Why are the developers cutting down on interface screen estate?  Because of the growing tablet and netbook market. These devices come with smaller screens, which means that users benefit from additional space to display website contents. Some additional pixels can mean the difference between having to scroll vertically or horizontally, or not.

An interface element that had not received any attention yet from the developers is the scroll bar. The Google Chrome extension Thin Scroll Bar is a third party extension for Google’s Chrome browser that tries to change that. The extension changes the width and design of the scrollbar in the Chrome browser, so that it eats up less space.

The scroll bars are barely visible on the screenshot. Some users may feel that they are too small now in the browser as well. There is unfortunately no option currently to change the width of the scroll bar to reflect that preference. It is however likely that the developer will add that option in a future release. Thin Scroll Bar is nevertheless a great add-on for the Chrome browser, especially for users who run the browser in small windows or on small computer screens.

The Chrome extension can be installed directly from the Google Chrome web store.

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It’s quite simple to add it to your Firefox browser. Just enter the FXChrome add-on page and install it. After finishing the installation, restart Firefox. Now Firefox should look exactly like Google Chrome.

There is however one little catch, it misses the close button on opened tabs. To close a tab, you need to right click and choose the close option.

FXChrome is available for both Windows and Linux version of the Firefox browser.

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In my opinion Chrome’s implementation of Private Browsing is better than that of Firefox because Chrome lets me use my tabs, and open a separate Incognito window, without disrupting my tabs on the main browser window. Firefox on the other hand closes all of your tabs while entering private browsing mode and reloads them when you exit, which is quite a pain. Firefox is my default browser, but whenever I need to go to private browsing mode, I choose to use Chrome instead of Firefox’s private browsing mode.

If you are someone like me, then this tip will help you save time by opening Chrome in Incognito mode by default:

Open Chrome in Incognito Mode in Windows:

1. Right-click on the Chrome Icon, and Choose ‘Properties’
2. In the target box, you’ll find something like this: “C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe” (might vary depending upon your setup)
3. Just add a blank space after .exe” and insert “-incognito” without quotes.

Open Chrome in Incognito Mode in Linux:

1. First Create Launcher for Chromium on your desktop or taskbar.
2. Right click the Chromium icon and choose ‘Properties’ and add “-incognito” without quotes in the command box.

By default, Chrome will open in Incognito window. It’s also possible to have a separate shortcut icon for Chrome and Chrome with Incognito using the same technique.

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Angry Birds has been around for quite some time now on cellphones and tablets. The only platform it was missing out on was the PC, but now that seems to have been resolved. Developers of Angry Birds, Rovio just announced that the popular bird slinging game is now available on Google Chrome with the help of OpenGL. The game is offered in two variants, SD and HD. SD is for the slower running machines and HD is for faster computers with hardware acceleration for the browser. But IE9 or Firefox users need not be disheartened, because the game also works on these browsers.

Chrome users however have some more perks compared to IE9 or Firefox users. Chrome users apparently will be able to play special levels available only for this particular browser. Rovio in an official statement said – “We wanted to offer a special treat for Chrome users. We built a few exclusive levels that are only available in Chrome… it’s called the Chrome Dimension,”. Some might argue that this version of Angry Birds is not as fun as the original touchscreen version, but we can’t deny that it’s still fun.

Visit chrome.angrybirds.com to play.

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Chromebooks won’t be running any native application like iPhone or Android, infact it won’t even ship with a harddrive or DVD tray. Everything is accessible through the cloud, and stored in the cloud. Chromebook will sync all your information with other devices you own that runs Chrome. For guest usage, Chromebooks will have a incognito like feature which allows Guests to login without them being able to access your person information, and when they log out of the guest account, all their browsing history will be erased from the Chromebook.

Though Chromebook will never be able to replace a traditional computer, having everything stored in the cloud has it’s obvious advantages. Like for instance, you could switch between devices and still access all your mails, calendar and photos. And if you lose your Chromebook, just purchase a new one and start using it. Everything is stored in the cloud, so your personal information won’t be leaked if you lose it. Your new Chromebook will run without any setup or backup restoration.

Google also plans to sell these devices for Enterprises and Schools. Chromebooks will be bundled with cloud management console to remotely manage and manage user devices, applications and policies. Monthly subscription starts at $28/user for business and $20/user for Schools. It would be interesting to see if Chromebooks will gain any traction in Enterprise, considering it’s low acquisition costs, remote management ability and regular hardware replacement guarantee provided by Google.

Do you think Google’s Chromebook will be able to gain critical mass? Tell us on Twitter @buzzytech

We think if they price it well, it might be the next big thing. It reminds us of the OLPC projects!

Update: All Chromebooks ship jailbreaked! Over 100 businesses and schools piloting Chromebooks including Intercontinental Hotels and Jason’s Deli

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Chrome 11 has ditched its old fancy logo to much calmer looking flat logo:

Speech to Text, Text to Speech: Google has built one of the newest web technologies into Chrome 11, which enables users to speak into the text box instead typing with keyboard. Not a lot of website supports this feature at present, so you can’t just talk to draft your emails just yet. You can try it at Google Translator. Click on the little microphone icon, and speak. Google Translator will translate and you can ‘Listen’ to the translation.

GPU-Accelerated 3D CSS: Chrome 11 brings GPU accelerated CSS rendering, which will helps web developers achieve 3 dimensional effects by harnessing the computer’s graphics capabilities.

Mozilla will probably bring HTML5 based speech-to-text in Firefox 5 or 6, both are due for release later this year. Browser war is turning out to be in favor of superior web technologies.

Link: How to Update Google Chrome

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Once installed, all Wikipedia pages will look very neat and as mentioned in the above paragraph. This will also provide serif fonts, turn fonts to big, automatic hyphenation and will also be able to justify text. It basically makes reading a memorable and much easier process. If you intend to use the basic navigational set up of Wikipedia, all you have to do is hover the mouse on top or at the left of the screen.

If you’re a daily Wikipedia user/reader, this app is what you need. It’s not just the good design which makes it a good extension, but the functionalities too are pretty sufficient. Download the Wikipedia Beautifier [here] via github.

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This comes as Chromium’s logo was changed last week, though many believed that Chromium’s logo was changed so as to differentiate it from Chrome, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here. This is currently available only in the developer channel, but the Beta and stable channels should follow soon. This new change to the browsers logo is very crisp on the eye and is possibly more flexible. An announcement from Google about this update is expected.

Via: Download Squad

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But wait, don’t get too excited. This feature currently works only on four websites(The New York Times, CNN, The Huffington Post and TMZ). This is very disappointing cause there’s every possibility of finding annoying celebrities all around the web. But the developer Michael Surtees says he is working on expanding this extension to other websites too. He also said – “There’s a lot more that we’re building into this (like the ability to remove headlines from any site)”

There’s also a Charlie Sheen browser blocker called the Tinted Sheen which you may want to look into. Charlie Sheen is all around twitter these days and there’s every possibility that you’re annoyed by him.

Via: Mashable

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If you’re a Chrome user, you’ll be aware of the fact that adding bookmark shortcuts to the omnibar is not possible. But a Chrome extension known as Quickmarks, solves exactly this. This extension lets you access your bookmarks very easily through your keyboard.

After the extension is installed, you need to type ‘b’ followed by the bookmark shortcut for the respective bookmark. You may add bookmark shortcuts by attaching a keyword in brackets. Ex: [tw] for twitter. After a certain period Quickmarks will recognize this and in future you will only have to type ‘b tw’ to open your twitter bookmark. Very useful extension this, try it. Download the extension here.

Via: LifeHacker

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You can now take advantage of Google Chrome’s speed and ability to search the web right from the address bar. Additionally you can now choose to import your Safari and or Firefox bookmarks and preferences and carry them over to Google Chrome.

Here’s a video from Google.

Google Chrome Extensions has been launched finally. While we compile our notes about it, go ahead and download the Google Chrome for Mac OS X 10.5 here!

Linux:

Linux  users can now cheer! Those who have been patiently waiting to download and use Google Chrome can now download the beta version of Google Chrome for Linux here!

It supports Linux (Debian/Ubuntu/Fedora/openSUSE)

If you wish the find out more details about Google Chrome Beta Mac and Linux, and upcoming extensions for the same please read all the details here and here!

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“According to a recent posting on Google Groups by Chrome team member Neil Baum, extensions are set to hit Chrome’s beta channel in early December. The plan may well be to launch both the updated beta and extension gallery at the same time” – Download Quad

The extensions link which previously redirected to Google Search, now greets you with “coming soon” message, which leads me to believe that extension gallery is just around the corner. Once extensions arrive in the stable builds on Google Chrome, I think Firefox developers will start porting their extension to Chrome. Once that materializes, Firefox will get some much-needed competition.

I’m looking forward to try extensions on Google Chrome. Firefox consumes way too much resources and I find it sluggish compared to Chrome these days.

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Essentially, Google Chrome Frame is an open source plug-in that brings HTML5 and other open web technologies to Internet Explorer. Google describes Chrome Frame as:

"We’re building Google Chrome Frame to help web developers deliver faster, richer applications like Google Wave. Recent JavaScript performance improvements and the emergence of HTML5 have enabled web applications to do things that could previously only be done by desktop software. One challenge developers face in using these new technologies is that they are not yet supported by Internet Explorer. Developers can’t afford to ignore IE — most people use some version of IE — so they end up spending lots of time implementing work-arounds or limiting the functionality of their apps."

"With Google Chrome Frame, developers can now take advantage of the latest open web technologies, even in Internet Explorer. From a faster Javascript engine, to support for current web technologies like HTML5′s offline capabilities and <canvas>, to modern CSS/Layout handling, Google Chrome Frame enables these features within IE with no additional coding or testing for different browser versions."

This, however, won’t solve the problem because most IE users won’t install Chrome Frame. Google has a plot for that as well – Google Wave, the very much awaited real-time communication platform which is all set to be previewed next week. Internet Explorer users who intend to try Google Wave will be asked to download and install Google Chrome Frame.

Google justifies this strategy as:

"Google Wave depends on strong JS and DOM rendering performance to provide a desktop-like experience in the browser. HTML5′s offline storage and web workers will enable us to add great features without having to compromise on performance. Unfortunately, Internet Explorer, still used by the majority of the Web’s users, has not kept up with such fairly recent developments in Web technology. Compared with other browsers, the JavaScript performance is many times slower and HTML5 support is still far behind. Likewise, the many different versions of IE still in use — each with its own set of CSS quirks and layout limitations — further complicates building rich Web applications."

"In the past, the Google Wave team has spent countless hours solely on improving the experience of running Google Wave in Internet Explorer. We could continue in this fashion, but using Google Chrome Frame instead lets us invest all that engineering time in more features for all our users, without leaving Internet Explorer users behind."

Great move by Google for both users and developers. Internet Explorer users will be enticed to try Google Chrome (or Firefox, maybe). Even if they don’t switch over, Chrome’s rendering engine working within IE means lesser pain for the developers. On the other hand, Microsoft is trapped. If they somehow try to cripple this plugin from running, it’ll greatly damage Microsoft’s reputation.

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This article, Google Chrome Frame: Clever Way to Fix and Kill Internet Explorer, was published at TechBuzz. Please don't violate our copyright