I’ve been a fan of Google quite early on. It is one of these rare companies that seems to be constantly innovating, going forward and finding new ways to become even more useful (and make more money). I’ve been waiting for a Google OS for quite some time, and even though I feel it won’t be my cup of tea, I’m still excited to see how it will turn out to be. I was able to try out their browser as soon as it was released to the public, but I didn’t catch on instantly. The interface didn’t integrate well (with Windows XP), it seemed overly simplistic, and I missed my beloved icons. I saw no reason to switch.

What’s up with Google Chrome?

I had experienced love at first sight when I finally received that invitation for Gmail; not when I used Chrome for the first time. Chrome was made up of some good ideas, one idea that I even found revolutionary, but I could live without it. Then it grew on me. Chrome is like that on a lot of people. They don’t see it as “the best thing ever” but keep it because it’s stress-free and uncumbersome. After some time, you don’t want to go back.

Google released Chrome stating that is was a new, innovative browser that intended to remove the browser’s “chrome” (i.e. interface) in our lives so that we could fully experience the Internet (i.e. Google’s services). Overall, they have achieved that. The proof of it is that the Chrome browser is still growing, taking market-share whilst the others are getting ready to imitate it. Critics can attack Chrome from every angle, but numbers talk: Mashable stated all this in a clear simple sentence without leaving out the facts:

“Chrome grew from 5.22% to 5.61% (0.39%) over the course of February. Internet Explorer shrunk from 62.12% to 61.58% (0.54%), Firefox from 24.43% to 24.23% (0.2%), Safari from 4.53% to 4.45% (0.08%) and Opera from 2.38% to 2.35% (0.03%).”

Clicky provides us with a nice graph that summarizes all of this.

It is interesting to note that Chrome is the only browser still growing, and that at a constant rate. It is undeniable that Chrome is filling up space, and pushing all other browsers away. Of course, it’s important not to over-interpret the data. Chrome is getting bigger, and all other browsers are loosing market share, but that doesn’t meant that Chrome is going to eat us all or that everybody prefers Chrome. What it means is that Chrome still has more place to grow, and that some of the innovations it brought were useful: we needed Chrome, we were waiting for it.

Even better, they looked at their own data:

“Chrome use grew among Mashable readers from 12.68% to 14.8% — 2.12%. From that you can deduce that Chrome’s adoption is (unsurprisingly) moving faster among web and tech enthusiasts.”

While it’s not surprising to see that Chrome is growing at the expense of others, it’s relatively larger adoption by technophiles says a lot about them. Now, I generally imagine that geeks like me love configuring stuff. “Powerful” software is much more interesting than any quick-simple application for any IT-oriented person because it broadens your possibilities, but it actually seems that a large part of these technophiles actually prefer simpler worry-free applications. Even for their browser, the most used application on their machines. Of course, extensions may have played a large role in Google Chrome’s growth, but even with a very powerful extension system like the one Chrome uses now, it will never be nearly as customizable as Firefox is.

Will Google Chrome continue to grow?

Part of Google Chrome’s growth may be attributable to Google’s huge worldwide advertisement campaign on January, but Chrome seems to grow just as fast after all the billboards have disappeared. If Google’s browser is loosing momentum it is not visible yet. My bet is that there are many more people who would love to use chrome than people who use it already, and they will continue to join the clan.

Chrome is clearly a good web browser with still a lot of growth potential. As a part of Google’s strategy, its goal is probably to improve our access to the web, not only for its users, but for everyone who might use Google’s services. Google doesn’t really care if anyone uses Chrome per se, but its adoption means more people have a better access to its services. Chrome’s comparatively higher speed, reliability and adherance to web standards opens more possibilities to users, including the use of (Google’s) web applications. Chrome, and Chrome OS, are all part of Google’s main strategy: to make the web indespensable to our lives. The release of the Android 2.1 on Google’s and HTC’s Nexus One is another example of this. Beyond tight integration with Google’s Apps and services, the Nexus features a google search box that’s more accessible than the phone itself. Some time ago, the company released some applications for the PC platform, but mostly these seemed to be experiments of an Internet company trying to make the link between the web and the desktop seemless. Google doesn’t like our desktop, the early Chrome OS builds prove that. Chrome is the best way Google found to bring the web to our hands in the most seamless way possible. It’s good for them, and it’s good for us. The more people adopt it in the short run, the better webapps and SaaS can get. The better the web gets, the better our computing experience becomes. Thank you, Chrome.

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The hardware

The iPad looks like an obese iPhone. That’s not a bad thing – the iPhone will still be in design textbooks 200 years from now – but the overall proportions do surprise me a little. First, the display doesn’t have a widescreen ratio, which has pretty much been the standard in recent years. Instead, it features a 9.7-inch 1024×768-pixel resolution at 132 pixels per inch 4:3 ratio display with IPS technology, which means that widescreen movies will have huge black bars on top and bottom.

Second, the bezel looks really fat compared to the dimensions of the device. Apple should have made it much thinner and added one or two inches of screen real estate. On the other hand, the bezel may be explained by the fact that you do need, after all, a place to hold the device without accidentally inputting commands on the touchscreen. Globally, the iPad’s design reminds me of a photo frame, an over inflated iPod Touch.

The insides are the real surprise. The device uses an Apple-designed chip it is calling the “A4,” (Apple finally got some use out of that PA Semi purchase, apparently) which runs at 1GHz and is used for managing everything: Processing, graphics, and I/O. The system has between 16 and 64GB of flash memory, contains Bluetooth and EDR wireless connectivity, has a speaker, and microphone, and also contains Apple’s accelerometers, ambient light sensors, and digital compass with assisted GPS technologies. There is a 30-pin connector for attaching the device to computers, but it also uses Bluetooth and Enhanced Data Rate technologies for fast wireless access up to 3Mbps. The device has a powerful battery that gives up to 10 hours of usage, and nearly a month of standby time. It’s a half-inch thick—just a hair thicker than the iPhone, for reference—and weighs 1.5 pounds. Video output runs through and iPhone-type composite adapter at up to 576p and through a dock-to-VGA adapter at up to 1024 x 768. No HDMI, no DVI—not even a Mini DisplayPort. Oh, and there isn’t a rear-facing camera, nor is there a front-facing camera. This tablet is totally camera-less, which seems a bit odd. According to Gizmodo editors, who already had the privilege of using the iPad, “it’s fasssstttt”.

The software

The operating system on the tablet is based on iPhone OS, which is in turn loosely based on OSX. In other words, it’s got the same guts as the iPhone, as well as a somewhat similar interface. What this means in practical terms is that the UI is modal; you can only display one app at a time, and there aren’t windows, per se. Apparently, the iPad currently runs on iPhone OS 3.2.

The homescreen is like a mixture between the iPhone and OSX: it uses the iPhone launcher/apps metaphor, but has an OSX-style shiny dock. It feels very spread out compared to the iPhone’s homescreen, though I suspect this is necessary to keep things from getting too overwhelming. Maybe they could have fixed this by making the icons bigger? The good news is that you can apparently customize the background.

The onscreen keyboard is very similar to the iPhone’s. Typing on it is apparently a “dream,” and “almost lifesize,” by which Steve Jobs means the size of a full hard keyboard. He wasn’t typing with his thumbs, but with his fingers, as if it were an actual laptop keyboard. Navigation throughout the rest of the OS is optimized for one hand, though. This wasn’t handled very well by Apple, they could have easily innovated with some kind of hybrid context sensitive input method, but they chose to go the safe, boring and quite unpractical way.

The browser is essentially an upscaled version of Safari Mobile, with a familiar, finger-friendly title bar and not much else. It rotates by command of the accelerometer. Apparently, it doesn’t support flash, which is an acceptable shortcoming on the iPhone, but not on a larger device like the iPad.

• Email: Mail again takes its visual cues from the iPhone, but with a lot more decoration: you can preview your mailbox from any message with a pull-down menu, and preview any message from within the mailbox, with a pop-up window.

• Music: The music player is even more hybirdized, styled like a mix between the iPhone’s iPod interface and full-fledged desktop iTunes. Interestingly, Cover Flow seems to have more or less died off. The iTunes redesign looks very fresh yet familiar, I’m quite curious to see if this will come to the desktop version of the app.

• Video: YouTube is available by way of an app, iPhone-style, which can play videos in HD. iTunes content plays back in a dedicated app, just like on the iPhone, and can also play back in HD.

• Calendar and contacts: The calendar app is desktop-like, until you open organizer mode, where it looks like a literal organizer. It’s beautiful, and dare I say a bit Courier-like. I would love to see this on the iPhone.

• Maps: This one may be the most direct conversion from the iPhone, with a very similar interface through and through. It includes Street View, too, which looks amazing on the large screen. Apparently, Apple isn’t ditching Google just yet.

• Photos: The photo library app looks a lot like iPhoto, only adapted for multitouch finger input. You can view your albums as stacks, spread them out, and sync with your desktop iPhoto to get access to faces and map functionality.

Apps

All 140,000 iPhone apps will run on the iPad. Because the screen is bigger, you’ll have to choose between running the app in the center of your screen, or in “pixel double” mode, which just blows them up crudely. Any apps you’ve purchased for your iPhone can be synced, for free, to your iPad.

The iPhone app SDK has already been expanded for tablet development, including a whole new set of UI elements and expanded resolution support. The raw iPhone app compatibility is just a temporary measure, it seems—any developer who wants their app to run on the tablet will develop for the tablet. Some of the early examples of adapted apps, like Brushes, are spectacular. More on the SDK here.

Today, Steve Jobs underlined two new apps, specifically designed for the iPad.

The first one, iBooks, is Kindle’s death. Users are basically able to buy books from an online store (same system as the App store or iTunes store),  and publishers include Penguin, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Hachette—the big boys. The demonstration was very convincing: the app features a gorgeous UI and 3D effects to simulate real books. Only time will tell if it can compete with e-paper.

The second app is iWork, specifically designed for the iPad’s multitouch capabilities. There’s a new version of Keynote designed just for the iPad, as well as new version of Pages, Apple’s excellent word processor, and Numbers, which is the spreadsheet app. The interfaces are obviously designed strictly for touch input, but from the looks of it can handle every function that the old, mouse-centric version could, plus a few more. And man, they’re so much prettier. Each app costs $10, and you can get them all for $30.

Price and Release Date

The iPad ships worldwide in 60 days, but only in Wi-Fi versions. The 3G version will be another 30 days after that. Here are the prices:

Without 3G:

• $499: 16GB

• $599: 32GB

• $699: 64GB

With 3G:

• $629: 16GB

• $729: 32GB

• $829: 64GB

Apple will ship all the iPads in 60 days—the end of March—to America, and just the Wi-Fi models internationally. It’ll be another 30 days beyond that for 3G models to be available outside our shores; Apple says they’re still working on carrier deals.

3G comes by way of AT&T, who’s offering the service without contract, for $15 a month (250MB of data) or $30 a month (unlimited). That’s why, unlike the iPhone, the iPad is actually cheaper off-contract.

Verdict

It’s hard to reach one, given the fact that I have never used an iPad, but I must admit I’m somewhat underwhelmed by today’s keynote. The tension, suspense, and expectations that originated from the iPad have led us to think the Apple’s new device would be revolutionary, but it isn’t, or at least not right now. The lack of camera may seem awkward to some, but I understand the choice: do you see yourself holding the iPad in front of you to take a shot? Kinda weird. A front facing camera for video conferences would have been nice, but I still prefer the iPad to have none and to cost only 499$. The major shortcoming, according to me, is the lack of multitasking. What’s the point of such a huge amount of processing power and screen estate if you can’t run two apps at once? Seriously Apple, this is a big letdown. Oh and did I mention you need an adapter for USB?

When the iPhone was first released, I was very skeptical. “What? It can’t even do copy and paste?” I used to ask. But as you know, the iPhone  has changed the industry thanks to its unique app store model and a few OS updates. I expect no less from the iPad.

Is it a Kindle killer? Deffinitely yes, as long as people’s eyes don’t start exploding after using the iPad. Is it a netbook killer? Maybe. Some people may need a physical keyboard, but overall, I’d go with iPad because of its incredible UI and thousands of available apps. Oh and let’s not oversee all the nice accessories, including a physical keyboard, which may help you resolve your dilemma.

The iPad seems to be suffering from what I call the Obama syndrome: expectations were so high that it is bound to fail at one point or another. Whatever Steve Jobs may have said or showed off today, people would have been disappointed  anyway. In addition to this, Apple cornered themselves and built a device that doesn’t really excel anywhere. Jack of some trades, master of none. They could have surprised us with a traditional “one more thing” at the end of the keynote: iWork / iLife 2010, iPhone OS 4.0, i7 chips in MacBook Pros, pretty doable stuff for Apple standards. But no. Steve decided to leave it there.
The iPad isn’t a bad device; in fact it’s a great device, and I want it right here, right now; but the non-Apple fanboy part of my brain is telling me to wait till iPad 2.0 or 3.0 comes out. Add flash support, multitasking, a way of organizing apps, a camera, two or three USB ports and you’ll have a winner.

Here is the official Apple video:

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Via Gizmodo and Engadget

• Personas: New Firefox themes called “Personas” let you change the look of your Firefox with a single click. Choose anything from simple designs to colorful patterns to content from community members and partners like Harry Potter, Bob Marley or Lady Gaga. With a gallery of over 35,000 to choose from, you can change your Persona as often as you like. Go to GetPersonas.com to start browsing the galleries and check out “Themes” in the Add-Ons Manager to manage your designs.
• Plugin Updater: Some Web pages require that you install small applications called Plugins to watch videos, play games or view documents. It can be hard to make sure that all of your Plugins are always up to date. Since outdated Plugins are a security risk, Firefox will let you know when you have a Plugin that’s vulnerable to attack and help you get an updated version. If you want to check your Plugins at any time, just select “Check for Updates” from the Help menu, or click on “Find Updates” in the Plugins page of the Add-ons Manager.
• Stability improvements: Firefox 3.6 significantly decreased crashes caused by third party software – all without sacrificing our extensibility in any way
• Form Complete: It’s like the Awesome Bar, but for forms. Now, when you’re filling out an online form like your shipping address, Firefox will suggest information for each field based on your most common answers for similar fields in other forms (rather than just showing you an alphabetical list). Instead of typing out the same answers over and over, you’ll be zipping through the forms in no time.
• Performance: Improved JavaScript performance, overall browser responsiveness, and startup time
• Open Video and Audio: With the world’s best implementation of HTML 5 audio and video support, now video can be displayed full screen and supports poster frames

And for our fellow developers:

• Support for the latest HTML5 specification, including the File API for local file handling
• Font Support: In addition to OpenType and TrueType fonts, 3.6 now supports the new Web Open Font Format (WOFF)
• CSS gradients: Supports linear and radial CSS gradients which allow for a smoother transition between colors
• Device orientation: Firefox 3.6 exposes the orientation of the laptop or device to Web pages

Whether the new Firefox can live up to our expectations is yet to be seen. The last Thunderbird release left some users frustrated because of add-on incompatibility and flash-related problems (we even got some mail regarding these issues), but Mozilla products are usually of great quality, and I shall hit the update button without hesitation.
If you do however give it second thoughts, I’ll leave the job of convincing you to Mike Beltzner, Director of Firefox Development:

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