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Filed under: Google, Beta, Browsers

Google Chrome beta adds new features to location bar, new tab page

Google Chrome omnibox
The beta version of Google Chrome always has a few experimental features that are absent from the stable release of the browser. But one thing I really didn't love about Google Chrome Beta when I decided to give it a try a few weeks ago was the updated new tab page. Instead of simply showing a few thumbnails for your most frequently visited pages, Google added a "recent activities section," which can be useful, but which also makes the fresh tab page a bit more visually cluttered.

Fortunately, you can customize which items appear on the new tab page, and as of today you can also remove and reorganize bookmarks on the new tab page in Google Chrome Beta simply by dragging and dropping thumbnails. You can also pin thumbnails so they don't disappear even if you don't use them very often.

Google has also added icons to the drop-down list in the Omnibox (location bar) that help you see at a glance what type of results Chrome is recommending as you start typing. For instance, you'll see a magnifying glass next to searches, a star for bookmarks, and a globe for web sites.

Google says the latest beta also features speed enhancements and a 30% improvement in the V8 and SunSpider benchmarks.
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