What is Google Chromecast and how does it work

Google Chromecast is a dongle device -- connect it to your TV and then stream movies, music and more form your phone, Tablet or laptop. Once connected is seamlessly streams video content from your device to your TV. The way it works is that you plugin the device into the HDMI slot on your HDTV after which you can direct video content to your TV via Smartphone, Tablet, Laptop or PC. The device can be used with Android, iOS (iPhone and iPad), MAC or Windows PC. There is no need for a remote control and while your device is busy casting -- you can still use it for other things like sending email.

Chromecast works with Netflix, YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV and Music and soon Pandora. Chromecast is essentially Google's answer to Apple's AirPlay. You can use any device connected to the network. Which means you can start a video with one device and control it with another. It works very easy -- there is noting to learn to control the device. Simply plug-and-play and use your device to control the play, there is no need for a remote control.

Chromecast how to use and get started in 3 simple steps

1. Plug Chromecast into your HDTV

2. Connect it to WiFi

3. Send video content to your TV via your SmartPhone, tablet,laptop or PC.

Currently available in the US for $35.

Check out the video below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKG5HDyTW8o

Google Chrome Wrench Icon replaced with HotDog Icon

Chrome have changed the icon that used to represent the place where people go to adjust their Google Chrome Settings. We have written a large number of How-to articles on Google Chrome and people are now asking where is the 'Wench' icon -- Google Wrench is missing, disappeared  changed and replaced. Something that everyone had gotten used to. The new icon being called the hotdog icon looks like three black lines stacked up over each other. The Wrench icon was most iconic and in its own fine way represented settings.

The place to go to when you needed to adjust your settings and change something. The New Hotdogs icon is however here to stay and we are not going into the reasons as to what might have prompted Google to change it. Suffice is to say that it has been changed and now when you want to educate someone on Chrome settings. You might want to use the word hotdog icon and represented by three black lines stacked one on the other. Here is a snapshot of the old wrench icon and the new hotdog icon.

How to make Facebook my homepage on IE, Chrome, Firefox or Safari

Facebook has been experiencing continuous growth and if some studies are to be believed, Facebook is all set to cross the 1 billion mark in August. Yes, Facebook is expected to cross over 1 billion users this month. It is no surprise then that you might be one of the people who use Facebook frequently and would like to set Facebook as your homepage on your browser. Facebook users tend to visit Facebook first on the internet before proceeding to other sites. This post is to help you do just that and set Facebook as your homepage, so as soon as you start your PC or mobile device the first site you visit will be Facebook. How to make Facebook my homepage.

 

How to set Facebook as homepage in IE, Chrome, Firefox and Safari

 

1. IE

Open Internet Explorer and click on tools > Internet Options and then in the space to create homepage tabs, type www.Facebook.com and then click OK and you're done

 

2. Chrome

Launch Chrome and then click on the wrench icon - extreme top left hand corner. From the drop-down click on settings. Below 'On Startup' check the button beside 'Open a specific page or set of pages' and then click the link 'Set Pages'. A pop-up box will appear enter www.Facebook.com in there and click on OK - you're done.

 

3. FireFox (Mozilla)

Launch FireFox and then open Facebook.com. Now just drag the Facebook Favicon (icon) to the homepage button and release. Facebook is now set as your homepage. For more please check the image below.

 

 

4. Safari (iPhone, iPad and MAC)

Launch Safari and then choose preferences - you could also  press Command+, (comma) and the preferences dialog should appear. Beside Homepage enter Facebook and 'Set to current page'. You're done.

How to disable or remove an add-on or extension in Google Chrome

Chrome Store for Extensions

Google's Chrome Browser has taken over as the most popular browser. Using Chrome is simple and easy, you can add all kinds of add-ons, plug-ins and extensions. There is even a part of the Chrome Store dedicated to extensions which can be found here. Adding an extension in Chrome is a very simple task and if you want to remove or disable an addon or extension it can be done in three easy steps. Chrome has been made for simple and fast browsing. Enabling even a newbie to accomplish tasks that have previously been considered difficult. So if you are fed-up with an extension of add-on and you would like remove it here is how to do so.


How to disable a Chrome Extension
1. Launch Google Chrome
2. Click on the Wrench icon. (Top right-hand corner)
3. Click on tools and then on extensions
4. Find the Add-on or extension you want to remove and then uncheck the box before enabled
5. 'Enabled' should now turn to 'Enable' meaning it has been disabled and you would need to click the check-box before that extension would work again on Chrome
6. You're done. 


Check out the video below for the visuals. 

An original post by

Sociolatte

Update to Chrome 17 to enjoy faster web browsing and added security

This is really happening fast two months after the release of Chrome 16 comes the release of Chrome 17, just a month after being launched in Beta and a day after the launch of Chrome for Android. There are actually two features that Google says is what makes the latest version a must have for faster, quicker and safer browsing. The way Chrome 17 loads faster is through something called 'Prerendering' what this means simply is that as you are typing an address in the omnibox, chrome will start actually loading pages for the site you are about to visit and so when you click enter it will seem as though the site is there already. This will make it look like the page or website has loaded instantly. Reducing the time from the moment you click enter and the time it takes to open the website. 

The second feature is the added security. Google explains this in very simply terms - they have a whitelist based on files that are know to come from various publishers across the internet. So if you are about to download a .exe or .msi file; there are executable files, Chrome will check the history of known publishers and help save your system by warning of an potentially dangerous download. This is based on known issues from publishers across the web. Chrome can also warn you of Phishing attacks and harmful download based on its vast knowledge-base. You will get a huge red page that helps you get back to safety.


How to download Chrome 17
1. From your Chrome Browser click on the wrench icon
2. Click on 'About Google Chrome'
3. It should start updating instantly or you can click on update now
If you do not have Chrome installed you can download it right now. 
Source: Chrome Blog, if you want the tech aspects you can go here.

An original post by

Sociolatte

Sign in to Chrome to get your favorite Chrome settings on all your devices

Google Chrome the browser from Google is now the second most popular browser after IE. This browser that brings speed to the internet has been growing in popularity and grows around you. By you people of the internet and followers of Apple know what 'iCloud' is, add an app to one device and in syncs on all your iOS devices. Google Chrome just got smart and you can do the same with your favorite browser. So no matter which PC you log on from, your favorite Apps, Extensions, Bookmarks and other settings are readily available. All this can be set-up with just a click from within your Chrome browser and you're good to go.

How to  Sync your Google Chrome settings across all your devices.
1. Open Google Chrome
2. Click on the wrench icon
3. Click on 'Sign into Chrome'
4. enter email ID and password
5. Clock on 'Ok, Sync everything'
5. You're done

Source: Google Chrome Blog

An original post by

Sociolatte

How to disable or enable all Chrome extensions with a single click

There is a good reason for this post and it is because Google Chrome the web browser from Google has overtaken FireFox in terms of market share internationally. Chrome is also a browser that can do things that other browsers cannot. It is fast and efficient and using Chrome to surf the web feels much lighter and quicker than all other browsers. For example some new Angry Bird levels can only be played on Chrome. So it is now the no. 2 browser behind Microsoft's IE. This can only mean that more and more people are using Chrome and that also means that more and more extensions are being used. Since Chrome has some pretty cool extensions that are totally free and easy to use.


There may be times when you just might want to disable all your extensions and with this extension you can do so in a single click. Disable All Extensions Plus - will help you do just that and you don't have to waste time and search for single extensions to turn-off or stop. This get's the job done in a single click.


It is totally free and easy to use and works everywhere that Chrome does. Will also save you time and you can turn-off extensions while you surf and not bother too much about what extensions are running and what are not.


Disable All Extensions Plus for Chrome

An original post by

Sociolatte

Kindle Cloud Reader: Web App lets you read your Kindle books, instantly.

There is a reason why Amazon is calling the Kindle Cloud reader a Web App. Apple has a problem with Kindle's iPhone App and pulled the 'buy' button on the iPad App. Basically what the button did was allow users to make purchases outside of Apple's control. which meant a loss of 30% in revenue for Apple. Apple's is know for it's tight control of all Apps that enter it's App store. which has forced companies to create web based Apps that can be used on the iPhone and iPad. One of the first web-based Apps was the one from Playboy. With Apple's tight control on not allowing adult content on to it's platforms. Companies have had to innovate.


Amazon has done just that and have created and released their own web App that can be used on the iPad. it is free to use and allows users to read all their books and purchase new ones all on Amazon.


If you ask Amazon what is the Kindle Cloud Reader a brief description on the site says 'Kindle Cloud Reader is a web app that lets you read your Kindle books, instantly.' That's as simple as it gets. the kindle Cloud Reader is available on Safari for MAC and PC, Chrome and iPad (iOS 4+). With support for additional browsers coming son. Try it out now. 

An original post by

Sociolatte

How to translate Twitter and Facebook statuses with Google Chrome

With the immense popularity of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Not too far away in the near future. English will not be the dominant language on social sites. Already you might know if you have a large number of Twitter followers and Facebook friends scattered around the world. many of the Tweets and Facebook status are not in English. As people are much more comfortable using their native languages. Half of Twitter users are outside of English speaking countries and social networks are definitely not confined to the English language. 


Google Chrome has introduced a new extension for your browser, that helps you take care of this problem. Install this extension and you will be able to read all those foreign language Tweets and Status updates right from your browser. This extension uses Google Translate to accomplish the task. Called The Social Translate chrome extension automatically translates event streams and friends’ comments on social network sites. Click here to get the Social Extension from Google Chrome. 

An original post by

Sociolatte

Video: Google Speeds up Chrome

These speed tests were filmed at actual web page rendering times. If you're interested in the technical details, read on!

Equipment used:

- Computer: MacBook Pro laptop with Windows installed
- Monitor - 24" Asus: We had to replace the standard fluorescent backlight with very large tungsten fixtures to funnel in more light to capture the screen. In addition, we flipped the monitor 180 degrees to eliminate a shadow from the driver board and set the system preferences on the computer to rotate 180 degrees. No special software was used in this process.
- 15Mbps Internet connection.
- Camera: Phantom v640 High Speed Camera at 1920 x 1080, films up to 2700 fps


"Why does allrecipes.com in the potato gun sequence appear at once, and not the text first and images second? And why does it appear to render from bottom of the screen to the top?"

Chrome sends the rendered page to the video card buffer all at once, which is why allrecipes.com appears at once, and not with the text first and images second. Chrome actually paints the page from top to bottom, but to eliminate a shadow from the driver board, we had to flip the monitor upside down and set the system preferences in Windows to rotate everything 180 degrees, resulting in the page appearing to render from bottom to top.

"Why does the top one third of the page appear first on the weather.com page load?"

Sometimes only half the buffer gets filled before the video card sends its buffer over to the LCD panel. This is because Chrome on Windows uses GDI to draw, which does not do v-sync.

"The screen wipes are so smooth - how was that achieved?"

The screen wipes up in a gradated wipe because LCD pixels take around 10ms to flip and gradually change color.

We'll be releasing the results of these speed tests:
http://chrome.blogspot.com/2010/05/pe...

http://www.google.com/chrome

Source [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oarMXGq3gI ]

An original post by

Sociolatte

Google's OS And Storage

If you would like a visual tour of google chrome PC World has the slide show Click here to view. With all this cloud computing and having to access your programs from a cloud. The question that arises is will there be local storage. What if you want to store your pictures an files locally. Since the OS will rely heavily on solid-state memory, both in the form of USB flash drives and SD cards. You can store your pictures and files on a USB drive or Flash card.

Maybe they would even rent out space

So with local caching turned off and no local storage. Google netbooks may offer the best protection for business travellers against espionage. The security on the notebook will be tight.

An original post by

Sociolatte