Posted 01/25/10 at 02:32:38 PM by Bart Salisbury

It’s interesting to watch product development in the raw. Google’s Chrome is just a basic browser. But the underlying technology allows for so much more. Once Google gets Chrome stable it pushes Chrome forward, opening up new features that make it more useful--all of which we get to watch in real-time. Two new features, which appear in the newest stable Windows version of Chrome, are extensions and bookmark synchronization.

Extensions aren’t really new, for Chrome or any other browser. But, Google has moved them out of their beta stage and into the release version. Extensions add versatility to Chrome, allowing easy access to favorite web applications, or streamline common online tasks, such as getting directions or browsing photos. Google says there are now over 1,500 extensions available, ranging from AdThwart to Chromed Bird (for Twitter) to Google Mail Checker.

Bookmark synchronization isn’t a new concept either, but a free version is. Google has built in the option for those with Google accounts. Each computer you use can be set up for near instantaneous syncing of bookmarks, regardless of which computer a bookmark is created on. It’s a simple matter of turning on the sync bookmark preference and letting the “magic” happen.

Not on Windows? Google says that extensions for Linux are in enabled on the beta channel. Mac users, however, are going to have to cool their heels--Google is still working to implement them in the Mac beta.

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Posted 10/14/09 at 05:01:08 PM by Jason Barry

The latest Flip MinoHD was announced today featuring a sizable memory upgrade, an aluminum shell and a half-inch on the screen.

With the new MinoHD, you can record up to 120 minutes of HD (720p) video onto the internal 8GB of memory, doubling its predecessor. It sports a 2-inch (diagonal) screen running at a resolution of 960x240. They wrapped it all in an aluminum shell. The folks at Gizmodo got their hands on one and said “The aluminum shell feels great: Much more solid and smaller in the hand than the previous plastic version.”

The newest Flip also supports the latest Flip Video Engine, which adds some onboard editing and clipping features.

Price only jumped 30 bucks to $229 over the $199, 60 minute/4GB version. It is probably worth checking out if you’re in the point-and-shoot video recorder market.

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Posted 03/20/09 at 11:23:10 PM by Mark Edward Soper

As expected, Microsoft used this week's MIX09 conference to officially launch Internet Explorer 8, Cnet's Ina Fried reports. To make it easy to get your hands on IE8, links to the previous IE8 beta version website now automatically point to the official IE8 page. So, what's new in IE8? We've discussed  a lot of the new features in previous articles, but if you need to get up to speed, here are some of the high points:

• Compatibility mode, designed to enable IE8 (built, at long last, to comply with official standards) to properly render pages on sites designed to match previous IE versions' Microsoft-only features
• Web accelerators, which provide one-click blog, define, email, find, map, and search for content in any web page
• SmartScreen filter and other built-in features to help provide a more secure search environment
• InPrivate browsing that automatically blocks history and other traces of where you've been online
• A growing collection of add-ons in over 15 categories to help you customize IE8

For more IE8 resources and download links, join us after the jump.

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