Google I/O: Chrome with a bright future

The second keynote address at the Google I/O conference has especially pushed the Google Chrome browser, although slightly less than Chrome OS.

During the second day of the Google I/O conference, a lot of questions were asked about Google Chrome, and even Chrome OS (centred around the browser), Chromebook (a laptop equipped with Chrome OS), and Chromebox (the desktop computer version).

On these devices based on Chrome OS, Google hasn’t provided any figures and it appears that they are having difficulty convincing users of the benefits. In the United States, the Chromebook will also be sold in Best Buy shops, while they will be available at Dixons in the United Kingdom.

For such devices where an Internet connection is a necessity, it should be noted that the Google Docs offline connection will be available so that you can edit documents. Changes made will be stored locally and will be synchronized once the device is back online. This offline mode also concerns Google Chrome on other devices.

For their browser, Google had a lot more to say, demonstrating their synchronisation (browsing history, open tabs, settings, extensions…) so that you can find the same environment no matter what device you are connected with.

Google Chrome is now also available on the iPhone and iPad via the Apple App Store. This is also the case for the Google Drive application (the online storage cloud service merged with Google Docs).

According to Google, Chrome now has 310 million active users, compared to 160 million a year ago (and 70 million two years ago).  The evolution of this browser is explained in this promotional video:

As another promotional activity, in the autumn next year, the Cirque de Soleil will offer Movi.Kanti.Revo, a Chrome experiment Using HTML5 and CSS3 which draws on the technologies integrated into the browser. The only details provided are that this Web 3D application will use a motion sensor technology.

The demonstration was quite interesting, with a sample provided in the video below: