Google building 3D hardware boost into Chrome - Web News

Google building 3D hardware boost into Chrome - Web News: "Departing significantly from what other browsers offer, Google has begun building its O3D plug-in for hardware-accelerated 3D graphics into its Chrome browser.
“The O3D team is working on getting O3D integrated into the Chromium build, and we’re close to being able to complete our first step towards integration,” said programmer Greg Spencer in a mailing list announcement Wednesday about Chromium, the open-source project that underlies Chrome itself. “I’ll be making the Windows build of Chromium be dependent upon building O3D as part of the build process.”
By helping to pave the way for high-powered Web-based games, the move furthers Google’s ambition to speed the transformation of the Web from a static medium into a foundation for applications. Another piece of the work is Google Native Client, which is designed to let Web applications take advantage of a computer’s native processing power.
The overall effort has taken on new importance with the announcement of Chrome OS, Google’s Chrome-based operating system set to arrive on Netbooks in the second half of 2010. Chrome OS will use Linux under the covers, but the real foundation for Chrome OS applications is the Web, Google has said.
Native Client coming, too
Google plans to build Native Client into Chrome, too.
“We recognize that there is well-justified resistance to installing browser plug-ins. For this reason, we have a strong preference for delivering Native Client pre-installed or built into the browser, and we’ll be focusing on that as our main strategy for delivering Native Client to users,” said Brad Chen, engineering manager of the Google Native Client effort, in June."
http://www.allfeedz.com/3094/google-building-3d-hardware-boost-into-chrome-2

Google Drops A Nuclear Bomb On Microsoft. And It’s Made of Chrome.

Wow. So you know all those whispers about a Google desktop operating system that never seem to go away? You thought they might with the launch of Android, Google’s mobile OS. But they persisted. And for good reason, because it’s real.

In the second half of 2010, Google plans to launch the Google Chrome OS, an operating system designed from the ground up to run the Chrome web browser on netbooks. “It’s our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be,” Google writes tonight on its blog.

But let’s be clear on what this really is. This is Google dropping the mother of bombs on its chief rival, Microsoft. It even says as much in the first paragraph of its post, “However, the operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web.” Yeah, who do you think they mean by that?

And it’s a genius play. So many people are buying netbooks right now, but are running WIndows XP on them. Windows XP is 8 years old. It was built to run on Pentium IIIs and Pentium 4s. Google Chrome OS is built to run on both x86 architecture chips and ARM chips, like the ones increasingly found in netbooks. It is also working with multiple OEMs to get the new OS up and running next year.

Obviously, this Chrome OS will be lightweight and fast just like the browser itself. But also just like the browser, it will be open-sourced. Think Microsoft will be open-sourcing Windows anytime soon?

As Google writes, “We have a lot of work to do, and we’re definitely going to need a lot of help from the open source community to accomplish this vision.” They might as well set up enlistment booths on college campuses for their war against Microsoft.

Google says the software architecture will basically be the current Chrome browser running inside “a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel.” So in other words, it basically is the web as an OS. And applications developers will develop for it just as they would on the web. This is similar to the approach Palm has taken with its new webOS for the Palm Pre, but Google notes that any app developed for Google Chrome OS will work in any standards-compliant browser on any OS.
What Google is doing is not recreating a new kind of OS, they’re creating the best way to not need one at all.

So why release this new OS instead of using Android? After all, it has already been successfully ported to netbooks. Google admits that there is some overlap there. But a key difference they don’t mention is the ability to run on the x86 architecture. Android cannot do that (though there are ports), Chrome OS can and will. But more, Google wants to emphasize that Chrome OS is all about the web, whereas Android is about a lot of different things. Including apps that are not standard browser-based web apps.

But Chrome OS will be all about the web apps. And no doubt HTML 5 is going to be a huge part of all of this. A lot of people are still wary about running web apps for when their computer isn’t connected to the web. But HTML 5 has the potential to change that, as you’ll be able to work in the browser even when not connected, and upload when you are again.

We’re starting to see more clearly why Google’s Vic Gundotra was pushing HTML 5 so hard at Google I/O this year. Sure, part of it was about things like Google Wave, but Google Wave is just one of many new-style apps in this new Chrome OS universe.

But there is a wild card in all of this still for Microsoft: Windows 7. While Windows XP is 8 years old, and Windows Vista is just generally considered to be a bad OS for netbooks, Windows 7 could offer a good netbook experience. And Microsoft had better hope so, or its claim that 96% of netbooks run Windows is going to be very different in a year.

Google plans to release the open source code for Chrome OS later this year ahead of the launch next year. Don’t be surprised if this code drops around the same time as Windows 7. Can’t wait to hear what Microsoft will have to say about all of this. Good thing they have a huge conference
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/07/google-drops-a-nuclear-bomb-on-microsoft-and-its-made-of-chrome/

Google enhances and open sources its Update software

Google has both refreshed and open sourced its Google Update software, which is code-named Omaha. By making the software available under the open source Apache license, developers working on an auto-updater can use Google's code, which also enables Google to publish updates and plug security holes.

"Omaha allows us to add features seamlessly and address any bugs or security problems, all without concern that these updates will disrupt our users," wrote Myles Jordan of Google's software engineering team in a blog post on Friday. "Omaha allowed us to ship 12 versions of Chrome beta in 4 months, without requiring Chrome users to work hard to keep their browsers up to date. Such behavior is very useful for new features, but essential for security vulnerabilities."

Jordan explained that Google products, including Chrome and Google Earth, all use Google update as a shared infrastructure for keeping products up to date on users' PCs.

Sharing the source code will also provide transparency and give users more control over the whole process, Jordan wrote, since Google Update runs behind the scenes on a user PC and there is no easy way to stop it.

"Obviously, we understand that not everyone is both willing and able to read through our code, but we hope that those of you who do will confirm for the rest that Google Update's functionality serves well to keep your software up to date," Jordan added.
Source: http://www.techworld.com.au/index.php?q=article/299057/google_enhances_open_sources_its_update_software&fp=4194304&fpid=1

Google’s Android to run laptops, challenge Microsoft

GOOGLE Inc. is set to offer its free Android mobile phone operating system for computers, opening a new front in its rivalry with Microsoft Corp. by challenging the dominance of the company’s Windows software.

Acer Inc., the world’s second-largest laptop maker, will release a low-cost notebook powered by Android next quarter, Jim Wong, head of information technology products at the Taipei-based company, said yesterday. Asustek Computer Inc., pioneer of the sub-$500 laptops known as netbooks, also has developed a model that runs on Google’s software, chairman Jonney Shih said.

The adoption of Android-based netbooks may eat into Windows’s share of about 90 percent worldwide for personal computer (PC) operating systems. Google’s move escalates pressure on Microsoft as it prepares to introduce Windows 7, said Calvin Huang, an analyst at Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

“This is a negative and may force Microsoft to lower the price of Windows 7,” said Huang, who covers the computer industry from Taipei. “More and more vendors are adopting Android and non-Windows in their products, so this is a very good chance for Android to penetrate the PC market.”

Acer’s Android-based Aspire One netbook will be cheaper than the Windows XP model, though the two products will have the same electronic components, such as Intel Corp.’s Atom processor, Acer’s Wong said.

“Competition in the marketplace is good and people have the right to choose software that is best for them,” Amelia Agrawal, a Singapore-based spokesman for Microsoft, said in an e-mailed statement. “Microsoft remains confident that people will keep buying Windows, as evidenced by the robust Windows growth on small notebook PCs.”

Google introduced Android in 2007 as a software system for mobile phones. Android is based on Linux, an open-source operating system that’s free and developed by hundreds of engineers worldwide. Asustek said in February its engineers were trying to develop an Android-based netbook this year.

“Anyone can take the Android platform and add code or download it to create a mobile device without restrictions,” Google said in an e-mail. “We look forward to seeing what contributions are made and how an open platform spurs innovation.”

Microsoft also is challenging Google’s main business. Last week, the Redmond, Washington-based company unveiled Bing, an Internet search engine designed to compete against Google’s.

Asustek released the Eee PC netbook in October 2007, initially only offering Linux software. Microsoft jumped into the market and was able to grab 85 percent of mini-notebook sales by the fourth quarter of 2008, according to estimates at research firm Gartner Inc. Linux accounted for the rest.

“Google really does have the brand name and the financial resources to be able to be a rival to Microsoft,” Warren East, chief executive officer of chip designer ARM Holdings Plc., said in an interview. “The whole Linux community is a bit fragmented when you compare it with Microsoft.”

ARM, based in Cambridge, England, is a potential beneficiary of Android’s success because Microsoft’s Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 don’t run on ARM-based computers.

“Microsoft going forward may have to work on an ARM-based solution,” said Daiwa’s Huang. “If Microsoft doesn’t want to see Google Android get into the PC market, they will have to support ARM; otherwise, ARM will go perfectly with Android.”

Qualcomm Inc. and Freescale Semiconductor Inc., which make chips based on ARM’s technology, said they expect to release products this year for netbooks that run Google’s operating system.

Google’s cachet will help get the computers into retailers such as Best Buy Inc. or France’s Fnac electronics chain, said Henri Richard, chief sales and marketing officer for Freescale.

“It’s important to be able to convince Fnac or Best Buy to put a product on their shelf, and that’s where I think Android is going to be more helpful,” Richard said in an interview. (Bloomberg)

http://businessmirror.com.ph/component/content/article/52-technology/11615-googles-android-to-run-laptops-challenge-microsoft.html

Google Chrome for Mac and Linux, Dev Preview

In the past 9 months, Google Chrome's developers have been hard at work to post the Windows version of the browser to Mac and Linux. Even if the Mac and Linux versions aren't ready for the general public, Google decided to release a developer preview for those who want to use an early version of the browser.

"In order to get more feedback from developers, we have early developer channel versions of Google Chrome for Mac OS X and Linux, but whatever you do, please DON'T DOWNLOAD THEM! Unless of course you are a developer or take great pleasure in incomplete, unpredictable, and potentially crashing software. How incomplete? So incomplete that, among other things , you won't yet be able to view YouTube videos, change your privacy settings, set your default search provider, or even print," explains the Chromium blog.

The Mac version requires Intel CPU and Mac OS X 10.5.6, while the Linux version requires Intel Pentium 4 / Athlon 64 or later CPU, and Ubuntu 8.04 or Debian 5 or later.

I installed Google Chrome 3.0.183.1 in Ubuntu 8.10 and the process was painless. Most web pages are rendered properly, with the notable exception of the pages that require Flash or Google Gears. The settings dialog lacks many of the options that are available in the Windows version, the bookmark manager doesn't work, you can't change the default search engine, but these are just missing features that will be added in the near future.

Google Chrome for Mac:

http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2009/06/google-chrome-for-mac-and-linux-dev.html

Google launches first TV ads

Chrome launched last September in a direct bid to lure users away from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Google has famously avoided traditional marketing routes in the past, however it is now desperate to promote Chrome.

Since the initial burst of publicity, Chrome has failed to provide serious competition to rival browsers, such as Internet Explorer or Mozilla’s Firefox.

 Chrome is used by just 1.4% of internet users compared to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, used by 66% of users, according to Net Applications market share statistics. Mozilla’s Firefox comes in second place, as the browser choice of 22% of web users and Apple’s Safari program comes in third, with 8%.

On the official Google blog, the company explained that the video was originally made by a team from Google Japan as a YouTube clip, but had proved so effective, that it had decided to take it onto traditional TV.

“We designed a Google TV Ads campaign which we hope will raise awareness of our browser, and also help us better understand how television can supplement our other online media campaigns,” said Mike Steib, director, Google TV Ads.

The Google TV Ads system allows Google to act as a broker to sell advertising time on the US TV networks. By using its to book its own TV ad, it is thought the company is trying to promote the service – which has enjoyed limited success since launch two years ago.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/google/5307663/Google-launches-first-TV-ads.html