Google Chrome

At its breakfast event this morning, Google officially confirmed the Chromecast, which is a device that lets you “cast” content from your computer, smartphone, and tablet to your big screen TV. While most people don’t have their hands on the device yet, Google has just released the official Cast extension for Chrome.

The Google Cast extension enables you to find and play content on your Chromecast device from your Chrome browser. When on Cast optimized sites like YouTube and Netflix, you’ll see new options that let you play video on your TV via Chromecast – using your computer as a remote to browse for videos and to control playback. You can also cast any of your tabs in Chrome to your TV, letting you enjoy sites, photos, or even video from the best screen in your home.

The Chromecast itself is available from a variety of retailers, including Best Buy and Amazon.

Google just seemingly ‘cast’ its Google TV project to the curb.  As a much simpler version of GoogleTV, the leaked Chromecast allows you to do what you can now do on Google TV: pushing content from both Netflix and Youtube to your TV.  Unlike Airplay, the Chromecast stick allows the original device to turn off or go to sleep. It functions as a standalone streaming device, awaiting orders from an iOS device, Android device, or Chrome browser on a PC, Mac or Chromebook Pixel (strangely, other Chromebooks need not apply). 

Google has also baked in iOS support, which will allow users of both platforms to control Netflix or Youtube. You can also broadcast a tab in the Chrome Browser.

Google Play music and movies can also ‘cast’ to the best speakers in your house as long as those are connected to your TV. Pandora is coming soon.

It will be available from Google Play, Amazon and Best Buy as well as other retailers. We’ll have a review up as soon as possible. 
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Live from Google’s Android and Chrome event this morning, Google’s Sundar Pichai just provided an update on some of the company’s stats for tablet activations and Google Play content downloads. While noting that revenue per user on Google Play has increased 2.5X over the last year, Google announced that it now has 70 million tablet activations, up from around 10 million last year. It also announced it is now at 1 million apps on Google Play with over 50 billion app downloads.

A run-down of the announced statistics:

-70M tablet activations

-1 in 2 tablets is android

-now 50B+ app downloads, up from 20B last year

-Revenue per user up 2.5x over last year

-1 million apps in Google Play

-revenue increased by 2.5X for devs in last 12 months

-Nexus 7 is over 10% of Android tablets

-in Japan during holidays 45% of Android tablets in Japan were Nexus 7

Earlier this afternoon, several eagle-eyed people noticed that an odd device dubbed “Chromecast” was listed on Google Play’s device list (via Droid-Life). Many people have since speculated that the device, which has now been removed from Google’s support site, is some sort of Chrome dongle for your TV. 

Droid-Life reported on something like this a few weeks ago, though that device was called the Chromekey. It’s unclear how, or if, the two devices are related, but it seems likely that they are in some fashion. Droid-Life’s source told it that the Chromekey could “cast” your Chrome browser from another device (computer, smartphone) to your big screen TV. 

Several people also interrogated Google support live chat with questions about the Chromecast device and were told that it’s a TV service that’s available “only in a few areas.” When asked how and where the device could be purchased, the Google support representative simply said that she is not sure. 

More than likely, we’ll hear something about the Chromecast and/or Chromekey at tomorrow’s Breakfast with Sundar event, as he is the head of Chrome and Android for Google.  
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Since the iPad was announced, we’ve seen PC sales fall every year due to people discovering that they can do anything they need on a laptop on the more affordable iPad and Android tablets. Chromebooks, however, have become much more affordable over the last year, which has led to some people going with the Samsung and Acer models instead of tablets. According to the latest data from NPD Group Inc. (via Bloomberg), Chromebooks have accounted for between 20 and 25 percent of all laptop sales under $300 over the last eight months. Overall, according to IDC data, PC shipments fell 4 percent in 2012 and will fall 7.8 percent this year.

Overall,  Chromebooks still make up a small percentage of the entire laptop market. In the first quarter of 2013, Chromebooks accounted for 4 to 5 percent of laptop market. When you compare that to the 1 to percent in 2012, however, it’s pretty tremendous growth.

“We’re seeing tremendous growth, without a doubt — massive, massive growth,” said Caesar Sengupta, head of product development for Chromebooks.

This shows that affordable, entry-level Chromebooks are not buggy and inconsistent like many people expected them to be, but are rather decent alternatives to tablets for people who still want a keyboard. 
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Just a day after Chrome 28 was released to Mac and Windows with rich notifications, the update is now available to Android devices with a its own feature set. With the update, Chrome for Android now offers built-in Google Translate support, meaning that if you visit a site in a different language, a bar will appear at the bottom asking if you wish to translate it. The update also adds fullscreen support for tablets, as well as a new interface for languages that are read right-to-left.

The full change log from Google follows:

• Fullscreen on tablets – Scroll to hide the toolbar
• Google Translate – Look for translation bar when reading web pages in other languages
• New user interface for right-to-left (RTL) languages, including Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew

The update is available on the Play Store now. 
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Google on Tuesday began rolling out Chrome 28 to Windows and Mac users, though the main selling point of the update is only available to the former of those operating systems. With this update, Windows users will begin to see richer notifications than in previous builds. The rich notifications have been available in the beta build of Chrome for Windows for over a month, but only now is it rolling out to all users.

The new notifications offer a way to easily and quickly reply to emails, see calendar alerts, control music, and more. If you miss a handful of alerts, you can open up the new “notification center” to view them all at once.

We’ve designed these notifications to be beautiful, useful and engaging. They can display formatted text and images, and can include actions directly inside the pop-up (so you can respond to that email right away). Missed a bunch of notifications while you were taking a coffee break? No problem — you can open up the notification center to see them all in one place.

Acer’s C710. A bigger, thicker battery and more RAM (compared to Pixel and Samsung Chrombooks)

I’m an Apple snob – I’ve been using MacBook Pros and Airs almost exclusively for over a decade – in fact, it has gotten so bad that I can barely use or figure out Windows anymore. I often find the experience with anti-viruses, updates and crapware infuriating to the point where I’m no longer curious what happens in the Windows world.

On the other hand, I never have a problem jumping on a Chromebook (or Box) because it is almost exactly like using a browser in a desktop OS.  That makes using Chromebooks quick, easy and productive for me. I liked the cheap, ARM-based Samsungs and loved the decked out Pixel even though I’m still not able to give native apps up entirely (Twitter, Skype, iTunes, etc keep pulling me back). But for a second computer to use as either as a backup or special occasion device or for light computer users, I wholeheartedly recommend Chromebooks.

Acer initially had a bad rep in their Chromebook department because the initial offerings seemed to be repurposed Windows netbooks (and the problems that come along with them – including little RAM, bad battery life, HDDs instead of SSDs and cramped plastic-y keyboards). To be fair, I’m going on a few minutes of use at a Best Buy and a bunch of online reviews for those assumptions.

Last month, I finally got my hands on the updated Acer ‘C710-2055’ version which has a 50% bigger battery pack than earlier models, 4 GB of RAM, and an Intel Celeron 847 processor. The price was also bumped to $279 from $199.

So, $80 later, does Acer have a compelling Chromebook here?

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Back in May, Opera released a ‘sneak peak’ of its latest browser, Opera 15. The big selling point behind it was the engine under the hood. For the first time ever, the browser was powered by Chromium rather than Opera’s classic Presto engine. Today, the company has officially released the browser for both Mac and Windows in its final state to the public.

The new Opera for Windows and Mac runs on a Chromium engine, so you can access all your websites in a blink of an eye and have a smoother experience when you get there, thanks to improved site compatibility.

The latest version of  Opera includes a host of new features in addition to the new Chromium engine. For one, the Speed Dial homepage has been refreshed with the ability to create folders and more. A new ‘Stash’ feature lets you collect snapshots of saved webpages in one place and go back and reference them if needed. The new Discover feature automatically shows you the top articles from locations and categories you choose. Finally, Opera says that the browser should perform better on slow connections thanks to the new ‘Off-road’ mode.
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Google has rolled out an update to the developer channel build of Chrome OS that adds the experimental ability to edit Microsoft Word and Excel files. First noticed by Google Chromium evangelist François Beaufort, the feature is in the Chromium code review and simply reads “Improved Quickoffice editing about:flag.”

In order to use this feature, your Chrome OS device must be on the developer channel. If it is, then type “chrome://flags” into the address bar, find the “Enable document editing” entry, and click enable. Your machine will then be restarted and when it turns back on, you’ll have the ability to edit Word and Excel documents. 
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We’ve seen hints of Google Now coming to Chrome for a long time now, but it looks like we are getting very close to a launch. CNET has discovered a pop-up notification within the developer build of Chrome that says, “Enable Google Now Cards — Would you like to be shown Google Now cards?”

The prompt appears to be hitting those running the developer channel build of Chrome on both Windows and OS X. On Windows, the card appears in the status bar along the bottom, while on OS X it is in the menu bar up top. Google Now on the desktop could allow for directions to appear for a location you just searched or sports scores for your favorite team, which is similar to what it does on mobile.

Also on Windows is a control panel setting for controlling which web apps and extensions are allowed to send notification. This includes services like Gmail, Twitter, Google Calendar, and more. This could mean that Google is looking to open the notification technology to more and more apps. 
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Google on Tuesday released a new Google+ Photos app for the Chromebook Pixel. The company originally demoed the app when the Pixel was announced, but is just now releasing it to the public. The app lets you log in with your Goolge+ account and backup any photos on your Chromebook to the service.

For example, if you plug-in an external SD card the app will automatically back the pictures up to the Google+ servers. You can choose to upload them in either full resolution or Google’s default 2048 pixel wide format, though there’s a cap when it comes to uploading at full resolution. When offline, you have the ability to view your most recently uploaded photos, as well as anything on your external storage device. All your images that are uploaded are private at first, but you have the ability to share them with the public or individual people, as well.
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Update: Samsung has denied the claim, quoted in TNW as saying:

The rumor that Samsung is withdrawing from the PC desktop business is groundless. Samsung will continue to offer diverse PC products according to consumer and market needs.

Samsung has been the sole manufacture producing Chromeboxes over the last couple of years, but according to a new report from the Korea Times, the company will soon close its traditional desktop business. The report claims that Samsung has decided to close its unprofitable desktop PC business to focus on tablets, all-in-ones, and hybrid laptops. The company says that “demand for conventional desktop PCs is going down,” and that it would like to dedicate its resources “to popular connected and portable devices.”

Samsung says that even those in research and technology departments are being pressured to switch to tablets and convertible laptops.

“Tablets, all-in-one and hybrid PCs are Samsung’s current focus. Samsung is speeding up its restructuring of its PC business via product realignment toward profitable variants,” said a Samsung official.

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Back in February, we reported that Google was preparing to open its own retail stores by the end of the year in order to allow consumers to try Nexus, Chrome and even potentially more experimental products like Google Glass. According to a report today from The Economic Times, Google is in the process of opening new “Android Nation” retail stores in attempt to increase its exposure in India:

The US company will partner BK Modi’s Spice Global to set up the stores in various Indian cities, starting with New Delhi later this year. Like other such stores in Indonesia, each Android Nation store will promote and sell Android smartphones and tablets across multiple brands like Samsung, HTC, Sony, LG and Asus, to name a few. The first Indian store will open in New Delhi’s Select Citywalk, a person with direct knowledge of the situation informed ET. Google has been scouting for a 1,200-1,500 sq ft location for this store.

It actually won’t be the first time Google has opened up an Android Nation retail store. As noted in the report, Google also operates two locations in Jakarta, Indonesia through a partnership with Indonesian electronics retailer Erafone.

Google’s new efforts won’t just hit India, there are also apparently plans to expand into the Middle East, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Africa with the help of partner Spice Global. The company will also turn 50 of its 900 Spice Hotspots into Android Nation locations to expedite the expansion.
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Google announced today on its blog that it will begin selling Chromebooks through a number of new retail outlets that will bring the total up to around 6,600 stores worldwide. That’s around “3 times more stores than before” with the most notable additions including Walmart and Staples:

In addition to Best Buy and Amazon.com, we’re excited to welcome several new retailers to the family. Starting today, Walmart will be making the newest Acer Chromebook, which has a 16GB Solid State Drive (SSD), available in approximately 2,800 stores across the U.S., for just $199

Staples will begin selling Chromebooks from Acer, HP and Samsung in its more than 1,500 stores in the US and also through its online stores. Google also announced it will be adding a few other retail locations in the months to come, including: Office Depot, Office Max, and regional chains Fry’s and TigerDirect.

As for plans to expand international availability:
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Just a day after adding conversational voice search on the desktop version of Chrome, Google has revamped its Android version of the browser to support automatic full-screen browsing and making it easier to refine search queries …
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During its Google I/O keynote earlier this month, Google announced that it would be bringing conversational, Google-Now like voice search to the desktop. Using a UI similar to voice search and Google Now in its mobile apps, Google would soon allow Chrome users to search and drill down further into results using only their voice.

Today, Google appears to have finally started rolling out the feature for Chrome users on the stable and beta channels of Chrome.

After updating to the latest version 27.0.1453.93 of Chrome, users can navigate to Google.com, click the microphone icon, and choose to allow the new Google Voice search feature to begin listening. Google will only ask for permission to listen once and from then on users can simply speak in order to search. For certain search results such as questions Google will also provide audible results.

Not all of the functionality seems to be available as of yet. For example, when Google first showed off the feature users weren’t required to click at all. Google execs were activating the feature by simply saying “Ok, Google” and were able to continue searching with their voice, hands-free, from on the search results page. The feature as it’s currently implemented now requires users to click the mic icon in order to start a voice search.
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The Chrome App Launcher is coming to OSX, providing a simple way to launch Chrome ‘packaged apps’ – web apps that are written in a combination of HTML5, Javascript and CSS but which look and behave like conventional PC or Mac apps …
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