If you’re a hardcore Android and Chrome user, I’ve got a nifty application for you. I stumbled across this while searching for ways to get a vanilla Android launcher on a Motorola Droid X. The tool is called Chrome to Phone, and it allows you to:
- Send browser links from Chrome to your phone with a single click
- Launch specific applications on Android with specific links (such as Google Maps and YouTube links)
- Send phone numbers that automatically launch the dialer
- Send text on a Web page that copies the clipboard to Android
It’s very handy — especially when you don’t want to type out long URLs or text on your Android handset. You can also associate Chrome to Phone with any phone or tablet that’s currently connected to your Google account. Let’s walk through the process of setting up and using this awesome tool.
Set up on phone
As you might expect, this is pretty straight forward. Here are the steps involved:
- Open up the Android Market
- Search for “chrome to phone” (no quotes)
- Select the Chrome to Phone entry
- Tap Download
- Tap Accept and Download
After installation, it’s time to set it up. Do the following:
- Open the App Drawer on your Android phone
- Search for the Chrome to Phone icon
- In the first setup screen (see Figure A), select the Google account you want to use (most likely there will be only one)
- Tap Next
- Grant access to Chrome to Phone by tapping Allow in the next screen
- Select how you want links to open (automatically or manually) in the final setup screen (see Figure B)
That’s it for the phone setup.
Figure A
Should you have more than one Google account on your phone, they will be listed. Select the one you want to use.
Figure B
If you want links to automatically open when sent, select the Automatic option, otherwise you’ll have to open the link from the notification area.
Set up on Desktop
This set up is even easier than on the phone. Just follow these steps:
- Open the extension manager in Chrome
- Search for “chrome to phone” (no quotes)
- When the extension is listed, click the Add to Chrome button (see Figure C)
Figure C
Here you see the extension already installed.
With the extension added, a new button will appear in your toolbar. Click on that icon, and you will be prompted to sign in (see Figure D). Click the sign in link, and you will need to grant access (if you’ve already authenticated to your Google account — or you will prompted to log into your Google account and then be asked to grant access).
Figure D
Sending URLs to a phone has never been easier.
With authentication and access complete, all you have to do now is go to a URL and click the Chrome to Phone icon. The URL the current tab is on will automatically be sent to your mobile device.
To send pasted text to the phone, the pasted text must be within a web site. Once you’re on the page you want the text from, highlight the text on the webpage and then click the Chrome to Phone icon. The copied text will automatically be sent to the phone’s clipboard. You can then long press anywhere that will accept text input and select Paste to copy the text.
Options
You won’t find any options available, other than setting up the phone to either automatically or manually open links. Chrome to Phone is a fairly straight forward, simple application that really needs little to no configuration. If you do, however, decide to disconnect a device from Chrome to Phone (since you can have as many as you like), all you have to do is open up the application and tap the Disconnect phone button. That’s about it.
If you’re looking for a way to easily send URLs and/or pasted text from your desktop to your Android phone, this may be the easiest method I’ve found. Chrome to Phone is easy to use, reliable, and free.
Article source: http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/smartphones/chrome-to-phone-interact-with-your-mobile-android-device-from-your-desktop/4162
Tags: Android It, Chrome Search, Google Maps, Tap Next Grant
A brief blog post that was released by Google, introduces the new incremental garbage collector (GC) in Google Chrome’s upcoming version. The new Garbage Collector (GC) is said to improve interactive performance with respect to web apps and HTML5.
A simple GC when executes, halts the program while its collection cycle completes. To avoid this Incremental garbage collectors are designed. The incremental GC that Chrome is set to use, instead of halting the program, interleaves its work with the rest of the activities. It performs the garbage collection cycle in discrete phases, so that program execution is permitted between each phase.
The new version, which is tagged under the V8 project is still under progress. Google has made efforts here to spike the peak performance of web apps. Also, keeping in mind the coming of technologies like WebGL in various web apps as well as the new version of Google Maps, an interactive environment with high quality graphics has to be maintained.
In a speed-intensive world, avoiding pauses and sustaining smooth flow is important. The previous GCs that Chrome used did not work on the incremental design and hence if a large amount of memory had to be cleared, pauses were inevitable. Hence, the performance of large interactive apps was hindered. V8’s new GC claims to reduce pause times tremendously while not compromising on great peak performance and memory use.
Article Source: The Chromium Blog Image Credit: FreeAllSoftwares
Article source: http://www.crazyengineers.com/chromes-new-version-gets-fresh-garbage-collector-speed-boost-1322/
Tags: GC, Google Chrome, Google Maps
Company says the software will enhance performance of Web apps
Google is offering a new incremental garbage collector for its Chrome browser to “dramatically” improve the interactive performance of Web applications, the company said on Monday.
Garbage collection provides automatic memory management, reclaiming memory occupied by objects no longer being used by a program. Available on the Chrome release channels website, the garbage collector becomes part of Google’s open source V8 JavaScript engine.
[ Read InfoWorld's recent interview with Lars Bak, a developer of the Google Dart language, which is intended to improve upon JavaScript. | Subscribe to InfoWorld's Developer World newsletter for more insights on software development. ]
“With the advent of technologies like WebGL [for 3D graphics in JavaScript], we’re seeing the emergence of highly interactive and graphically intensive apps, such as the new version of Google Maps, new games, and demos. But with these new uses comes a need for better interactive performance in JavaScript,” said Google software engineers Vyacheslav Egorov and Erik Corry in a blog post.
They add, “Avoiding pauses is vital to achieving good interactive performance. Previously, garbage collection pause times depended on the amount of memory used. Therefore, large interactive apps were impacted by pauses that caused hiccuping. V8′s new [garbage collection] reduces pause times dramatically while maintaining great peak performance and memory use.”
Google’s engineers advised developers to try out the garbage collector if they are building highly interactive Web applications or games. The company is seeking feedback on the technology.
This article, “Google boosts garbage collection for Chrome browser,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the latest developments in business technology news and get a digest of the key stories each day in the InfoWorld Daily newsletter. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.
Article source: http://www.infoworld.com/d/application-development/google-boosts-garbage-collection-chrome-browser-179777
Tags: Google Dart, Google Maps, Lars Bak
Google recently purchased Apture, which is a startup based in San Francisco. It has technology that adds contextual links as a user browse through the internet. Then it would provide information in a new window when the user hovers over the links.
Apture founder Tristan Harris said that the Chrome team from Google helped with the deal but he didn’t give any details as to what the search giant plans to do with the technology. The obvious answer would be hat Google will use the acquired technology to add more links to its services within Chrome.
Apture’s technology could be used in the browser to highlight addresses within web pages. Users could then be taken to Local listings or Google Maps when they hover over the addresses. At present, Chrome is used by Google to make searches easier. Users find it easier to search using Chrome’s address bar than any other browsers.
Chrome also makes sure that Google influence web standards and keep its services within users’ reach. Larry Page said that Chrome is a vital part of Google’s long term plan. The company has put a lot of money in advertising its web browser this year. More links to Google services from within the Chrome bowser would justify its investment.
Article source: http://www.toptechreviews.net/apple/google-acquires-apture-to-improve-chrome/
Tags: Google Maps, San Francisco, Tristan Harris
Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) YouTube video sharing property and
Chrome Web browser have both been more closely integrated with Google+, the company’s young social
network.
Since its June launch, Google+ users have been able to watch
YouTube videos with their friends, family or colleagues via the Hangouts group
video chat application, which enables up to 10 users to watch YouTube
clips, music videos or even movies and discuss them in real time. Google in August added the ability for YouTube users with Google+ accounts to
start Hangouts right from YouTube with the click of a button.
Google+ and YouTube got a lot cozier Nov. 3, offering something of an ad-hoc streaming music, video or movie player.
Users can
now click a YouTube “slider” in their Google+ stream to jump right
into YouTube from the social network. To do this, users mouse over the YouTube
icon at the top right in Google+.
When the button slides out, users can type in what they
want to search for and hit Enter. YouTube will begin playing a list of related
videos in a pop-up window. This feature worked well as a little streaming audio
player.
On a whim, eWEEK typed in “Jawbox, For Your Own
Special Sweetheart” and received essentially a set list of the band’s
albums, including a nice mix of studio and live cuts from that D.C. hardcore
album. Moreover, we were able to move the pop-window all around the screen
without losing the content.
As a bonus, we were able to then share the content with our Circles by clicking the Share button located in the top right-hand corner of the YouTube video that’s playing in the pop-up window.
Google also added two new Google+ Chrome extensions. The +1
button extension lets users +1 any Web page and share it with their Google+
Circles. The notifications extension lets users check their Google+ notifications while
they browse the Web.
These YouTube and Chrome tools are the kind of features
Google CEO Larry Page and Google+ Senior Vice President Vic Gundotra referred
to as shipping the Google in Google+, a euphemism for splicing more of the company’s Web
services with the social network.
Google has also integrated Google+ with Gmail, Search, Google Reader, Google Maps and Google News, among other combinations. With this layered, integrated approach, Google is essentially rebuilding its brand as the
premier search engine to becoming the premier social destination online.
However, it has to compete with Facebook and its massive network of 800
million-plus users worldwide to carve out a piece of social real estate. At 40
million-plus users and counting, Google has a ways to go. But integrating
Google and Google+ is an essential start.
Article source: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Cloud-Computing/Google-Gets-Tighter-With-YouTube-Chrome-815464
Tags: Chrome Web, Google Circles, Google Maps, Google Reader
Google has brought a new immersive dimension to Google Maps. To experience it you need a browser that supports WebGL – and that list now includes Opera as well as Chrome, Firefox and Safari, making IE users conspicuously left out of the fun.
Google MapsGL is the result of adding the power of Web Graphics Library (WebGL) to Google Maps. This marks a turning point for WebGL because while it has been used in “experiments” and web pages that showcase its potential this is the first time it has made it into a standard and high profile web applications. Put simply Google Maps is used by a lot of people and now WebGL will be in use by the same people. It really is the moment for Microsoft to reconsider its position in not supporting WebGL in IE9 and 10.
Google MapsGL is available to try out as long as you have the right combination of graphics card and browser, that is Chrome 14+ or any WebGL-supporting browser, i.e. not IE 9 or 10. At the moment it is an opt-in beta service, but it seems to work reasonably well.
As well as having richer graphics and smoother transitions, by using vector graphics, MapsGL offers some facilities that are completely new for desktop browsing, although already available on Android devices. It adds 3D depth for buildings,supports rotation of the map and you can drag the pegman from the zoom bar into the scene to activates street view where available.
Follow the tour at Google MapsGL to try it out or watch Google’s video to experience the transition from an ordinary bird’s-eye view to Street View with shadows appropriate to the local time of day and the 45-degree aerial photography views Google offers in selected areas such as Rome.
For any armchair tourist, this is obviously an innovation worth having and puts WebGL support high on the list of user priorities. Thus Microsoft’s point-blank refusal to embrace it faces developers with a dilemma. Incorporate WebGL into apps and delight users who have upgraded their browsers but alienate anyone who has stuck with IE, not just now but in the foreseeable future.
With WebGL making its way into mainstream web applications like mapping Microsoft’s refusal to adopt it within IE 9 or 10 is looking increasingly silly. Users aren’t going to respond well to being told that they cannot view 3D buildings and have to settle for a substandard experience simply because Microsoft has “problems” with supporting WebGL. The real issue for programmers is do we jump on the WebGL bandwaggon and simply say to end users – download Chrome/Firefox or whatever? Or do we hold off from using WebGL simply to avoid the complaints of the users who can’t or wont move from a non-standard’s supporting browser?
Further reading
Microsoft no WebGL support – it’s insecure
WebGL 1.0 finalized – the state of play
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Article source: http://www.i-programmer.info/news/145-mapping-a-gis/3203-google-maps-on-webgl.html
Tags: Chrome Firefox, Google Maps, IE, Street View
So far, WebGL has not had a mainstream application. While we knew that it could make graphics look much smoother on a screen, provided you use a browser that supports WebGL.
Starting today, there is a popular application available in WebGL – Google maps – and there are a few things you can do now with Chrome that you can’t do with IE.
To activate Google Maps in WebGL, open Google Maps and check an option to “try something new” on the left bottom of the screen. I only noticed this note when I opened Maps with Chrome, but Firefox should prompt you as well, according to Google (for some reason, I could not get Firefox to run the Maps WebGL version). If you are using IE, you won’t be able to try WebGL Maps, because there is no support for WebGL in IE.
Once activated, you can see WebGL in action in the 45-degree angled view, for example when you view the Colosseum in Rome, Italy. There is a new feature to rotate the view, which can be accessed right above the Streetview figure. Rotating is still limited to four views, but the animation now makes changing views appear much smoother. You can also enable Streetview, which is now support natively and not via plug-in. The rotate feature also works in Streetview.
Other than that, there is no other benefit; I could not quite confirm Google’s claim of higher image quality. If you are taking MapsGL out for a spin, be sure to view Google’s guided tour, which provides a quick overview of the features and how they can be controlled. What struck me, was that, in direct comparison with IE and the non-WebGL version of Maps, there is really not that much of a difference. Sure, the adjusted 45-degree view isn’t animated, but IE9 is, at least on my PC, the far better browser to use maps. Dragging and zooming maps is much smoother in Microsoft’s browser than in the WebGL version of Maps in Chrome.
MapsGL, as Google calls, is nice to have, but it’s not a must have that will scare Microsoft enough to convince the company to build WebGL into IE.
Article source: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/chrome-firefox-webgl-maps-mapsgl,13719.html
Tags: Google Maps, IE, PC
Have you see the view of Google Maps with the buildings that pop out at your face as you’re driving through the city with your mouse clicker? It’s time to take a look. Google this week has enabled MapsGL, an option that will allow you to see 3D buildings rendered to replicate the buildings that are actually standing on site throughout their massive mapping of the earth. Through the power of WebGL, those of you using Firefox beta, Chrome, Safari (if you enable it), and starting today Opera 12 Alpha, can all see the buildings, the lovely, lovely buildings.
You may recognize these buildings if you’re an Android user, as they’ve been active for more than a few weeks now – in fact, I remember seeing them all the way back at Mobile World Congress 2011 in the Google pod, now that I think of it. Now we’ve got it everywhere!
Other features relatively new to the web-based version of Google Maps are the swoop transition between Street View and birds-eye view, and the ability to rotate the map so that North isn’t the only direction that can be facing up. By god, what kind of world do we live in where North isn’t up!? The greatest place you can use such an ability at this very moment is at the Piazze del Collosseo, Roma, Italia. For those of you unawares, that’s the colluseum you see in the movie Gladiator, the one with the lions and whatnot. This location was chosen by Google to demonstrate the awesome power of a 360 degree view at 45 degrees – and oh my goodness is it awesome.
Go now, instantly, to Google Maps with your Chrome browser and start the tour by hitting the button in the lower left-hand corner, then come back and tell us how it went. Google Maps! What will you attain and display next?!
Bonus! Watch out for the paper trains. They still exist! This one found in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Article source: http://www.slashgear.com/google-maps-gets-3d-on-the-web-with-webgl-13187959/
Tags: Bonus Watch, Google Maps, Mobile World Congress, Street View
