google chrome

Google's new VP9 video technology reaches public view

VP9, the successor to Google's VP8 video compression technology at the center of a techno-political controversy, has made its first appearance outside Google's walls.

Google has built VP9 support into Chrome, though only in an early-stage version of the browser for developers. In another change, it also added support for the new Opus audio compression technology that's got the potential to improve voice communications and music streaming on the Internet.

VP9 and Opus are codecs, technology used to encode streams of data into compressed form then decode them later, enabling efficient use of limited network or storage … Read more

First day tips and tweaks for new MacBook owners

As much as new MacBook owners love to rave about their systems, no laptop -- even one with an Apple logo -- comes right out of the box ready to perform optimally.

And while it's certainly exciting to unwrap a new holiday MacBook, there are a handful of tweaks, tips, and fixes you should check out on day one that will make your MacBook easier to use. I've put together some of my personal favorites here.

There are many more I could list, and I'm sure I've left out some of your favorites, so feel free … Read more

Chrome search refinements on their way

Some slight search changes are coming to Chrome, as Google updates the developer's version of the browser today to make getting to your search results more quickly.

Initially released to a small subset of people using Chrome dev for Windows (download) and the developer's version of Chrome OS (read CNET review) that also have Google set as their default search provider, the changes affect both the new tab page and any searches you type into your location bar.

Google software engineer David Holloway wrote in his blog post announcing the search improvements that they're a response to … Read more

How and why Gmail and Chrome crashed yesterday

Google's email service crumbled yesterday for about 40 minutes, leaving millions of enterprise and consumer users without access to their cloud-stored email.

Gmail didn't fall down due to a denial-of-service attack as was reported initially yesterday (which was quickly amended), despite no initial evidence to suggest that it was. The search giant said on its dashboard status pages:

Although our engineering team is still fully engaged on investigation, we are confident we have established the root cause of the event and corrected it.

Then millions of Google Chrome browsers crashed at around the same time. … Read more

Android's Google Now services headed for Chrome, too

It looks like Chrome users, not just Android users, will get access to Google Now, the search giant's technology for bringing weather reports, trip departure reminders, birthday alerts, nearby restaurant reviews, and more to the attention of Android users.

Google's Chrome team added a "skeleton for Google Now for Chrome" to the Google browser yesterday, an early step in a larger project to show Google Now notifications in Chrome.

Google Now integration into Chrome gives Google a new way to connect people closely to online services that Google judges to be relevant depending on time and … Read more

Save files to Google Drive with Chrome add-on Save to Drive

This Chrome extension is particularly useful for Chromebook users and anyone who uses Google Drive to store their files more so than their hard drive. If either of these profiles describes you, then I would urge you to give Save to Drive a try. It's dead simple to use and provides useful functionality for storing any image you stumble across in Chrome, along with HTML5 video and audio files.

When you spot such a file you'd like to keep, right-click it. With Save to Drive installed, you'll see a line -- Save image to Google Drive -- … Read more

Zoom around the vast Milky Way in a browser

In the grand scheme of things, it's fair to say our solar system is very tiny.

You might especially agree with that statement after viewing 100,000 Stars, a Google Chrome Experiment Web page that gives anyone the chance surf around the our slice of the universe from the comfort of their Internet browser. Spacesuit and oxygen supply optional. … Read more

Chrome 23 review: Do Not Track support, better battery management come to Chrome

Google Chrome has matured from a lightweight and fast browsing alternative into an innovative, standard-bearing browser that people love. It's powerful enough to drive its own operating system, Chrome OS. The browser that people can use today, Chrome 23, offers highly competitive features, including synchronization, autofill, and standards compliance, and maintains Google's reputation for building one of the fastest browsers available.

Chrome 23 represents a major milestone for the browser, but those expecting to see dramatic changes in major version-point updates will be disappointed. For a while now, Google has been pushing features over what it calls milestone … Read more

Google: Chrome has gotten 26 percent faster this year

It's not just your imagination -- Chrome really is getting faster.

Google said today that its JavaScript benchmark tool shows Chrome is 26 percent faster than it was last year.

"Stability sometimes takes higher priority, but we're still manic about improving Chrome's speed," Google's Toon Verwaest said in a blog post.

One way Google avoids the bloat that has crippled other browsers over the years -- the company set up automated tests to notify engineers whenever a change in the code makes the browser slower, Verwaest said.

The company's efforts aren't limited … Read more

Google promises less power-hungry Chrome -- for some

Google claims the updated version of its Chrome browser can lead to longer battery life for your computer -- if you have a dedicated graphics card.

The search giant unveiled the latest version on its blog today, touting the browser's ability to run GPU-accelerated video. You can get Google Chrome 23 stable for Windows (download), Mac (download), Linux (download), and Chrome Frame. Since separate graphic processing units are more power efficient than running off of a computer processing unit, the new Chrome can save a lot of battery life for anyone who watches online video.

Batteries tested with Chrome … Read more