res art out front, and puts the focus on the reading.More »

It's no secret that there's big money to be made in violating your privacy. Companies will pay big bucks to learn more about you, and service providers on the web are eager to get their hands on as much information about you as possible. More »

Q:

How can I burn a slideshow that I made in iPhoto on my MacBook Pro onto a CD?

A:

You can export the slideshow as a video (a QuickTime movie in Apple parlance) and then burn that video to your CD.

Here’s how: In iPhoto, after you’ve created the photo slideshow, with titles, music and so forth, click on the “Export” button at the bottom of the slideshow-creation window. Choose an option for the resolution of your movie and click “Export.”

Then, choose a destination on your hard disk where you’ll temporarily store the movie. Next, insert the recordable CD, and copy the movie into the window representing the CD. Finally, click on the “Burn” button at the upper right of that CD window.

Q:

I have recently gone almost all Google: I moved my business email to Google, am using Google Docs, etc. I am in need of a new laptop and am considering a Google Chromebook. My question / concern is: What about programs I may need, such as iTunes, or some printer / scanner software, or an accounting suite? Will there be room for some of these programs and if so, will they operate on Chrome OS?

A:

If you've got an Android device running Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0), you can now download the beta version of Google's Chrome browser from the Android Market, complete with many of the things we love about Chrome—like bookmark syncing and Incognito mode—but on your mobile device. More »

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 »

Chrome: Most feed readers default to a long list of headlines and articles with a folder-like navigation tree on the left to help you sift through your feeds and unread posts. It works, but FeedSquares is a Chrome extension that connects to Google Reader and uses tiles to display your feeds instead. Highlighted and off-axis tiles indicate new topics, and you can click any tile to see the posts for that feed, and any article to bring up the full text. More »

Chrome: fPrivacy is a new Chrome add-on that gives you granular control over the permissions that Facebook apps request when you add them to or authorize them to access your account. For example, if you add a Facebook app and you're not too comfortable with the app's ability to post to your wall, or access your data at any time, you can deny those specific permissions while granting the other ones required for the app to function. More »

A new Google-funded study of browser security by security research firm Accuvant Labs crowned Chrome the champion of security features, and ranked Firefox below Internet Explorer in terms of protection available from web-borne threats. Predictably, Microsoft and Mozilla have different opinions on what makes a browser secure, and why Accuvant's findings are off base. All of this got us thinking about which browser is the most secure, and whether the security features listed in studies like this even matter to the rest of us. More »

Chrome: Now that more of you are using Chrome than ever before, it's also likely you're using more Chrome extensions than ever before. Disable All Extensions, as the name implies, gives you one button to enable or disable all of your Chrome extensions quickly without restarting the browser, or select individual ones to toggle or uninstall whenever you choose. More »

Firefox/Chrome/Safari: News aggregation service News360's (@news360app) new browser extension, Periscope, offers up likeminded stories related to the news articles you're reading to the top of your screen.More »

Previously available only to Chrome and Safari users, Kindle Cloud Reader now works on Firefox, so you can read your Kindle books from within Mozilla's browser online or offline.