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Filed under: Google, Ask DLS, Browsers

Ask DLS: Does Google Chrome Frame tactic smell funny to anyone else?

Ok, I know all the cool kids like to take shots at Internet Explorer. Heck, I'll admit it -- I've done it myself. And yes, I do prefer using Google Chrome.

But there's something I just don't like about the way Google plans to get Chrome Frame onto users' systems. Group Product Manager Mike Smith and Software Engineer Alex Russell told TechCrunch that Google "won't be explicitly advertising it." Instead, they'll use "subtle methods to alert users to its existence."

Now, the mockup above is anything but subtle. I'd assume - based on what Google has done in the past on the search page - that users will probably see a small alert in the upper-right corner.

Here's my question - why not just push Chrome? Why push an option that bolts Chrome on to Internet Explorer? TC's MG Siegler says the plugin itself is about 500Kb, but adds that it downloads about 10Mb of additional "Chrome-related data to work correctly."

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Filed under: Internet, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Windows Mobile, Google

Gmail brings photos to contacts, sound to chat


Since I've dumped Apple's email client for Gmail, I've come to miss a few minor features like having images accompany contacts in my address book and the emails I receive from them in the email app itself. As of yesterday, this is one feature I can scratch off my Gmail wishlist, as Google announced they are now rolling out contact pictures to Gmail, with some special sauce to boot. Not only will you be able to add pictures to contacts and see them in their emails you receive, but users can suggest pictures for each other. If you don't see these features in your Gmail account yet, have patience, grasshopper. Google said they're rolling these out to accounts over time, though they didn't specify an ETA for when they'll be done.

Another handy but less whiz-bang feature Gmail rolled out is sound for chat windows. You'll receive a ping for new chat messages now, and this feature is enabled by default (you can toggle it in the prefs). Oddly, you need to have Flash enabled in order to hear the ping.

[via Hawk Wings]

Filed under: Web services, Google

Google News, now with Suggest(TM)

Google News   SuggestOkay, I'm kidding about the "TM" part (I think), but Google engineer Jon McAlister spent some of his 20% time to build a Google Suggest-like interface into Google News, providing you "with search suggestions specific to news in your country, in real time, while you type." So this sort of Ajax trickery is much less impressive than it was back in 2004, but I think it's pretty handy for expanding your news searches based on current events. Currently the suggest feature isn't active on the default Google News home page and must be accessed by going to news.google.com/news?complete=1, and it only works for the U.S. site.

[Via Google Blogoscoped]

Featured Time Waster

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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