Google boosts web platform capabilities in newest Chrome beta

In what some have described as a move toward a full operating system, Google Inc. boosted the web platform capabilities of its Chrome browser – whose latest beta allows developers to build more "powerful and immersive" apps and games for the Web. Google said its Chrome 14 Beta integrates Native Client (NaCl), effectively allowing the browser to execute C and C++ code with "double-sandbox" security restrictions. "Native Client allows C and C++ code to be seamlessly executed inside the browser with security restrictions similar to JavaScript. Native Client apps use Pepper, a set of interfaces that provide C and C++ bindings to the capabilities of HTML5. As a result, developers can now leverage their native code libraries and expertise to deliver portable, high performance web apps," software engineer Chris Rogers said in a blog post. Rogers said the latest Chrome beta also has the Web Audio Application Programming Interface (API), a new JavaScript API that has "advanced audio capabilities." He said the Web Audio API supports audio effects such as room simulation and spatialization, potentially allowing web developers to create even more interactive experiences and games. Toward full OS? An article on PC Magazine said the latest version of Google Chrome "will bring the browser closer to a full operating system." "Native client seems to be the latest development in Google’s effort to unilaterally define Web standards, with Instant Pages in the last release, and now native client. The company has even come up with a replacement for the basic communication protocol of the Web, HTTP, with its SPDY protocol. In the case of SPDY and Instant Pages, Google’s own sites are the major users of the technologies," it said. An article on tech site CNET said Google's integration of NaCl into Chrome is a "major breakthrough" in development terms, showing the NaCl project may be ahead of schedule. But CNET said users are not yet likely to see any of Native Client. CNET also said Beta 14 comes with "long-missing" features present in earlier versions of other browsers, including:

• Print Preview for Mac version
• Extending encryption to all synchronized data
• Several new APIs, including support for the new Web Audio API and two experimental APIs for extensions.

The CNET article also said Apple users get Mac OS X Lion feature support. — LBG, GMA News