Windows 8: Google

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Google: We Are Working On A Chrome Metro Version

If you have followed the Windows 8 development up to this point you know that the operating system will ship with two different interfaces. First the regular desktop interface, and then the Metro user interface, which Microsoft calls the start page. With these interfaces come two versions of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 10. First the regular version and successor of Internet Explorer 9, and then a “bare-bones” version optimized for Metro.

The Metro version of Internet Explorer 10 will be plugin-free, fullscreen, and without other features that Windows users have come to expect from a browser. While sharing the same core, the browser’s are fundamentally different from each other.

Mozilla recently made the announcement that they have started to work on a Windows 8 version of the Firefox web browser. A Wiki at the official Mozilla website highlights the development status and intention.

The feature goal here is a new Gecko based browser built for and integrated with the Metro environment.
Firefox on Metro, like all other Metro apps will be full screen, focused on touch interactions, and connected to the rest of the Metro environment through Windows 8 contracts.

Google today confirmed that the company is also working on a Google Chrome Metro version of the browser. The Metro version of Chrome is based on the desktop version of the browser, and not the mobile client Google released some time ago.

According to Mashable, Google plans to include enhanced touch support in the release to go along with Microsoft’s touch-centric philosophy. It is not clear at this point in time if Metro Chrome will have all the features of the desktop version, or if it will be limited just like Microsoft’s browser is.

It is likely that Google will implement a data synchronization feature to sync data between the Metro, desktop and mobile versions of the browser.

As far as major browser developers are concerned, only Opera and Apple have not yet announced a Metro version of their browsers. It is not clear if we will see Metro Opera or Metro Safari any time soon, or if the companies will pass and concentrate on a single desktop version instead.

What’s your take on the development? Let us know in the comments.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Friday, March 9, 2012

How To Get Google Play On Your Android Device Right Now!

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When influential companies announce upcoming new products and changes to services, most users become eager to jump ship and adopt the presumably improved iteration.

The Facebook Timeline was a prime example. Announced at the f8 conference last September, though it took months for the tell-all feature to eventually trickle to the entirety of the social network’s 800 million active users, many were using it in full by the end of the day thanks to a couple of little tricks.

gplay_logo_web_white

Google is currently in the process of a similar major overhaul, revamping its online and mobile store, previously known as the Android Market (or, more commonly, simply, the Market). Having grown at an incredible rate in the last few years, it has made significant ground on rival Apple’s App Store. In order to properly reflect the diverse new content of the previously app-only service, the Android Market moniker has made way for Google Play, and is rolling out to Android devices in the coming days.

Google Play

Amalgamating the apps, games, movies, and music all in one place, the content is still unchanged, but the Big G has altered the look of it slightly; we’ll leave it up to you guys to decide whether the changes are for better, or indeed for worse, by showing you how you can push the upgrade onto your device early with this short and concise tutorial.

Step 1: Update to the latest version of Play Books, Play Movies, or Play Music. If you don’t have any of the above on your device, install one of them.

Step 2: Go to Settings -> Apps -> Market, and clear your data.

Step 3: Open whichever "Play" app you downloaded or updated in Step 1.

Step 4: Hit the "Play Store" icon, after which you’ll be met with a TOS screen. Accept the revised terms, and that’s it!

It’s been tested by many bloggers and internet users, including us here at Redmond Pie, and has installed smoothly on most running Android 2.2 or above without a hiccup.

If you can’t get it going, repeat the steps a couple of times, although if you still cannot get the Play Store app up and running whatsoever, you might just have to wait until Google decides to push it through.

(via AndroidAndMe)