Chrome Blog
The latest news from the Google Chrome team
Race to win on big and small screens with Chrome Super Sync Sports
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Smartphones and tablets are great for all sorts of games, and lately we've been thinking about new ways to play.
Chrome Super Sync Sports
is a new
Chrome Experiment
that uses the unique features of mobile devices to create a new gaming experience on big and small screens. In this game up to four friends can compete in running, swimming and cycling on a shared computer screen, using their smartphones or tablets as game controllers.
To get started, you’ll need a computer and a smartphone or tablet that run a modern browser, like
Chrome
. Visit
chrome.com/supersyncsports
on your computer, pick a game and decide if you’re playing solo or with friends. Next, visit
g.co/super
in Chrome on your smartphone or tablet and type in the unique code shown on your computer screen. You’ve now “super sync”ed your mobile device with your computer, and you’re ready to race!
Use the arrow pad on your smartphone or tablet to select one of 50 athletes and prepare yourself for the competition. The motions you make on your mobile touchscreen will move your athlete on your computer screen. To move your athlete forward and win the race, you need to make the correct gestures as quickly as possible. The better you are, the higher your chances of making it to the global leaderboard.
Select your athlete by using the keypad arrows on your mobile
Race using your smartphone or tablet touchscreen
Up to four friends can play using a shared screen
Chrome Super Sync Sports is available for Chrome v15 and above, and for Android 4.0+ and iOS 4.3+ devices. It uses the latest modern web technologies, including HTML5 features such as
WebSockets
for real-time gaming synchronicity on desktop and mobile, and Canvas and CSS3 for rich and engaging visuals. For more detailed information on the technologies used, see the “About” page.
On your marks, get set, race for your place on the World Leaderboard!
Posted by Steve Vranakis, Executive Creative Director, Google Creative Lab
Bettar spell chek in Chrome
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Today’s
Chrome Beta
release brings improved spell checking to the browser. To start, we’ve refreshed the dictionaries for Chrome’s default spell checker, and have added support for Korean, Tamil and Albanian. Users who
sync their settings
will also notice their custom dictionary gets shared across devices now, so you won’t need to teach that new Chromebook how to spell your name.
Furthermore, for users who have enabled the "
Ask Google for suggestions
" spell check feature, we’re now rolling out support for grammar, homonym and context-sensitive spell checking in English, powered by the same technologies used by Google search. Support for additional languages is on the way.
The new spell checking engine - which is also
available in Google Docs
- even understands proper nouns like "Justin Bieber" and "Skrillex,” so if you're wondering how many Ns there are in
Dananananaykroyd
, worry no more (there are four).
Users on Windows, Linux and Chrome OS will receive these enhancements in the coming weeks (Mac support coming soon).
Give the newest
Chrome Beta
a spin and get back to writing that brilliant screenplay you’re working on.
Posted by Rachel Petterson, Software Engineer and Savvy Speller
Bringing voice recognition to the web
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Web apps, listen up. Today's
Chrome Stable
release includes support for the
Web Speech API
(discussed
last month
), which developers can use to integrate speech recognition capabilities into their web apps. To see what this might look like, check out
this demo
on how to compose an email just using your voice.
In addition, today’s release also
disables silent extension installs
in Chrome for Windows. This keeps Chrome fast and safe by ensuring that you consent to every extension that’s installed on your computer.
Thanks to
auto-update
, you’ll get these enhancements as we roll out the release. And if you don’t have Chrome yet, you can give it a spin
here
.
Posted by Glen Shires, Software Engineer and Speech Specialist
The Chromebook Pixel, for what’s next
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Chromebooks were designed to make computing speedy, simple and secure. For many of you, they have become the perfect, additional (and yes, affordable) computer: ideal for catching up on emails, sharing documents and chatting via Hangouts. We’re tremendously grateful to our partners—Samsung, Acer, Lenovo and HP—for their commitment. The momentum has been remarkable: the Samsung Chromebook has been #1 on Amazon’s bestseller list for laptops every day since it launched 125 days ago in the U.S., and Chromebooks now represent
more than 10 percent
of notebook sales at Currys PC World, the largest electronics retailer in the U.K.
So what’s next? Today we’re excited to announce our newest laptop—
the Chromebook Pixel
—which brings together the best in hardware, software and design to inspire the next generation of Chromebooks. With the Pixel, we set out to rethink all elements of a computer in order to design the best laptop possible, especially for power users who have fully embraced the cloud. The philosophy of
Chrome
has always been to minimize the “chrome” of the browser. In much the same way, the goal of the Pixel is to make the pixels disappear, giving people the best web experience.
Let’s start with the screen. This Chromebook has the highest pixel density (239 pixels per inch) of any laptop screen on the market today. Packed with 4.3 million pixels, the display offers sharp text, vivid colors and extra-wide viewing angles. With a screen this rich and engaging, you want to reach out and touch it—so we added touch for a more immersive experience. Touch makes it simple and intuitive to do things like organize tabs, swipe through apps and edit photos with the tip of your finger.
The Pixel has been engineered with the highest quality components to ensure it’s comfortable to use all day long and meets the needs of demanding power users. The body of the Pixel is made from an anodized aluminum alloy to create a smooth and durable surface; vents are hidden, screws are invisible and the stereo speakers are seamlessly tucked away beneath the backlit keyboard. The touchpad is made from etched glass, analyzed and honed using a laser microscope to ensure precise navigation. The Pixel also has powerful, full-range speakers for crisp sound, a 720p webcam for clear video, and a total of three microphones designed to cancel out surrounding noise.
Other aspects of the Pixel include:
Speed:
Speed has been a core tenet of Chrome and Chromebooks since the beginning. For Pixel, it’s critical that the overall experience, everything from loading webpages to switching between apps, is near instant. Powered by an Intel® Core™ i5 Processor and a solid state Flash memory architecture, the Pixel performs remarkably fast.
Connectivity:
The Pixel has an industry-leading WiFi range thanks to carefully positioned antennas and dual-band support.
Long-term evolution (LTE)
is engineered directly into the machine, delivering fast connectivity across Verizon's network, the largest, fastest 4G LTE network in the U.S. (LTE model optional). It also comes with 12 free GoGo® Inflight Internet passes for those times you need to connect while in the air.
Storage:
Since this Chromebook is for people who live in the cloud, one terabyte of Google Drive cloud storage* is included with the Pixel. This enables you to save, access and share photos, videos, documents, and all of your stuff from all of your devices, from anywhere.
Finally, as you’ve come to expect from all Chromebooks, all of your favorite Google products like Search, Gmail, YouTube, Maps and Google+ Hangouts are integrated and just a click away. And since it’s based on Chrome OS, the Pixel boots up in seconds and never slows down, requires
almost zero setup or maintenance
, and comes with built-in virus protection. Best of all, it stays up to date with automatic updates every few weeks.
If you want to be part of the next step in the Chromebook journey, the Pixel will be available for purchase starting today on
Google Play
in the U.S. and U.K., and soon on BestBuy.com. The WiFi version ($1,299 U.S. and £1,049 U.K.) will start shipping next week and the LTE version ($1,449) will ship in the U.S. in April. If you’re interested in a hands-on experience, you can visit select
Best Buy (U.S.)
and
Currys PC World (U.K.)
store locations.
It’s one of the most exciting times in the history of personal computing, thanks to a rapid pace of change, innovation and consumer adoption of devices. Our goal is to continue to push the experience forward for everyone, working with the entire ecosystem to build the next generation of Chrome OS devices. We hope you enjoy what’s next.
Posted by Linus Upson, Vice President, Engineering
*You will have 1 TB of free storage for 3 years, starting on the date you redeem the offer on eligible Chrome devices.
A Chrome Experiment made with some friends from Oz
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
You won’t need magical powers to take a journey down the yellow brick road; just point your favorite browser to the latest Chrome Experiment, “
Find Your Way to Oz
.” Developed in collaboration with Disney and
UNIT9
in anticipation of the upcoming film,
Oz The Great and Powerful
, this experiment takes you through a dusty Kansas circus and leads to a vibrant land, following in the footsteps of the Wizard himself.
Like any good circus, there’s plenty to keep you entertained: compose your own music, play with a fun photo booth and create your own movie with a zoetrope. The path to Oz also involves confronting an ominous tornado; surviving it completes the journey, enabling fans of the movie to watch an exclusive unreleased clip from the film.
Chrome Experiments
like “Find Your Way to Oz” would have been impossible a few years ago. Since that time, the web has evolved and allowed developers and designers to create immersive beautiful experiences. For “Find Your Way to Oz” the 3D environment was built entirely with new technologies such as
WebGL
and
CSS3
. It’s enhanced by rich audio effects thanks to the
Web Audio API
. The photo booth and zoetrope were built using the
getUserMedia
feature of
WebRTC
, which grants webpages access to your computer’s camera and microphone (with your permission).
For the best experience, you’ll need to use an up-to-date computer built to handle intense graphics. It also works best with a webcam and a modern browser that supports WebGL and WebRTC, like
Chrome
. For tablet or smartphone users, we have a smaller scale yet equally enjoyable experience that you can try with the latest Chrome browser on your Android device, iPhone or iPad.
If you want to learn more, or run away and join the developer circus, you can get an explanation of the technologies used on the
Chromium blog
or in our
technical case study
.
Start your journey towards the yellow brick road at
www.findyourwaytooz.com
.
Posted by Christos Apartoglou, Marketing Manager
The HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook
Monday, February 4, 2013
It's an exciting time in computing. Now more than ever, you have so many choices when it comes to software, hardware and services. With Chromebooks, people tell us they love its ease-of-use, speed and security, and also enjoy having options when it comes to shape, size and price. So today we’re happy to announce that our newest partner HP is introducing the latest addition to the Chromebook line—
the HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook
.
This HP Chromebook is a great home companion that offers the built-in security, speed and simplicity you’d expect from a Chromebook on a brilliant 14” screen. Enjoy your favorite videos, photos and more in new detail, and with its versatile HDMI and USB ports, the HP Chromebook is easy to customize with peripherals. It’s less than an inch thick and powered by an Intel® Celeron® Processor, so you can work and play at full speed.
With popular products like Gmail, Google+ Hangouts, YouTube and Maps built in, the best of Google is always at your fingertips. With the new HP Chromebook, you can also take advantage of 100GB of free storage on Google Drive*, making it easy to backup stuff in the cloud so that it can be accessed anywhere and from other devices.
Starting today, the HP Chromebook will be available for $329.99 in the US at
HPDirect.com
and at other retailers soon.
The HP Chromebook is a great new addition to the
Chromebook family
, and we hope you’ll enjoy it within yours, too. New Chromebooks, more options, for everyone.
Posted by Felix Lin, Director of Product Management
*You will have 100 GB of free storage for 2 years, starting on the date you redeem the offer on eligible Chrome devices.
For schools: the edu-fication of Chromebooks
Friday, February 1, 2013
2013 is already shaping up to be a busy year for the web in education. Earlier this month Lenovo announced the
new ThinkPad Chromebook
and this week, Jaime Casap, our Global Education evangelist announced in his keynote at
FETC
in Orlando, that there are now globally more than 2,000 schools using Chromebooks - twice as many as 3 months ago. For more details about what we announced at FETC and
BETT
in London, U.K., check out our
Enterprise Blog
. We’re looking forward to all that 2013 has in store!
Connor and Meg at Spring Valley High School are two
of
the
over
14,000 students in Richland School
District
Two in
South
Carolina
who are now using Chromebooks
for 1:1 learning.
Posted by Rajen Sheth, Group Product Manager
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