13 Web Intents To Try With Google Chrome and How To Try Them is an article from Chrome Story - Be a Google Chrome Power User !

For many here, Web Intents need no introduction. For others, let me start with a short and easy to understand intro.

Ever used “Share” option in Android? Noticed how any new app you install show up in that list? How is it possible for all these applications to work together, or say interconnected in one way?

That’s intents right there.

What if we can bring the same feature to your browser? Say, you write an app for Chrome, and just say, you want to be listed in intents, you show up in that list. Here is the official description.

Users use many different services on the web to handle their day to day tasks, such as sharing images, editing documents and listening to music. They expect their applications to be connected and to work together seamlessly.

It is impossible for developers to anticipate every new service and to integrate with every existing external service that their users prefer, and thus they must choose to integrate with a few select APIs at great expense to the developer.

Web Intents solves this. Web Intents is a framework for client-side service discovery and inter-application communication. Services register their intention to be able to handle an action on the user’s behalf. Applications request to start an Action of a certain verb (share, edit, view, pick etc.) and the system will find the appropriate Services for the user to use based on the user’s preference.

How Are They Different From Extensions

Simple, easy to implement. No need for extra coding for making an extension communicate with another. I am sure developers will have so much to say about this. Right guys?

Let’s Get To The List

webintents.org team has added some  webintents extensions for users to try out. I found 13 of them for you. There were couple of others, but I am listing only those from webintents.org here.

1. Save to Instapaper :
2. Share to Reddit™
3. Share to Digg™:
4. Save to Box:
5. Save to ReadItLater:
6. Shorten with Goo.gl:
7. Shorten with Bit.ly:
8. Share to Blogger™:
9. Share to Delicious™:
10. Share to LinkedIn™:
11. Share to Tumblr™:
12. Share to Gmail™:
13. Share Link to Twitter™:

 How To Use Web Intents on Google Chrome

Unfortunately, I couldn’t find demos to use all of these intents. I will update it as soon as I find them. Here is how you can try web intents now.

Enable Web Intents

Here is how to enable web intents on Chrome. Go to settings page and simple search for “intents”. Make sure that you have “Allow Web Intents to enable me to connect my applications.” checked.

Now, visit this demo page http://demos.webintents.org/ . Enter a web address (complete with http://) and click “Save”. You will get a popup asking you to pick one of the intents, and add it to Chrome. Click add, and you will be redirected to the “Save” page. Its simple, try it out!

Hope you enjoyed a preview of the future web. If you have more info to add, demos to share, jump in.

Chrome for iPhone and iPad Getting Ready? is an article from Chrome Story - Be a Google Chrome Power User !

IS Chrome for iPhone and iPad in the making? Pedram Jabbari and I had a long conversation about this topic a few days back. It all started with an interesting entry we saw in Chromium code base. Now, businessinsider.com says Chrome is coming to iOS, quoting an analyst.

Chrome for iPhone and iPad?

While doing my regular review of recent code changes on Chrome, Chromium and Chrome OS, I found an entry mentioning iOS 5.1. Here it is

Update paths for iOS 5.1

These values can be overridden with some poorly documented and
overloaded options: –libc and –sdk-path

../libvpx/configure –target=armv7-darwin-gcc –sdk-path=/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer –libc=/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneOS5.1.sdk/

So for someone who still wants to build with the iOS 5 SDK, the last
part of the path should be iPhoneOS5.0.sdk

Change-Id: Ibe93d96ae828c619700dc3222983aa4c30456b88

Patch Set 1: Verified

Build Successful

After spending more time in the code Pedram and I came to the conclusion that this is code was not really for Chrome on iOS, but may be for bringing WebM features for iPhone/iPad users.

Today’s Rumor – Chrome for iOS

Business Insider’s story today about Chrome for iOS quotes an industry analyst who believes that Chrome for iPhone and iPad is getting ready or may be even awaiting Apple’s review.

Macquarie analyst Ben Schacter has a surprising report out this morning. He writes, “Google Chrome browser for iOS is coming.” He adds, “Apple may already be reviewing Google’s submitted code for a Chrome browser for iOS.”

Schacter says we can expect a Chrome browser for iOS as soon as Q2, but if not this quarter, then definitely this year.

Chrome team is working really hard on the mobile version of Chrome and have already pushed the beta version with lot of cool features and tight integration with Chrome on PC and Mac.

If Chrome comes to iOS, it is going to give a touch competition to other mobile browser makers out there. Especially players like Opera who is having trouble keeping momentum on computers, but getting a lot of fan following for their mobile version, Opera Mini.

Any excited iPhone/iPad users here?

Image Courtesy – Lifehacker.com

Chrome Watch, Chrome Clock, Chrome Mug, Chrome T-Shirt…… What Do You Want? is an article from Chrome Story - Be a Google Chrome Power User !

So, what do you want, my dear Chrome Fan? The Google Store has a lot of Chrome goodies for you! Well, not just Chrome, you get a lot of other Googliy stuff too. But, lets take a look at the main attractions in the Chrome section.

Chrome Clock

Chrome Cap

Chrome Mug – I Want This!!!

Chrome T Shirt

Chrome Foldaway Shopper

Chrome Tubmler

Chrome Watch

See rest of it and buy your favorite from here.

How to View the Source Code of a Chrome Extension is an article from Chrome Story - Be a Google Chrome Power User !

Developer News – A not so neat little trick. I found this cool post on Digital Inspiration which tells you how to view the source of a Chrome extension.

Why should you view the source? Here are the two main reasons according to the blogger on DI.

There are two main reasons why you may want to read the source code of any Google Chrome extension (including Web Apps and Chrome Themes):

1. If the Chrome extension has been created by an unknown developer,  you want to ensure that it does what the description says and nothing more. You would not like to download a Chrome extension on your machine that tracks your search logs or browsing history.
2. You are learning how to write a Chrome extension (or theme) and are curious to know how some of the good extensions have been written. The licenses of some Chrome extensions may even allow code reuse with attribution.

However many developers share their source code and invite everyone to take a look at it and contribute. But most of them won’t do that.

So, ready to grab the source of an extension?  Here is the full post with easy instructions. They have listed a way to get the source of extensions installed on your Chrome, and also a nice little bookmarklet that lets you download the source without installing the extension. So cool!

Google Chrome is 21 (Legal Drinking Age!!) is an article from Chrome Story - Be a Google Chrome Power User !

Chromium (where everything that’s Chrome starts) turned 21 the other day. V.21 is running on the Chromium nightly builds now.

The team usually makes a informative-funny intro to each version number and this time, they added this “In most USA states 21 is the drinking age.” Here is rest of the 21 news.

The current century—spanning the years from 2001 to 2100—referred to as the 21st century.
The atomic number of scandium is 21 (3 more to go for Chromium)
The standard TCP/IP port number for FTP connection

In most USA states 21 is the drinking age.
The Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment, thereby ending Prohibition.
A card game, also called vingt-et-un (French for “twenty-one”), pontoon, or blackjack
The number of spots on a standard cubical (six-sided) die (1+2+3+4+5+6), not so useful for blackjack, but perfect for craps
21 is the sum of the first six natural numbers (1+2+3+4+5+6=21).
Twenty-one is a Fibonacci number, a Harshad number, a Motzkin number, a triangular number and an octagonal number, as well as a composite number, its proper divisors being 1, 3 and 7.

Number 21 is the name of the plane alleged flown by Gustave Whitehead two years before the Wright brothers’ flight

Credit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21_(number)

Welcome Chrome 21, Cheers!!

Your Google Web History and Chrome History Will Merge Soon! is an article from Chrome Story - Be a Google Chrome Power User !

Yet another plus one for “Google Chrome Sync”. Why am I talking about Chrome Sync now? I will tell you.

Yes, Google Web History is going to be integrated with Chrome history. The end result of this is nothing to do with Google Web History, it is just that Google used an existing service to make things easier. The real change with this integration is this, your browsing history is going to cloud!

Chrome History In Cloud

The change landed on Chromium few hours back (thanks my friend of send it to me!) and here is the comment on this code change

“WIP for integration between Chrome and Google Web History.”

I downloaded the latest build but couldn’t find any visible sign of this change, but I’ll keep an eye on this feature for you all.

Everything is going to cloud through Chrome Sync. Next thing I want there is the visited links history. I do not know if there is already a way to do this, guys, do let me know if you know about any extension that can do this job.

Install Chrome on Ubuntu 12.04 is an article from Chrome Story - Be a Google Chrome Power User !

Its been a while since I tasted a bit of Ubuntu. So, this weekend, I took time to install Chrome on Ubuntu 12.04 and find out how my favorite browser is doing on Ubuntu these days.

Here is a quick guide to install Chrome on Ubuntu 12.04.

Install Chrome on Ubuntu12.04

The process is pretty simple. The package installer/software center that comes with Ubuntu makes things easier. So, here are your clean and simple steps.

1. Download Chrome for Ubuntu from here selecting the 32bit Ubuntu/Debian version as shown in the below screenshot.  (If you are using 64bit Ubuntu, you can download the 64bit version)
   
2. Double click the downloaded file google-chrome-stable_current_i386.deb. Ubuntu Software Center screen opens.
    
3. Click Install
    
4. Enter your password if prompted. Chrome for Ubuntu will now install on your computer.

First time you run Chrome, it will ask you if you would like to make Chrome your default browser. Click the check box and choose “Start Google Chrome” if you prefer Chrome as your primary browser.

Two Things To Do After Installing Chrome On Ubuntu

First thing is Chromesync. On completing the install,Chrome will ask you if you would like to set up Chromesync. This will help you import all your bookmarks, apps, extensions, settings and themes etc if you were using Chrome with Chromesync on another PC. Enter your password and set this up, if you prefer to do so!

Second thing you might want to do is making Chrome always available on the Unity Launcher. To do this, right click on the Chrome icon on Unity sidebar and select “Lock To Launcher”

Hope you got Google Chrome working on your new Ubuntu computer. If you have questions, please do email me, I will try to help you find some answer. I am planning to post some more Ubuntu+Chrome related posts soon, so stay subscribed to this blog!

Make Your Chromebook Do A Barrel Roll – AWESOME!! is an article from Chrome Story - Be a Google Chrome Power User !

Here is an awesome awesome Chromebook trick for you. An Easter Egg hidden in Chrome OS, makes it do a barrel roll.

Take a look at this video and tell me if you liked it.

I will tell you the keyboard shortcut after that. You will need the latest Dev build of Chrome OS for this… and thanks Jannik Lindquist again!…

Now, the keyboard shortcut >>Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Reload

update: this is not a true Easter Egg. There is a message displayed on the screen asking you to try this!  Thanks Ripps!

So, how is it? Now, go ahead and share this with your friends!!!

The Sexy New Getting Started Page For Chrome OS is an article from Chrome Story - Be a Google Chrome Power User !

Those who updated to the latest Dev build on Chromebook the other day discovered a sexy new Getting Started screen of Chrome OS.  I got to play with this and capture some screenshots for you all. So, here you go!

…and there is a surprise at the end of the page.

Getting Started With Your Chromebook

The intro page is well designed, and full of simple instructions supported by nice screen captures and pictures. It is a pleasant experience going through them. First, the welcome screen.

It says, “Welcome to your Chrome OS device. Lets check out some of the cool new stuff” and give you the menu to discover more. Let’s explore them one by one.

The New Chrome OS Interface : Introducing the new aura UI and explains main icons on your screen.

Apps that work offline: For those times when you’re not conected to the internet, there are a whole set of apps designed to work offline. Just look for the  Runs Offline badge on the Chrome Web Store

Good To Know: There’s a lot of awesome stuff about the web, but its good to know a few tips and tricks to protect yourself. Head on over to google.com/goodtoknow to learn more

Edit and Share Photos: This section introduces the new inbuilt image editor and its major features. A “Send to picasa” icon is also hilighted.

Master your Touchpad:Learn how to use Chromebook touchpad and try them on Chrome Logo on the screen.. This is the most useful part of this Getting Started guide.

Change your Wallpaper: The most exciting part, if you have used Chrome OS or Chromebook in its earlier days. To change your wallpaper, go to: Wrench > Settings > Appearance > Set wallpaper…  Or just right-click on the desktop and select “Set wallpaper…”

What are Web Apps?: Applications for Chromebooks are called “web apps.” They live on the web and are always up-to-date. Simply install them once and never worry about them again.  Your Chromebook comes pre-installed with a great set of default web apps. If you want more, just head on over to the Chrome Web Store to browse for more.

Cool Keyboard Shortcuts: Speed up your Chrome experience with keyboard shortcuts

Follow us!: Follow the Chrome team to learn about new features, tips and tricks, and other fun stuff happening in the Chrome world!

How to print: If you have a Cloud Ready printer, you can print quickly and easily from your Chrome device. Simply connect a printer to your Google Cloud Print account, and that printer will be present whenever you try to print from your device. Head on over to google.com/cloudprint/learn to learn more.

Stay in the Loop: Sign up to get Chrome OS product updates, promotional offers, event invites, research studies, and other related Chrome OS news.

Now, here is your surprise. Click here.

Thank you Jannik Lindquist and Mike Crumpler!

Chromebook Price Drop Again – Samsung Series 5 Starts from $299 is an article from Chrome Story - Be a Google Chrome Power User !

Another Chromebook price drop? It took me by surprise when I saw this price change. How did I miss this. Did someone else report this new before? when did this happen?

Update: Price is back to $349 on Amazon. Thanks Kurt and Susan for updating me!

I am not sure. Did anyone else here notice this? Is this really new, or an old news?

The last news I could find was this. Samsung Introduces New Chromebook, Wifi Only,$349.99. Now Samsung Chromebook price for the Wifi only version has dropped to $299.99 on Amazon.com. Check it out here.

Chromebook Price Drop

New Chromebooks Getting Ready – Is That The Reason?

I am reading this news along with the rumors about new Chromebooks from Samsung and new players coming to market. Remember the Sony Vaio Chromebook? So, is this price drop because we are close to the launch of newer Chromebook?

There are lot of new Chromebooks getting ready.  “Daisy” Is A New Chromebook Powered By Samsung’s Exynos 5250 Processor. There are many other devices showing up in the Chromium code with different sets of hardware. Some with touchscreen, some with ethernet ports etc.

Google IO is also near and that’s where Google usually announce Android and Chrome OS related news. I see a lot of momentum these days around Daisy Chromebook on the code base.

The team is pushing lot of changes to this build and I see a lot more mentions of “factory build” and “factory tests” etc which makes me feel that we are almost there.

Acer Chromebook Prices

Another thing we need to take in to consideration while discussing the Samsung Chromebook Price drop is Acer’s pricing for their Chromebooks.

We can not be really sure if the Samsung Chromebook price drop is because of new chromebooks. Acer is already selling Wifi only Chromebooks for $299.99. They dropped that price in 2011 November. But Acer Chromebook prices were lower than those of Samsung’s, right from the start.

Anyways, if you are planning to buy a Chromebook, it is a good time to do so. Chrome OS is getting better with each update, and prices are coming down!! Get one from Amazon today.