The much awaited laptop powered by Google Chrome (a cloud-based operating system) is all set for launch on June 15.
Here are few things that you need to about the all new Chromebook.
The Chromrebook should always be connected to the Internet in order to make use of its functionalities. In other words, everything will be on cloud and you’ll need Internet to access all of the apps, documents, photos, movies etc. Installing software or updating them, making backup of files or running anti-virus checks and all other PC related tasks will be eliminated as everything will be done over the cloud.
Google has tied up with Samsung and Acer which will release laptops powered with Chrome OS.
The Samsung device will come with 12.1-inch screen with an 8-hour battery life and will retail for $429 (Wi-Fi enabled) and $499 (3G enabled laptop), while Acer’s device will be an 11.6-inch display and a 6.5-hour battery life. Acer’s notebook will start at $349 and up.
Since Chromebook is Internet based, all of the files and folders will be stored on the cloud. The laptops will be highly integrated with cloud services and there will be no storage space available. However, the laptop will have slots to plug in other storages devices.
According to Google, Chromebooks will boot in about less than eight seconds. Once it is up and running it’ll check for any updates and will reboot up with the latest version.
Yes, you can work with your Chromebook if you’re not connected to the Internet. You can access Google Docs, Google Calendar and Gmail accounts without an Internet connection. (However, you won’t be updated with new notifications/mail if you’re not connected to the Internet)
Chromebooks uses the principle of “defense in depth” to provide multiple layers of protection, so if any one layer is bypassed, others are still in effect. Your files and folders will be protected and will be kept safe.
Chromebooks will be available for sale from June 15.
Acer Specifications:
11.6″ HD Widescreen CineCrystalTM LED-backlit LCD
2.95 lbs. | 1.34 kg.
6 hours of continuous usage 1
Intel® AtomTM Dual-Core Processor
Built in dual-band Wi-Fi and World-mode 3G (optional)
HD Webcam with noise cancelling microphone
High-Definition Audio Support
2 USB 2.0 ports
4-in-1 memory card slot
HDMI port
Fullsize Chrome keyboard
Samsung Specifications:
12.1″ (1280×800) 300 nit Display
3.26 lbs / 1.48 kg
8.5 hours of continuous usage 1
Intel® AtomTM Dual-Core Processor
Built in dual-band Wi-Fi and World-mode 3G (optional)
HD Webcam with noise cancelling microphone
2 USB 2.0 ports
4-in-1 memory card slot
Mini-VGA port
Fullsize Chrome keyboard
Oversize fully-clickable trackpad
Oversize fully-clickable trackpad
Click here for more details.
Linux is often considered as a geeky OS when compared to Windows and Mac OS X, however, over the past few years it has become much easier to use and almost emulates a desktop environment which is similar to Windows and Mac.
There are several popular Linux Distros like Ubuntu, Fedora, JoliCloud, Linux Mint and more which are now widely used by people. If you want to try out Linux you can also dual-boot on your Windows machine (see Install Ubuntu in Windows). However, if you are someone who is afraid of installing additional software on your computer, you can now test out Linux from your web browser, albeit only the command prompt.
The Linux browser emulator was created thanks to a port of an emulator called QEMU to JavaScript.
QEMU is a generic and open source machine emulator and virtualizer.
When used as a machine emulator, QEMU can run OSes and programs made for one machine (e.g. an ARM board) on a different machine (e.g. your own PC). By using dynamic translation, it achieves very good performance.
When used as a virtualizer, QEMU achieves near native performances by executing the guest code directly on the host CPU. QEMU supports virtualization when executing under the Xen hypervisor or using the KVM kernel module in Linux. When using KVM, QEMU can virtualize x86, server and embedded PowerPC, and S390 guests.
The emulator has been written by Fabrice Bellard, a famous open source developer who has also developed several other popular projects in the past. The Linux PC emulator is written completely in JavaScript and was compiled using 2.6.20 Linux Kernel. The emulated hardware consists of the following things:
Most of the modern browsers sport faster and smarter JavaScript engines. The Linux emulator for browsers goes on to show how powerful JavaScript has become and what it could be used to do.
The developer has tested Linux in browser in Firefox 4 and Google Chrome 11. The beta version of Google Chrome is not yet supported. You can test out the Linux OS in the browser by visiting http://bellard.org/jslinux/. Also visit this technical notes page for more information on the Linux emulator for the browser.
Google Webmaster is definitely one of the best tools any site owner can use to find out how his/her site is performing in Google. In addition to showing search queries, backlinks and sitemaps, the service also has features such as search statistics, site hacked notifications, site performance to measure website load time, outdated software notification and content analysis among other things.
Another feature that Google Webmasters has is the ability to remove a URLs from Google’s search index. However, the earlier process was a bit tedious. Today, Google has rolled out a new Remove URL tool which simplifies the process of removing URLs from the index.
To Remove a webpage from Google’s index, you will need to login to your Google Webmaster account and administrate the site you want to remove the URL from.
Now Click on the Site configuration in the left hand side menu and select “Crawler access”. On the Crawler access page click on the “Remove URL” tag and click on the “New removal request” button to start the process for removing a website.
The new URL removal tool allows you to remove the page from Google index and cache, remove the page from the cache or remove an entire directory.
The new simplified process makes it easier for users to remove content since they don’t have to first block the content now. With the help of the removal request, users can remove any webpage from the website they own. Additionally, they can also remove the page from Google cache.
Google cache usually stores pages for a long time even after the original webpage is deleted, so allowing users to remove pages from cache is a extremely helpful step.
You must note that the removal of URL from the index is only temporary and will last for 90 days. During this period Google may crawl the page but it will not display it in Google search. For permanent removal, users will need to return a 404 or 410 status for the page or block the page from being crawled by using robots.txt or the noindex meta tag.
Important Note: Remove URL tool is only available to people who own those websites. If you are an individual and don’t own the content you are looking to remove, you might want to visit the Webpage removal request tool.
Google has just released Google Chrome 13 to the dev channel and it has a lot of new features which include a working version of Multiple Profile switcher, experimental new tab page and tab grouping. Additionally, Google Chrome 13 also adds a new feature called Compact Navigation and the ability to restrict Google Instant to search.
The new development version also adds an option to enable the Web Audio API and an option to allow "Background Apps" to continue running even when Chrome is shut down.
Background Apps are Google Chrome Apps which provide users with functionality that quietly runs in the background without intrusion. Background Apps could be apps that regularly check your email or Twitter account and notify you of new updates. The new feature in Google Chrome 13 will allow apps to continue running.
The new "Background Apps" feature is enabled by default, you can disable it by going to "Options -> Under The Hood" and deselect the checkbox next to "Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed".
Google Chrome 13 also features a working version of the profile switcher which allows users to use different profiles for different Chrome windows. This will allow users to work with different profiles without having to keep logging in and out. Google Chrome 13 also has the latest Flash player – Version 10.3.181.14.
Google has been working on the experimental new tab page for a while and it looks like things are finally taking shape in Google Chrome 13. When you enable the feature from about:flags, you will see a new tab page which now lists most visited sites and apps in tabs. It also has additional tabs but they don’t have any content. The new tab feature could allow users to create customizable tabs where they can list out different apps, however, there is no option to customize them right now.
Google Chrome 13 also has an option to hide the toolbar which can be done by right click on a tab an selecting "Hide the toolbar" from the menu options. Using this option hides the Omnibox and extension icons. I would prefer to have a keyboard shortcut to enable and disable this feature. You will need to visit the about:flags page and enable the "Compact Navigation" feature to get this option.
Finally, Google Chrome 13 also adds a new option to restrict Google Instant to only searches. Prior to that, Google Instant would kick in even when you load any webpage. This could get annoying and a feature to disable it is a great addition. You will have to enable this feature in about:flags too.
Overall, it looks like Google Chrome 13 is shaping out really well. Some of the features like multiple profiles and new tab page are really exciting. Hopefully, these changes should hit the beta and stable channels soon.
