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Google has released a new Chrome beta that includes a theming engine, faster JavaScript performance, several usability improvements, and support for HTML5 video.

Google has announced the availability of a new beta release of its Chrome Web browser. This version introduces several new features and user interface improvements, including support for a theming system that allows users to customize the browser’s look.

Chrome was first released last year and hit 1.0 on Windows in December. Although the product was somewhat feature-anemic at launch, Google has been fleshing it out and adding a lot of useful features. The browser is attracting a growing number of users and is said to have overtaken Opera based on marketshare statistics published by several analytics firms. Google is building an entire operating system around the browser and is planning to thrust it into the fragmented netbook market later next year.

The new Chrome beta release brings significant improvements to JavaScript performance. Although Google adopted Apple’s WebKit renderer, the search giant opted to build its own high-performance JavaScript virtual machine called V8. Google contends that the new and improved version of the V8 engine that is included in the latest beta is 30 percent faster than the one in the latest official stable version. This is a significant leap forward and it strongly confirms Google’s assertion following Chrome’s launch that V8 had plenty of room for further optimization.

The new beta also introduces support for themes. These can change the appearance of Chrome’s chrome, including the tabs, the titlebar, the URL bar, the bookmarks toolbar, and the window frame. A Chrome design document draft has been published that describes how to create themes. Each theme consists of a JSON file that specifies the theme’s graphical resources, colors, and positioning.

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Google provides a gallery with some sample themes that can be used to test the system. Some of these, such as the Baseball theme, are rather exotic. To my eye, none of the sample themes really outshine the default look and feel, but the potential for customization will likely appeal to many users.

The browser’s new tab page got a visual overhaul and now allows users to hide individual history items. The omnibox’s built-in autocompletion got a subtle enhancement with the addition of icons that indicate the type of the individual autocompletion results. It’s a nice improvement over previous versions and it helps improve the browser’s usability.

The new Chrome beta delivers some HTML5 features, such as support for Web worker threads and rendering the

Google has revealed several other impressive experimental features that are being developed for future versions. We recently looked at Google’s plans to bring cloud synchronization to the browser. There is also a very promising extension system that is beginning to take shape and will eventually make it possible for developers to add new functionality to the browser with HTML and JavaScript.

Chrome is really starting to look shiny and appealing. If the company can continue to maintain this pace of development, it will soon be a compelling option for Web users who want nimble browsing and easy extensibility. The new beta can be downloaded from Google’s website.

Google announced today a new, experimental idea aiming to reshape the future of communication on the web. It’s called Wave, and if you believe its developer, it’s “what email would look like if it were invented today.” It’s also going to be totally open source. Intrigued?
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Firefox with Greasemonkey: The AddTo Google Reader script adds web pages to your shared items in Google Reader, so you can bookmark and share non-feed items easily. Once you’ve installed the script, More »

When you want to quickly compose and fire off a message with Gmail, you’ve got a lot of options. Chances are none of them are as fast as gCompose.

We’ve covered similar alternatives in the past, like our very own Supercharged GmailThis bookmarklet, but none of them offer the compose-and-return-to-work speed of gCompose. Instead of a regular Gmail compose window, gCompose speeds up the compose process by linking to the iGoogle Gmail gadget’s compose window, which strips what you don’t need (it doesn’t load Gmail chat or your inbox, for example) but still keeps the features you want (like contact autocomplete).

Created by blogger Andrew Kortina, gCompose comes in a variety of formats: a simple gCompose bookmark, a gCompose bookmarklet that opens a new window for your message, or a gCompose plugin for previously mentioned Ubiquity. The post offers instructions for setting up gCompose with your Gmail account, so follow the link below for details. If you’ve got a faster method of firing off an email with Gmail, let’s hear it in the comments.

Google Preferred Sites Customize Search Results with More of What You Like: Google has released a new experimental search feature—called preferred sites—that returns customized search results based on a list of sites you like. So, for example, setting Lifehacker as a preferred site at your Google preference page will increase the likelihood that a Lifehacker post will appear in the first page of search results when you search for something. According to Google Operating System, the feature isn’t available to all users (including this editor). If your account is one of the lucky ones, let’s hear how the feature works for you in the comments.

A user in the MacRumors forums posted this screenshot from the recently released Picasa for Mac beta, which included an option to move photos to a “Google Web Drive.” Google users have wanted a cloud storage solution from Google ever since Gmail’s huge storage capacity made More »

Like messing around with unproven software? Then you may be interested in the Chrome 2.0 pre-beta. It features several updates including support for user scripts, easy profile switching, form autofill and page zooming.

Because it is a developer preview, you are going to need to download the Google Chrome Channel Chooser and join the dev channel before you can start kicking the tires.

Google has officially released their popular photo management application Picasa for Macs, after years of offering Picasa as a free Windows download. More »

Linux only: The latest release of Google Gadgets for Linux offers speed and memory performance enhancements and a number of bug fixes, but, most importantly, support for newer gadgets like Gmail and Google Docs.

Those last two gadgets on Linux run almost exactly the same as the Google Desktop versions we previously mentioned, which could be all kinds of convenient for Linux users looking for the convenience of on-desktop email and writing without the heft of a full Google Desktop package. Hit the link below to grab a binary package or repository link for your distribution.

Google has taken a more aggressive approach to moving users away from Internet Explorer, recommending that Gmail users install Firefox or Chrome if they want to see Gmail run “an average of twice as fast.”

When you log into Gmail using Internet Explorer, you’ll see a “Get faster Gmail” link in the set of links across the top of the page. If you follow the link in IE7, which claims that Gmail runs an average of twice as fast on Firefox 3 or Chrome than it does IE.
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