The new Google browser offers a few APIs and app-like extensions.
The official Google Chrome Blog announces that a new “stable” version of the browser is now available to download. According to the announcement, this new version adds HTML and JavaScript APIs (application programming interface) and browser extensions that adds “over 1,500 new features.” In a nutshell, the browser now supports “apps” where users can download little programs to make surfing somewhat easier. For instance, web surfers who use Google Mail can install an extension that places a button next to the address bar—clicking the button takes you straight to your inbox in a new tab while the button itself shows how many messages wait unread. The IE Tab extension, when installed, will place a button in the same area, allowing users to load Internet Explorer into a new tab to view websites that only support IE. As for the JavaScript and HTML APIs, Google Chrome product manager Ian Fette said that the Web SQL Database API enables structured data storage on a user's computer. "If you're looking for a simpler client-side storage mechanism for relatively small amounts of data, check out the localStorage portion of the Web Storage API," he added. "We're already working on making these new APIs more useful and you should see a couple of improvements on the developer channel soon." Two other APIs--Application Cache and SessionStorage--is also in the works.
