chrome

The fact that Microsoft and Intel no longer rule the personal computing world isn't news. But what happens next is.

I'll start with a flashback from the early '90s. I remember attending the launch of Windows 3.1 when I lived in Japan. Kazuhiko Nishi, former friend and business partner of Bill Gates, made a statement that foretold the fate of the Japanese PC industry as well as the global PC market.

I'm paraphrasing, but he said Microsoft was the chassis and Intel the engine of the personal computer. The point, of course, was that the two … Read more

Direct browser support for Microsoft Office documents is coming in fits and spurts to Chrome. Google's latest effort is a portly extension for Chrome beta.

If you're running Google Chrome Beta on Windows or Mac, you can now install the Chrome Office Viewer. It will allow you to open links to Office files directly in the browser, a feature that was first announced with the Chromebook Pixel.

However, you're limited right now to merely viewing the files. To edit, you'll have to upload the file to Google Drive, or open it in Microsoft Office or another … Read more

Canary is a developer and beta version of Google Chrome's newest features. By allowing both versions of Chrome to run side-by-side, you can test out the newest features without sacrificing your stable version.

If you're using the most recent version of Canary, there's a new experimental feature that lets you view the offline cached versions of Web pages. Not sure if you have the most recent build? Easy fix. Just click the Settings icon in the top-right-hand corner, then choose About Google Chrome. Your browser will check for updates and apply any available.

So let's get … Read more

In its continuing march toward locking up deals with every major Android and Chrome device maker, Microsoft announced on Tuesday a patent-licensing agreement with Chinese manufacturer ZTE.

The deal grants ZTE a license to Microsoft's worldwide patent portfolio for ZTE phones, tablets, computers, and other devices that run Android and Chrome OS. Microsoft did not disclose if ZTE would pay royalties, or the amount it would pay, under the agreement.

Last week, Microsoft announced a similar deal with Foxconn's parent company, Hon Hai.

"Much of the current litigation in the so-called 'smartphone patent wars' could be avoided … Read more

Anyone needing proof that the post-PC era is real need only consult the recent sales figures: traditional PC sales are down 14 percent year over year, even as sales of tablets and smartphones -- mostly using Apple's iOS and Google's Android -- become more ubiquitous.

But even as Android adoption continues to flourish, Google has another horse in the race: Chrome OS. Chrome's mission statement is simple: With everything moving to "the cloud," why have a heavy, expensive Windows or Mac operating system acting as a middleman? Why not just have the browser be the OS? And that's precisely the reason it shares a name with Google's increasingly popular Web browser.

It's a clever enough idea, and one that plays to Google's strength: search, Gmail, Google Docs, Maps, Picasa, and nearly all of the company's other products don't require traditional software -- just a browser and a live Web connection. Still, when we last looked at it in the fall of 2012, we found Chrome OS to be promising, but ultimately not up to the level of a full-time OS. In other words, it was generally fine for a "second computer," but not quite ready to run your one and only go-to PC for every task.… Read more

The abundance of unused white space on the New Tab page in Chrome lends developers ample options for sprucing it up. While the extension I'm about to suggest isn't anything groundbreaking, it's definitely one of the better options out there in terms of usefulness.

Literally called "New Tab Page," this Chrome extension makes your New Tab useful and attractive but doesn't gain any creativity points for its name. Installing the extension is quick: just head to the entry for New Tab Page on the Chrome Web Store and click Add to Chrome. … Read more

Depending on the version of Chrome you're using, you may have noticed some changes to the black navigation bar along the top of the Google homepage. For some, the bar is still there, and for others, it has completely disappeared. One developer decided to make his own navigation menu, and luckily you can use it too.

Black Menu, by Carlos Jeurissen, is a Chrome extension that adds quick links to all of the popular Google services, like Gmail, Maps, Drive, YouTube, among others. Instead of waiting for Google to decide if the navigation bar will stay or go, … Read more

The Chromebook Pixel with Wi-Fi might already be available, but the LTE model is coming to some doorsteps today.

Google announced the Chromebook Pixel LTE's availability on its Google+ page yesterday, saying that some of the customers who ordered the device from its Google Play marketplace will start receiving their devices starting today.

Google said on its Chromebook Pixel LTE product page last month that the device would start shipping on April 8. The company is now promising ship times of three to five days on new orders.

The Chromebook Pixel LTE goes for $1,449. The device runs … Read more

It seems like just last week that Google was rolling out updates for its Chrome browser for iOS.

In fact, it was: Last week, Google added sharing and history features to Chrome for iOS.

Yesterday, Google brought a few more worthwhile features to its mobile browser: support for AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, and full-screen browsing. Version 26.0.1410.50 also lets you save any Web page as a PDF to your Google Drive account.

Full-screen browsing works just like in Safari: When you scroll up, the Omnibox (i.e., address bar) disappears to give you a bit more viewing … Read more