An uncharacteristic mistake has caused the early launch of a new ‘comic book’ introducing the key benefits of a new Google offering that has set the Internet community alight. Google will open a new front in the browser wars today with the launch of its ‘Chrome’ Internet browser, it has been extensively reported.
Although a seemingly natural extension of its activity, exactly why Google has decided to launch a new browser has confused some analysts. Many believe the company’s current policy of developing plug-ins for existing browsers is the most effective means of ensuring Internet users get access to the Google search engine. Others though have suggested that the initial introduction of a Window’s version of the new browser, rather than solutions that tackle all platforms (Linux, Apple, etc.), is evidence enough that the company has Microsoft in its target hairs.
To date, what is known about the new browser is available at two Google sites,
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/fresh-take-on-browser.html, and http://www.google.com/googlebooks/chrome/. No downloads are available as of this report, but are promised today. Google’s official line on its Open Source browser is that it is a rethink of the browser paradigm based on the changes the Internet has experienced over recent years.
"What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that's what we set out to build," Sundar Pichai, Google's Vice President of Product Management, suggested in a Google blog. "Because we spend so much time online, we began seriously thinking about what kind of browser could exist if we started from scratch and built on the best elements out there," added Pichai. "We realized that the web had evolved from mainly simple text pages to rich, interactive applications and that we needed to completely rethink the browser. What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that's what we set out to build."
Given the variety of applications available through Google – Google Docs, Google Earth, Google Maps, Picasa, and particularly the company’s Google Apps offering (which pulls together Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and some reports suggest, a new video conferencing function), the prospect of a browser that is optimized for Google services is extremely enticing to many Google service users. A browser that manages web applications better than the competition would also be extremely enticing to most Internet users, who these days might have YouTube, Facebook, and a host of other rich content sites open at the same time.
A link to the download of the ‘Beta’ version of Chrome will be available from the Official Google Blog (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/) at some stage today (Tuesday September 2, 2008).
