AllThingsD » WebKit

BlackBerry's New Torch Makes a Leap From Drab

Walter S. Mossberg — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 02:02:32 +0000

Millions of people love the BlackBerry, relying on it especially for email and text messaging. But this classic smartphone, while still dominant in the U.S., has been slipping in popularity as consumers, and even some corporations, eye two newer, simpler and more versatile rivals: Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android operating system that runs on a plethora of phones. Both boast much larger ecosystems of third-party applications than the BlackBerry.

[ See post to watch video ]

A new Nielsen survey shows that only 42% of BlackBerry owners want their next phone to be a BlackBerry, while 89% of iPhone owners and 71% of Android owners plan to stick with those platforms.

So, this week, the BlackBerry’s maker, Canadian tech giant Research in Motion, introduced a new model and a new operating system designed to counter these trends and better compete with the iPhone and Android.

The new BlackBerry is called the Torch 9800, and it is the first BlackBerry with a slide-out keyboard, the first to combine both a touch screen and a physical keyboard, and the first to allow typing on either a physical keyboard or an onscreen virtual keyboard. It will be available from AT&T on Aug. 12 for $200 with a two-year contract.

But perhaps the more important introduction is the new BlackBerry operating system, which will also be available on future models and as an upgrade for several existing models. Called BlackBerry 6, the new software aims to juice up the BlackBerry’s tired, utilitarian user interface and feature set.

It is meant to simplify the cluttered home screen, and to add features such as universal search, multitouch gestures, decent Web browsing, improved social networking and more built-in apps.

The Torch 9800 with favorite apps, contacts and websites.

I’ve been testing the new Torch with BlackBerry 6, and I view it as a big improvement over earlier, stodgy BlackBerry models. It might help stem the urge to switch to iPhone and Android, and even steal some users from those and other platforms, especially as the company brings out additional models that use the new software. And it shows that, contrary to some recent speculation, RIM is hardly dead or dying. In fact, the new phone and software are just the start of its plan to revitalize the BlackBerry franchise.

But there is still one big downside: third-party apps. While the iPhone boasts 225,000 of these downloadable programs, and Android claims 70,000, the BlackBerry platform is still stuck at a measly 9,000.

I liked the way the device now has separate screens for frequently used functions; favorite apps, contacts and Web pages; media functions; and apps you’ve downloaded. The multitouch gestures, like scrolling through lists, and pinching and zooming, worked fine. The browser is finally usable, the app store is now built in, and there is a nice social-networking app called Social Feeds that combines status updates from Twitter, Facebook and other networks.

Icons seemed larger and more colorful, and it was easy to add photo icons of favorite contacts and Web sites to the new Favorites screen. Built-in apps that appear out of the box include Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, CNN, ESPN, and the Weather Channel.

The Torch

In addition, the new BlackBerry allows you to quickly check your latest messages and to control your network settings by merely tapping on a couple of bars on the home screen that drop down to expose the relevant information. And the formerly geeky and complex settings screens and menus have been simplified and made more graphical and attractive.

The music and video players are much more attractive and useful, and there is even a way to wirelessly sync music from a PC running iTunes or Windows Media Player over your home network, though it is complicated and time-consuming to set up and so far (as with wired syncing) only works on Windows PCs, not Macs.

However, this week’s moves are mostly catch-ups to iPhone and Android, and not a radical move forward for the super-smartphone category. One reason is that RIM can’t afford to alienate its loyal base of existing BlackBerry fans. In fact, a RIM software executive, writing on an official company blog, called the new operating system “fresh, but familiar” and assured current users that “when you look at it, it still looks like a BlackBerry Home Screen.” He compared it to a “home renovation.”

The company was careful to keep some of the most familiar BlackBerry features. For instance, even though you can now navigate with multitouch gestures, the Torch still has the standard mini-trackpad and the usual menu and escape keys. The physical keyboard—crucial to most BlackBerry fans—is also very familiar in layout and function. The popular BlackBerry Messenger application has been retained.

The Torch lags behind its rivals in some respects. For example, it has a smaller and much lower resolution screen than either the iPhone 4 or some of the newer Android models, like the Samsung Vibrant or the Motorola Droid X. Despite that smaller screen, it is also significantly thicker and heavier than the new iPhone or the Samsung, mainly because of the slide-out physical keyboard, which the others lack. Unlike on the iPhone and some new Android phones, there is no front-facing camera or video-calling function built in.

Curve 8500

While the Torch generally is smooth and responsive, I found it slower overall than the iPhone 4. And, in my tests, its browser—though based on the same technology as the ones on Android and the iPhone—proved consistently slower, though much faster and better than on earlier BlackBerrys. During my testing, the browser also began behaving strangely, freezing up at some moments and, in other cases, displaying only the graphics, not the text, on some Web pages. To fix this, I had to remove and replace the battery.

The slide-out physical keyboard looks a bit cramped, but, after a few days of use, I found it performed in the usual excellent manner of most BlackBerry keyboards.

The onscreen keyboard, on the other hand, proved markedly inferior to those on the iPhone and Android. The keys are narrow, and easy to miss. And the keyboard doesn’t morph much to make specialized functions easier. When you’re entering an email address, it doesn’t display a prominent, dedicated “@” key like the iPhone does. RIM says this is because it expects users to rely more on the physical keyboard for such scenarios.

The email function, long the BlackBerry’s strong point, is largely unchanged. While it is fast and reliable, it lacks some useful touches the iPhone introduced years ago. For example, there is still no built-in option for displaying a preview of the text of an email, so you have to guess whether it is worth opening merely by reading the subject line. And attached pictures still aren’t displayed automatically in opened emails; you have to click a link to see them.

The built-in Maps function on the Torch is from AT&T, and was slower and more frustrating to use than Google Maps on the Android and the iPhone. RIM says it will have its own BlackBerry Maps program available for the new OS at launch.

Tour 9630

But there are also many strong points. The five-megapixel camera with flash worked very well in my tests for still photos, and pretty well for videos. It even has several scene settings, such as for sports events or parties, and face detection. A redesigned pop-up menu makes it easy to share photos via email, text message, BlackBerry Messenger, or various social networks.

Notifications of new messages, including social-networking updates, seems much quicker than on previous BlackBerrys. Battery life was good in my tests, and the phone lasted through an average day easily.

Phone calls were crisp and clear. And, although the number of bars seemed about the same on AT&T as they did on the iPhone 4, and I could make the bars drop on the Torch by holding it in a certain manner, none of the limited number of calls I tried dropped. In my tests, the Torch downloaded data a bit more quickly than the iPhone over AT&T’s network, but much more slowly over Wi-Fi.

The new OS will be standard on all future BlackBerry models, and owners of the existing Bold 9700 and 9650, and the Pearl 3G, will be able to upgrade to it.

Overall, the Torch and the BlackBerry 6 operating system are good products that improve the BlackBerry experience considerably and bring the device closer to its newer rivals.

Find Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free, at the All Things Digital Web site, walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.

Corrections & Amplifications

Existing AT&T customers who buy a new AT&T Torch smartphone and who already have a $30 a month unlimited data plan can opt to keep that plan. This column said Torch buyers would have to commit to a capped data plan starting at $15 a month.

Repeat After Me: "I Want a BlackBerry"

John Paczkowski — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:00:08 +0000

The 52-week low that Research In Motion hit earlier this month is quickly receding on rumors of some big upcoming product announcements. Word on the street is that the company plans to uncrate the BlackBerry 9800 at an event in New York City next week.

The 9800 will be the first RIM (RIMM) device to use the company’s BlackBerry OS 6, a new operating system that CEO Mike Lazaridis says will make “anyone that looks at it…say ‘I want a BlackBerry.’”

That’s the hope, anyway.

With a new WebKit-based Web browser, an overhauled media player and support for multitouch, BlackBerry 6 is the OS RIM should have released years ago, one that should give its devices a bit more appeal in a market increasingly enamored of super-smartphones. So if the 9800 is announced next week along with a rumored mid-August ship date, RIM will have taken its first big step in addressing the competitive issues that are tarnishing its growth prospects. Said Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu, “As we said before, we believe the new user interface with multitouch technology and WebKit-based browser closes the gap materially against Android and iPhone.”

HTC CEO Peter Chou Live at D8

John Paczkowski — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 18:54:53 +0000

HTC, a company that once built devices for other brands, is today a powerful brand itself. And CEO Peter Chou is largely responsible for that. Over the past few years, Chou has transformed HTC from a contract handset manufacturer into a smartphone powerhouse, a company that ranks behind only Nokia (NOK), Research in Motion (RIMM) and Apple (AAPL) in global smartphone shipments. That’s quite an achievement and one attributable to the very early, savvy bet Chou made on Google’s (GOOG) Android mobile operating system.

But that same bet has gotten HTC into trouble as well, most notably a high-profile lawsuit from Apple alleging that a number of HTC’s Android devices infringe patents related to the iPhone’s graphical user interface, underlying architecture and hardware.

Liveblog

11:55 am: How many of you have an Android phone, asks Walt, directing his question to the audience. If you do, it’s likely to have been made by HTC. And with that, Walt welcomes Chou to the stage.

11:56 am: Walt notes that when he first encountered HTC it was an OEM. How did you get from there, he asks Chou, to where you are now, where your brand is actually on the phone?

Chou: It was a great journey for us. We started with a vision of mobile convergence and how smartphones would change people’s lives. That vision excited us, so we focused on innovations in technology and tried to deliver on that vision. Over the years, we began partnering with companies like Microsoft, Google. Then we shipped the world’s first Windows phone, the world’s first Android phone, and this week, we introduced the world’s first 4G phone, the Sprint (S) EVO. So we’ve been in this industry for a while. But we needed a brand identity. Without that, it was difficult to communicate our vision to the market.

11:59 am: Walt–Other than 4G, what’s innovative about the EVO?

Chou: It has a breakthrough display, it’s much bigger, it’s clearer. It has an eight-megapixel camera and a front-facing camera as well. It’s the first device in the U.S. that people can use to make a video call. It’s also a hotspot; you can use it to create a Wi-Fi network.

12:01 pm:: Walt likes the device’s kickstand. It turns it into a sort of mini-TV. He draws a comparison with the Dell (DELL) tablet we saw yesterday and notes that that device’s screen size is not much larger than the EVO’s.

12:02 pm: Walt–So this is an Android device. You’re still making Windows phones, but are you making more Android phones now?

Chou: We’re committed to both platforms. We want to design great products for both. Different people like different things, so what we try to do is get a good mix of technology and design. And Android and Windows cater to different users. Windows users tend to like Windows. They are loyalists. Windows has a lot of value.

Walt: What about Android?

Chou: Android provides a different Internet experience. It caters to people who are interested in things like social networking, he says.

12:05 pm: Walt wonders why, if HTC is committed to both platforms, it doesn’t differentiate its handset design. The company’s Windows phones look a lot like Android phones. There’s an HTC layer on them–HTC Sense.

Chou: Well, what we do is try to add value on top of Android and Windows. HTC Sense focuses on things like the social networking experience. Our philosophy is that we don’t force the customer to take what we offer; they have the freedom to personalize their devices.

Walt: So you can take HTC software off these phones?

Chou: Yes.

12:07 pm: Walt–Is there a consumer awareness of your brand? When customers buy a Nexus One, do they know it’s made by HTC?

Chou says they do. Since last year, the company has been working on brand positioning, and that has bolstered consumer awareness of its offerings.

12:08 pm: Chou offers an anecdote about meeting a guy at an airport and comparing HTC devices with him. “I think the HTC name is getting more awareness.”

12:09 pm: Walt–Do you think it’s confusing to customers that there are now three brands involved in a phone: The carrier, the manufacturer of the phone and then the operating system? Can you have too many brands on a device?

Chou: This is an ecosystem. We have a lot of stakeholders. We’re trying to minimize that a little bit, by putting some of those logos on the back.

12:12 pm: Walt–Talk a bit about this concept of a lower-tier of smartphone device.

Chou: Our vision is to bring the smartphone to the mass market…We believe the smartphone is improving people’s lives, so we’re trying to offer it to more consumers, but sometimes, smartphone prices are too high, even with carrier subsidies. And mass-market consumers sometimes perceive smartphones as overly complex devices, so we’re trying to bring prices down and simplify devices at the same time. We’re doing this with the HTC smart. This is a $150 phone [as opposed to the typical $400 smartphone].

Walt: Is HTC Smart an Android phone?

Chou: No. It uses Qualcomm (QCOM) BREW.

Walt: Does it have a different Web browser? Is it as good as WebKit?

Chou says it’s not–at least not yet. He says the device has been relatively well received though. He also notes that given the low price, it can be offered by carriers at very low prices.

12:17 pm: Walt–Is there fragmentation in Android? Some app developers tell me Android’s landscape is too cluttered. Is HTC Sense making this worse?

Chou: HTC Sense is not causing the problem here. We try not to fragment. All apps can run on HTC Sense. There’s no fragmentation, though there may be confusion there. The operating system itself may cause a bit of a problem. But it’s a small one…and it occurs more with older devices. We try to be careful to do good porting on our devices …

Questions & Answers

Q: What are you doing to improve battery life in these new devices? [Walt notes that the EVO's battery runs down "alarmingly fast"]

A: We understand that if your a heavy mobile user, the battery is a concern. The EVO’s battery is removable–not like the iPhone. [I think he's suggesting that users carry an extra one.] We are trying to innovate here. We’re aware of the problem. I hope someday this won’t be an issue.

Q: Any other phones in your pockets?

A: Chou chuckles.

Q: Can you talk about HTC’s plans to expand into other areas of electronics–tablets for example.

A: We’re very focused on smartphones today. We’re focusing our business on mobile operators. However, as an innovator, one of our defining characteristics is to create new technologies. So in our labs, we’re developing new devices like the HTC Shift [a tablet, I think].

Q: What’s your take on the Foxconn suicides?

A: I don’t know details about this. What I know is from the news. But this is a very well-equipped factory. There must be something there beyond manufacturing or salary issues, something cultural maybe. Times change, China changes and the value system may have also changed, and working long hours under very strict management may be very tough for some people. I’m not in a position to speak about this though, because we own a factory as well. We value our employees, we treat them well, we treat them as an asset. It’s really difficult for me to comment on Foxconn.

Q: Will you list your stock in the U.S.?

A: We’ve thought about it. But we need to think more about timing. These days, I’m spending most of my time thinking about products. Perhaps with some investment bank help, we can do that.

And that’s a wrap.

A note about our coverage: This liveblog is not an official transcript of the conversation that occurred onstage. Rather, it is a compilation of quotes, paraphrased statements and ad-lib observations written and posted to the Web as quickly as possible. It is not intended as a transcript and should not be interpreted as one.

D8 Tech Demo: Start-Up Takes on the Textbook With Kno Tablet

Drake Martinet — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:12:52 +0000

Our garages have no flying cars, our cities are still built on the ground and our robots just barely clean the floor. But today, Kno, the secretive start-up formerly known as Kakai, hopes to answer one of technology’s promises by replacing the dense poundage of textbooks weighing down backpacks everywhere with its new tablet device (also called Kno).

The clamshell device resembles Microsoft’s (MSFT) recently abandoned Courier project with a pair of touchscreens that open and shut like a book. Details have been sparse from the company, but we do know that it will offer an online store linked to the device for purchase of materials. Kno shares a co-founder with Chegg, the online textbook rental service, and early partnerships with Cengage Learning (CHC-WT), McGraw Hill (MHP) and Pearson and Wiley indicate that the device will include access to both textbook-style and reference-database content.

Now up, the unveiling of the Kno tablet, via video (below) and liveblog.

[ See post to watch video ]

11:13 am: Walt and Kara take the stage again to begin the Kno demo.

11:13 am: The Kno co-founders, Osman Rashid and Babur Habib, take the stage to showcase the Kno. They say 90 people have been working for a year on the Kno.

They say their hope for the Kno is to change the way students learn.

11:15 am: The founders are unpacking what they are calling a “typical backpack.” Their example has two to four textbooks.

They say students have asked to replicate the analog experience of the book.

11:16 am: The Kno is revealed. The device is large, with two 14-inch screens that open like a book.

Rashid says that 95 percent of textbooks will fit on these screens. He adds that he feels e-textbooks have failed because textbooks don’t fit on other devices.

11:18 am: Walt, donning his Personal Technology columnist hat, asks for the weight. Kno weighs 5.5 lbs.

11:20 am: The founders announce a platform for getting books as well as several major partnerships for content.

11:21 am: The device has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and supports all document-creation formats and PDFs. The software is Linux-based.

The founders say a virtual keyboard is coming and the Kno will have a laptop mode for content creation.

11:23 am: Kno guys say that the stylus is important for learning, and the Kno will have one.

The software looks very slow, but this is a very early prototype, the founders remind the audience.

11:25 am: Kno will allow for highlighting and stickies, and includes a UI element to help students know how much more they have left to read.

Answering Walt’s pushback on the technology, the founders add that the OS is Linux-based with WebKit- and hardware-accelerated Flash and a full browser.

11:28 am: Walt asks if the device will include Facebook and Twitter. The answer is yes, but the founders say the feedback from faculty and staff is good and they hope for acceptance from professors.

Pricing will be announced over summer; they say it will be below $1,000.

Kara reminds the crowd that the company is in stealth mode.

Rashid says the company will be raising funds over the summer.

11:31 am: They finish with an examination of the “binding,” which is made of seat-belt-like material that allow for flexibility between the twin panels. They have plans to customize colors for school affiliation.

11:33 am: The Kno guys leave the stage with Kara as D8 transitions to the next guest, John Donahoe, CEO of eBay (EBAY)

A note about our coverage: This liveblog is not an official transcript of the conversation that occurred onstage. Rather, it is a compilation of quotes, paraphrased statements and ad-lib observations written and posted to the Web as quickly as we were able. It was not intended as a transcript and should not be interpreted as one.

New BlackBerry Browser Thankfully More Like Safari Than Mosaic

John Paczkowski — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 18:12:39 +0000

The mobile browsing experience on Research in Motion’s BlackBerry is widely considered among the worst around. Inefficient and miserably slow, it is easily bested not just by the browsers of rival smartphones like Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone, but by third-party alternatives like Opera Mini. So long-suffering BlackBerry owners will be glad to hear that an all-new Web browser is on the way.

During his keynote address at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, this morning, RIM (RIMM) co-CEO Mike Lazaridis demonstrated the forthcoming browser, which is based on the same WebKit rendering engine used by the iPhone and phones based on Google’s (GOOG) Android OS. Slated for release sometime later this year, the browser is allegedly more network-efficient than its rivals and handles AJAX, CSS and HTML5 with ease.

Indeed, Lazaridis said it scored 100 percent on the Acid 3 test for Web rendering. Seems RIM’s acquisition of browser-design firm Torch Mobile last year was a wise one–albeit late. Lazaridis also said the browser will be available sometime later this year. Below, two video demos.

Google Android Phone: 3G, $179, Amazon MP3, App Store, 1GB, Copy and Paste

John Paczkowski — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:24:43 +0000

The first handset to be powered by Google’s Android OS debuted this morning at a T-Mobile launch event in New York. Manufactured by HTC, the G1 is largely as anticipated. Peter Chou, CEO of HTC describes it as “iconic,” but that’s being a bit generous, I think (“The G1 won’t win any beauty contests with its Apple rival,” writes Walt Mossberg. “It’s stubby and chunky, nearly 30 percent thicker and almost 20 percent heavier than the iPhone.”)

In design, the device seems to borrow quite a bit from T-Mobile’s Sidekick, and its touchscreen GUI owes a thing or two to Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone. Which makes perfect sense, since that’s the device it’s clearly intended to compete with. The G1 will run on both 3G and Wi-Fi and be tethered to the T-Mobile (DT) network. It will come preloaded with a version of Amazon’s MP3 store and Android Market, an application store similar to Apple’s App Store. And it will support and sync with the broad spectrum of Google (GOOG) apps–Google Talk, Google Calendar, etc. Its browser is something the dev team refers to as Chrome-Lite, a mobile version of Google’s new Webkit-based Chrome browser.

Oddly, the G1 has no built-in video player. Odder still, it has just 1GB of memory. T-Mobile has helpfully outfitted it with a 1GB/month bandwidth cap, though.

The G1 supports PDFs and Microsoft Office documents as well. Email will be handled through Gmail; there is no Exchange support, though presumably, engineers developing for Android Market will fill that void in short order.

Oh, the device offers copy-and-paste functionality. Hear that Apple?

It will arrive at market Oct. 22. Price: a highly-subsidized $179.

Liveblogging From the Google Chrome Launch: Hello, Larry! (Wake Up, Sergey!)

Kara Swisher — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 20:06:29 +0000

Finally, Google Co-Founder Larry Page takes the microphone and thanks the Chrome browser team and compliments them for their efforts.

This is–as anyone on the receiving end of Page’s sometimes pointed manner knows (and BoomTown has been)–a big deal.

Page also starts to talk about how browser choice and innovation could make the planet a better place.

Of course! World peace through better browsing!

Then he moves on to questions from the media, bringing some of the Chrome team up to the stage.

There’s a sequence of very serious questions on how to move tabs, privacy, mobile issues, WebKit, bug testing, Incognito, distribution plans and ongoing support for Mozilla’s Firefox (yes, it will continue–plus, Mozilla HQ is across the street! Hmmm…).

Ooops–the other Google (GOOG) Co-Founder, Sergey Brin, suddenly arrives late. He slips into the lineup of “Inside the Actors Studio”-type chairs, looking like he just woke up, in what is a classic move by Microsoft’s Bill Gates that I like to call the “bed-head maneuver.” (I like the spanking red Crocs though!)

It’s a sleepy ruse, as it turns out, as Brin deftly deflects a question about whether Chrome is an operating system for the Web, given that Internet navigation software has become so integral to consumer behavior.

As in, a Windows killer!

Nope, says Brin (full video answer to come), totally ignoring my dubious look.

The distribution question is key, of course, since Google will want to get Chrome out there. So what’s the secret sauce? Because it is a “great product,” says Page.

As to why Google was doing this, VP Sundar Pichal said the search giant wanted to “start from scratch” in the browser game. Like baking a really good cake, one would assume.

When no reporter would get up and ask the obvious what-about-tweaking-Microsoft question, I finally did and also asked about the business plan for Chrome–as in, how will it help Google make more money?

Both Brin and Page answer again that it’s all about providing choice and also keeping the Web open, which will spur usage, which will rain more magical moolah down on the Googleplex.

Also (and video to come on this too), Brin later adds, Google never thinks of Microsoft (MSFT).

Well, at least on that issue it seems we’re back to Pinocchio–the long-nosed version–again.

Soon to come: BoomTown’s Chrome Launch video and one of just the sleepy-as-a-fox Brin on Chrome!

Until then, here’s the exclusive review in his Personal Technology column of the new Google Chrome browser by AllThingsD.com’s Walt Mossberg, which was published at the same time as the news of its product launch was announced by the search behemoth this morning.

Walt’s reaction is mixed:

“My verdict: Chrome is a smart, innovative browser that, in many common scenarios, will make using the Web faster, easier and less frustrating. But this first version–which is just a beta, or test, release–is rough around the edges and lacks some common browser features Google plans to add later.”

Anyone can now download Chrome, but Walt has been testing it for a week. He also reviews Microsoft’s newest version of its powerful Internet Explorer, called IE8, which he likes better than Chrome.

Money quote: “The second beta version of IE8 is the best edition of Internet Explorer in years. It is packed with new features of its own, some of which are similar to those in Chrome, and some of which, in my view, top Chrome’s features.”

A little tarnish on the Chrome, it seems.

Please see this disclosure related to me and Google.

The Entire Google Chrome Browser Blog Announcement

Kara Swisher — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:15:55 +0000

As was reported earlier this morning by BoomTown, Google has confirmed on its blog that it will launch its new Chrome browser tomorrow.

Google (GOOG) said it would be launching Chrome in 100 countries, but it will only be in beta in Windows (Google said Mac and Linux versions were coming soon).

The move by the search giant, although the blog does not say so, is clearly a direct shot over the bow of Microsoft (MSFT), which dominates the browser market with 74 percent share.

Here is the blog post in full:

A fresh take on the browser

9/01/2008 02:10:00 PM

At Google, we have a saying: “launch early and iterate.” While this approach is usually limited to our engineers, it apparently applies to our mailroom as well! As you may have read in the blogosphere, we hit “send” a bit early on a comic book introducing our new open source browser, Google Chrome. We will be launching the beta version of Google Chrome tomorrow in more than 100 countries.

So why are we launching Google Chrome? Because we believe we can add value for users and, at the same time, help drive innovation on the Web.

All of us at Google spend much of our time working inside a browser. We search, chat, email and collaborate in a browser. And in our spare time, we shop, bank, read news and keep in touch with friends–all using a browser. Because we spend so much time online, we began seriously thinking about what kind of browser could exist if we started from scratch and built on the best elements out there. We realized that the Web had evolved from mainly simple text pages to rich, interactive applications and that we needed to completely rethink the browser. What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for Web pages and applications, and that’s what we set out to build.

On the surface, we designed a browser window that is streamlined and simple. To most people, it isn’t the browser that matters. It’s only a tool to run the important stuff–the pages, sites and applications that make up the Web. Like the classic Google homepage, Google Chrome is clean and fast. It gets out of your way and gets you where you want to go.

Under the hood, we were able to build the foundation of a browser that runs today’s complex Web applications much better. By keeping each tab in an isolated “sandbox,” we were able to prevent one tab from crashing another and provide improved protection from rogue sites. We improved speed and responsiveness across the board. We also built a more powerful JavaScript engine, V8, to power the next generation of Web applications that aren’t even possible in today’s browsers.

This is just the beginning–Google Chrome is far from done. We’re releasing this beta for Windows to start the broader discussion and hear from you as quickly as possible. We’re hard at work building versions for Mac and Linux too, and will continue to make it even faster and more robust.

We owe a great debt to many open source projects, and we’re committed to continuing on their path. We’ve used components from Apple’s WebKit and Mozilla’s Firefox, among others–and in that spirit, we are making all of our code open source as well. We hope to collaborate with the entire community to help drive the Web forward.

The Web gets better with more options and innovation. Google Chrome is another option, and we hope it contributes to making the Web even better.

So check in again tomorrow to try Google Chrome for yourself. We’ll post an update here as soon as it’s ready.

Posted by Sundar Pichai, VP Product Management, and Linus Upson, Engineering Director

Also, here is the entire comic book Google is using to explain the technical aspects of Chrome, and here is Digital Daily’s John Paczkowski with a CliffNotes version of the comic (believe me, you’ll need it).

Please see this disclosure related to me and Google.

Google Chrome: CliffsNotes on the Comic

John Paczkowski — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 20:27:18 +0000

Though its Simon-esque logo and unconventional announcement in the guise of a comic book might seem to suggest otherwise, Google’s Web browser, Chrome, proves the company is taking the browser war seriously.

Here’s a quick-and-dirty executive summary of the project’s highlights in advance of its Tuesday debut.

SPEED

Chrome is based on the open-source rendering engine WebKit–the same engine used by Apple’s (AAPL) Safari browser and Google’s (GOOG) own Android mobile platform. WebKit is known for its speed, responsiveness and smart memory management. And Chrome will undoubtedly use it to render the full-blown applications we so often encounter on the Web these days, with ease. Adding a bit more speed to the browsing experience is a JavaScript Virtual Machine called V8, which specifically accelerates JavaScript’s in-browser performance.

STABILITY

Chrome is also multi-threaded, meaning it can perform multiple processes at the same time. Each application is given its own memory and its own copy of global data structures, just as it would be in a typical operating system. Applications will launch in their own windows. And if one should hang or crash, it won’t affect the others or crash the whole browser because it has essentially been partitioned off in its own sandbox.

USER EXPERIENCE

Chrome features a tab-based design where the tabs appear above the browser’s URL window and control buttons. Each tab has its own controls and address bar called “Omnibox” with auto-completion features as well as previous and suggested search functions. New tabs will open with a display of a user’s nine most-visited pages.

PRIVACY/SECURITY

On the privacy and security front, Chrome offers an “Incognito” window, which logs no browsing information whatsoever. Beyond that, it allows only pop-up windows that are user-initiated. And it maintains a continually updated list of harmful sites and warns users if they try to browse them.

STANDARDS

Finally, Chrome will include Google’s open-source local runtime, Gears, and be released as an Open Source project.

THAT’S NO ~~MOON~~ BROWSER. IT’S AN ~~SPACE STATION~~ WEBTOP

It is an effort that seems to be striving for quite a bit more than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 8 (MSFT) and Mozilla’s Firefox 3. In fact, with its view of the Web as a Web of applications, and its multi-process/multi-application design, Chrome almost seems more a Web desktop than a Web browser, doesn’t it? Funny, isn’t it? Google has long been rumored to be developing a browser and an OS/desktop environment. Who would have thought they’d be the same thing?