Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft’s crossed yet another name off its patent licensing hit list, and this time the big red target lands squarely on Quanta. Under the undisclosed terms of the agreement, Android and Chrome-based devices manufactured by the Taiwanese OEM will be protected by Redmond’s vast patent portfolio. Of course, this means MS’ll receive royalties for granting access to its treasure trove of related IPs — of which it has no dearth of at the moment. In other news, Google continues to hope it’s all just a case of “opposite day.” Official PR in all its vagueness after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft and Quanta ink patent licensing agreement, Android continues to print money for its rival

Microsoft and Quanta ink patent licensing agreement, Android continues to print money for its rival originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Watch out, Internet Explorer. Google Chrome has finally added a business-first feature that will help it seriously challenge your dominance in enterprise settings. Chrome Remote Desktop (formerly referred to as  Chromoting) has finally launched in the Chrome Web Store. Like other remote desktop solutions, the Chrome app lets you set up one machine as a […]

The very latest software goodness from Google has arrived, with Chrome hitting its 14th iteration (celebration, anyone?). This one gives Mac OS X Lion users a little something extra, with access to overlay scrollbars within the browser. Chrome can also can also upsize itself now — accessible with a tap of the full-screen button or the more conventional Ctrl+Shift+F. The new web audio API gives developers the ability to add fancy sound effects and adjustments, whilst native client is an open-source addition; though this only supports apps in Chrome’s web store, it allows C and C++ code to be executed within the browser. Google adds that there’s been the usual bug clear-out, with the whole thing benefitting from a bit more polish — gotta keep up with those pesky web apps! If you’re already running Chrome, the automatic update should have kicked in, and new users can nab the download from the source below. If it’s good enough for Gaga…

[Thanks, Michael]

Stable release of Chrome 14 out now, brings a few upgrades for Lion users originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ever wondered what the World Wide Web’s illustrious history would look like if plotted in timeline form? Well, thanks to Google’s “Evolution of the web,” you won’t have to. The delectable chart traces the evolution of HTML, the web technologies that came alongside it and the browsers that’ve held it all together — all in a seriously meta HTML5 package. Ready for a trip down memory lane? Hit the source, friend, and revel at how far we’ve come.

Visualized: an interactive timeline of the web originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Since the death of Gears we’ve been, rather impatiently, awaiting the return of offline access to our Google apps. Well that day has finally come — provided you’re a Chrome fan. The fine folks in Mountain View just unveiled a new app for their browser (which means it also works on Chome OS) called Offline Google Mail that will keep you connected to your all-important messages even when you can’t get a connection. You’ll notice the app looks a heck of a lot like the web app for tablets, and that’s because that’s basically what it is. There are some differences — keyboard shortcuts work — but at it’s heart it’s the same HTML5 browser app mobile users have been enjoying for some time. To install the offline version you’ll have to uninstall the standard Gmail Chrome app, which is a little odd, but there’s nothing stopping you from typing Gmail.com in the address bar. Docs and Calendar are also going offline. Starting today the feature will be rolled out to users over the next week. To activate it just look under settings for an offline tick box. At the moment Docs is view only when disconnected, but Google promises offline editing is coming soon. Hit up the more coverage link to install Offline Gmail now.

Update: Google reached out to us and it turns out both can run side by side just fine. We were experiencing a bug that shouldn’t effect most users since we hadn’t let the Gmail app update recently.

Gmail, Google Docs and Calendar finally regain offline access originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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