Why Google's Chrome notebook will succeed

In the past two weeks, Google has started sending out its pilot notebook for testing. It is little more than a Web browser tucked inside a netbook. Yes, all it does is surf the Web. And it's going to be huge.

Voice Search for Google Chrome

Voice Search for Google Chrome: "Voice Search is a Google Chrome extension that lets you search using your voice. It's not developed by Google, but it uses an experimental Chrome feature called form speech input. The feature is enabled by default in the dev channel builds, but it can be manually enabled by adding a command-line flag.

'Voice Search comes pre-loaded with the following default services: Google, Wikipedia, YouTube, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and Wolfram|Alpha. You can also add your own user-defined search engines. It also integrates a speech input button for all websites using HTML5 search boxes. This extension requires a microphone. Speech input is very experimental, so don't be surprised if it doesn't work. Also, try to speak clearly for best speech recognition results,' suggests the author.


Speech recognition is limited to English and it doesn't work very well, but this extension is a good way to test a feature that will be enabled in the future Chrome releases. If you have a website, it's quite easy to add support for speech input, but it may take a while until Google's Speech Input API specification becomes a standard and all browsers implement it.

{ Thanks, Silviu. }

Google Zeitgeist 2010

Google Docs ; The awesome page

Google Chrome Drops H.264 Support, Even Though It Still Loves Flash

Oh wow. Google's dropping support for h.264 video in Chrome, because, they say, they're only going to support "open codec technologies":

To that end, we are changing Chrome's HTML5 support to make it consistent with the codecs already supported by the open Chromium project. Specifically, we are supporting the WebM (VP8) and Theora video codecs, and will consider adding support for other high-quality open codecs in the future. Though H.264 plays an important role in video, as our goal is to enable open innovation, support for the codec will be removed and our resources directed towards completely open codec technologies.

Instead, Google's going to push its own WebM video, based on the VP8 standard and Theora. The problem is that there's not a ton of support for WebM yet, in particular when it comes to hardware decoders and when it comes to mobile. H.264 also already has a ton of momentum, largely thanks to the mobile space. But this will definitely help WebM get some pick up.

In other words, the video standards battle is back on. And expect to still see lots of Adobe Flash outside of Google's YouTube to play video if you're using Chrome. Speaking of! How come Adobe Flash—a very closed technology—will still be baked into Chrome? [Google]

Send an email to matt buchanan, the author of this post, at matt@gizmodo.com.

Updated Google Goggles Scans Faster; Solves Sudoku Puzzles

Google Goggles, the popular scan-the-real-world mobile app, has updated to include some great improvements and a novel trick–the ability to solve Sudoku puzzles at a lightning pace.

The barcode scanner is now significantly faster. Just hold the barcode in view of the phone and it will vibrate when it has captured the barcode. No fussing with button pushing necessary. Goggles also rocks a print-to-web identification tool; snap a picture of an ad in a major newspaper or magazine published after August 2010 and you’ll be linked to web results related to the product.

The most novel update, however, is the lightning fast Sudoku solver. Check out the demo video below:

The improved barcode scanning is only available for the Android version, the iPhone version (part of Google Mobile Apps on iPhone) still gets the print-ad recognition and Sudoku solver. Visit the link below for additional information or simply update your existing Google Goggles install to start using the new features.

Google Goggles Gets Faster, Smarter, and Solves Sudoku [The Official Google Blog]

Google Science Fair Channel

This Week's Most Popular Posts

This week we looked at the best Gmail Labs features, upgraded our morning routine, and shared all sorts of New Year's resolution advice. Here's a look back.

• Top 10 Gmail Labs You Should Enable
  As if Gmail wasn't powerful enough, you can find all sorts of goodies and extra features in Gmail Labs. The list is pretty massive, so we've narrowed down our 10 favorite labs to help increase your email productivity.
• Top 10 Ways to Upgrade Your Morning Routine
  Never feel like there's enough time in the morning? Find yourself struggling to get up or into work mode? We know the feeling. Try out these tips on waking up, getting energized, and getting things done in the early hours.
• This Is the Best of Lifehacker 2010
  2010 was a huge year at Lifehacker, and we spent the month looking back at the biggest and best posts of the year. Here's one last look back at the best of 2010 in case you missed anything along the way.
• Be the Star of Your New Year's Party with These Four Mobile Apps
  Whether you're counting down to 2011, mixing cocktails, or finding a ride home, these four apps will help make you (and your iOS or Android phone) the star of your New Year's party.
• How Can I Get My Appetite Under Control After Eating Twice as Much as Normal?
  Dear Lifehacker, Over the holidays, I let my food consumption get out of control. Now I'm trying to get my appetite back to normal, but my stomach's stretched out and I'm hungry all the time. What can I do?
• Resolved: How to Keep Your Computer Safe, Clean, and Backed Up in 2011
  Those important computer tasks-like securing, cleaning, and backing up-are like any other resolution: we all say we're going to do them but rarely keep up with them all year. Here's our simple guide to staying on track in 2011.
• Why the Mac App Store Sucks
  Apple launched the Mac App Store today, allowing you to browse, search, read reviews, and buy Mac software of all kinds in one streamlined location. And it's terrible. Here's why.
• How Do I Get a Job When I Have No Relevant Experience?
  Dear Lifehacker, I have no relevant experience in the field in which I want to work and am having a hard time constructing a coherent plan applying for jobs. How can I convince an employer to hire me?
• From the Tips Box: iPhone Earbuds, Touch Screen Band-Aids, and Cable Organization
  Readers offer their best tips for using iPhone earbuds with your Mac, using a touch screen with a bandage on, and differentiating between all your power cables.
• Build a Fiber Optic Star Map for Out-of-This-World Ambient Lighting
  If you're looking for ambient lighting so unique you'll likely be the only person in your part of the country to have it, this amazing DIY fiber optic star map is tough-to-beat choice.

The author of this post can be contacted at tips@lifehacker.com

Top 10 Places to Discover Good Software

10. AlternativeTo.net and Other Software Search Engines

One of the most popular ways to search out software is heading to a web site like the very popularAlternativeTo.net, where you can punch in the name of a program and get a list of all other similar programs for any platform. AlternativeTo is the most popular, though other sites like previously mentioned OSalt.com—which specifically finds open source alternatives to commercial software—are great options too.

9. App Recommendation Engines

If you're looking for apps on your mobile phone, recommendation engines like previously mentionedStumbleUpon for Android orChomp on the iPhone. Instead of just offering suggestions of similar software, both recommend apps based on what you (and others with similar taste) already like and use. It's a good way to get app suggestions tailored to your specific style.

8. Wikipedia

If you're looking for software to perform a specific function, Wikipedia often has very detailed, very well-populated comparison lists for oft-used pieces of software. Take, for example, their comparison of BitTorrent clients—it lists a ton of different options, comparing them by price, latest release date, features, market share, and more. To see if Wikipedia has a comparison for the software type you need, you can just search Wikipedia for comparison of bittorrent clients or something similar in their search box. You may be surprised at the number of alternatives it suggests.

7. Browse Bulk Installer Services like Ninite and Allmyapps

Most often used for fresh installs, bulk-installer apps like previously mentionedNinite and the similarAllmyapps can also provide inspiration for good software downloads. They've rounded up some of the best and most popular apps for both Windows and Linux, and let you pick and choose multiple programs that you can install via one handy package. If you're looking for cool software, you can't go wrong with any of the programs in the Ninite or Allmyapps archives.

6. Twitter and Other Social Networks

We already know there aretons of great ways to use Twitter that don't involve breakfast, and this is one of them. Whether you have a bevy of followers to whom you can field software questions, or a few knowledgable sources that can provide a nice network of recommendations, Twitter is a great place to get opinions from other people. Of course, if you aren't a fan of Twitter, Facebook's new crowdsourcing feature will also get the job done.

5. Discount Software Bundles

App bundles like MacHeistand previously mentionedAppSumo have become very popular as of late, and they're great places to discover new software for your platform. At certain times of the year, they'll offer bundles of software at heavily discounted prices, which means you can get quite a few cool programs for the price of one or two. Of course, you want to be careful of buying on impulse, but if you can find one or two pieces of software in a bundle that you like, it's usually worth the price—and you might discover another cool program or two in the process.

4. Find Out What Your Heroes Use

If you look up to a particular software guru, it's always interesting to find out what they use to get things done. We've done a few interviewsourselves here at Lifehacker, but popular web site The Setup interviews well-known developers and writers from around the net to see what they use (such as our very own Gina Trapani, or popular Mac developer Loren Brichter). It doesn't necessarily perfectly tailor software recommendations to you, but it's always useful to know what other well-known tech geeks use—after all, there's gotta be some good software behind all that success.

3. BitTorrent

Say what you want about the software pirating community, but if a program gets popular on p2p sites, it has to be pretty good. If you're looking for some must-have software for your computer, heading to your favorite BitTorrent search engine, browsing by category, and sorting by most downloaded is usually a pretty good bet. Of course, we wouldn't recommend downloading that software via BitTorrent—those developers deserve your support—but it is a pretty good way to find out what other people are using.

2. Google

It's a fairly obvious suggestion, but Google is always a good place to search for software. It has the widest selection of any of the above choices, which is both a pro and a con—sometimes, it can be hard to sift through all the noise to find the really good software. That said, if you want a simple way to find software alternatives, Google's auto-suggest does a pretty good job, and you can always use Google Blog Search to find honest opinions from regular users like you, too.

1. Lifehacker

Sure, here's our shameless plug for ourselves, but we like to think we've been around the block a few times, and can suggest a few downloads. Of course, a great place to start is our Lifehacker Packs forWindows, Mac, Linux,iPhone, and Android, as well as our 50 apps we're thankful for every year. Of course, you guys know your way around the net, too—so our weekly Hive Five is another great place to see the five best apps in any particular category.

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Whether you're looking for a very particular type of program or just want to see what else is out there, these ten sources should get you pretty far in your search for the perfect software. Of course, if you have a favorite method that we haven't mentioned, do us a favor and share it in the comments!

Send an email to Whitson Gordon, the author of this post, at whitson@lifehacker.com.