Hasta La Gadget!

You’re probably a lot like us: more handsome and socially adept, naturally, but with a similar fear of robots and penchant for living fast and loose with pre-release developer builds. As such, the latest changes to the stable release of the Chrome browser won’t be of much use to you. Nevertheless, Google’s official window to the web was just injected with a speed bump, 3D WebGL graphics, Google Chrome Instant search results, and the Chrome Web Store already available in Chrome’s beta channel. If nothing else, please, we beg you, do the right thing and inform the local luddite.

Google Chrome 9 update brings speed, WebGL, and apps originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 02:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hard to believe that the infamous “fragmentation” term is now being bandied about in the web browser world, but sure enough, it’s Microsoft using the term today to describe the brave new realm we’re living in. If you’ll recall, Google defended its decision to not include H.264 support natively in Chrome, but maintained that WebM plug-ins were coming to Safari and Internet Explorer 9. Today, Microsoft’s kinda-sorta returning the favor. Following the outfit’s release of a Firefox add-on to bring full H.264 support to Windows machines, the outfit is releasing a plug-in for Chrome (only the Windows version for now) that provides support for H.264. Furthermore, it’s committed to supporting third-party WebM video plug-ins; to quote, users “will be able to play WebM video in IE9.” It’s fairly obvious that Microsoft’s taking this golden opportunity to push its browser as one that supports everything (rather than just its own preferred format), but regardless of the motives, we’re just happy to see differences put aside and compatibility finding priority.

Microsoft releases H.264 plug-in for Google Chrome, vows to support WebM video in IE9 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 14:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, come on, Google! If you’re going to give us desktop notifiers for our favorite email and chat clients, you’ve got to play nice and let us have them on more than your own browser, right? To be fair to the Chrome maker, it’s standardizing the code it’s used in its new HTML5 alerts so that other browsers can soon use it too, but as of today, you’ll need to use the Google-sanctioned webscape navigator if you want its sweet new pop-ups on your desktop. We gave them a quick try and they’re delightfully quick, with Gtalk message alerts updating themselves to the latest one received instead of stacking up and threatening your sanity. Hit the source link to learn how to enable the new notifications.

Google adds HTML5 Gmail and Gtalk notifications for the desktop, makes you envy Chrome users originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 05:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google’s Cloud Print is now live, and you can print directly from your Android or iOS device to any printer you might have lying around. Right now, you can see the new feature by going to Gmail and pressing the double-arrowed “more” button. “Print” is now an option in the resulting drop-down menu.

Unlike Apple’s AirPrint, which works over the local Wi-Fi network and currently requires an AirPrint-compatible printer (or an easy workaround), Cloud Print sends your print jobs via the internet. You need to install the Chrome browser onto any computer with a printer, and then enable Cloud Print in the settings. This is tied to your Google account, and there’s even a page for managing your printers and print jobs.

Right now, you’ll need a Windows PC hooked up to the printer, running Google Chrome 9.0.597.1 or later. Linux and Mac support should be following soon. Currently you can print emails from Gmail and documents from Google Docs. You can also print from Google’s Chrome notebook computers.

This is exactly how printing should always have worked – no worrying about drivers or installations, just sign into your account and print. It’s ironic it has happened just when most of us no longer need to print anything onto paper. I have been using a version of this ever since I ditched my own printer years ago: I just email my documents to the local copy shop and pick them up on my way to the bar next door.

Cloud printing on the go [Google Mobile Blog]

See Also:

• HP Printers Work with Apple's iOS4 AirPrint
• AirPrint
• Print Wirelessly From iPad to Any Printer? There's an App for That …
• How to Print With Any Printer From iPad, iPhone
• Rumor: Apple's iOS Printing Crippled on Release

Ever been freaked out by an online ad that seemed to know you that little bit too well? It’s the result of good old advertisers tracking your net-navigating habits and delivering targeted commercials to your eyeballs, but it can be prevented. Both Google and Mozilla have stepped up (or perhaps been pushed by the FTC) to try and tackle this issue of pernicious tracking cookies, but they’ve gone about it in different ways. The Chrome solution is a Keep My Opt-Outs browser extension that remembers the sites you don’t want personalized information from, while Firefox will start beaming out a Do Not Track HTTP header that should be respected by advertisers and result in you receiving generic, repetitive ads. The important commonality between the two is that they don’t rely on you preparing a cookie file with all your anti-advertiser bile contained within it (which was the FTC’s original, somewhat impractical idea). Google intends to open-source its extension and bring it to other browsers as well, though obviously it’s taking care of Chrome first, which can benefit from the add-on right now.

Chrome and Firefox adding new opt-out features to prevent third-party advertisers from tracking you originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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