Another day, another dozen new releases from Google.
As we mentioned yesterday, Google seems to be on a tear with new releases. Since we published the news of upgrades to Google Street View, there have been two major new releases from the Big G. First up, Google Chrome, Google’s upstart new web browser they introduced back in September, has been taken out of beta status and received an upgrade to version 1.
According to the Google blog, the new version has improved bookmark controls, better speed, improved stability and more. If you have yet to try out this new browser, it is a decent experience, though no one here at StarterTech has switched to it completely, we do use it every day for various tasks. If you have not yet downloaded it, you can download it here, and if you are currently using it, click on the wrench in the top right corner, click on “About Google Chrome” and then click “Upgrade” and it will handle the rest for you.
Second up is a new feature for Gmail that made a brief appearance in October, but it was pulled almost as soon as it appeared. The release is stable now and working with all of the major United States phone carriers. As Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins noted on Mashable last night, it is not working with regional carriers, though.
The Gmail blog notes that the new features is part of the “Labs” system which means you need to go in and activate it by hand. As we noted in the post about Gmail adding Tasks, you need to do the following:
- Go to Settings
- click the Labs tab.
- Select “Enable” next to “SMS”
- Then click “Save Changes” at the bottom.
- After Gmail refreshes, you will see the options in your contact information.
As we said yesterday, we don’t know what has happened with Google this month, but they are on a tear for new releases!
