Cullmann Design Blog

Google is quickly moving ahead with the release of their Chrome OS to the public in the form of 2 new hardware options. The operating system in unique in being a “thin client” that does not rely on a local hard drive for file storage. The idea is simple: a computer that acts as a window to the internet for all of your applications and files.

I received a CR-48 as part of the Google pilot and have really grown to like it. The hardware is very simple: Black on black (what the macbook *should* look and feel like). The screen is bright, it’s lightweight and there are no identifying marks on it whatsoever. The OS is stored on a solid state hard drive, so boot time is very fast. The log-in is your Google ID (your GMail address). It only requires an WiFi connection. From this point forward, you’re working from “the Cloud”.

Google is hoping that “the cloud” means that you will be using and engaging in all of their web-based services. GMail, Google Docs, Google Chat, all of the Google offerings in fact, work brilliantly on the CR-48. You will also have access to the Google Web Store, a service provided by Google that pulls over 2,000 applications and web services designed for Google Chrome OS and the Chrome Browser into one central location.

The use-case for the Google Chrome OS is very similar to the use-case for tablet devices. They are perfect for email, Facebook, Twitter, writing a few emails and online shopping. If you are doing much else, you will likely be looking for something more powerful. Google’s Chrome OS is ideal for a second computer or to have an “always” accessible device for your living room or kitchen. It would also be ideal for children or teens as it has very little, physically or in software, that can be damaged or act as a platform for malware and viruses.

By having all of the software and data that you use live  in the cloud is a new way to look at computing. The platform you use become completely irrelevant provided that you have a browser and internet access. Google packages this concept up perfectly with a true set-it-and-forget-it approach for end users. The operating system updates itself to have the latest patches and updates and having your apps living on the web means that there are no more updates or waiting for hot-fixes to download. It’s a pretty strong plan with one point of failure: you must always have access to the internet.

The reliance of WiFi or wireless data is the primary reason why I cannot consider a device like the CR-48 a primary device. It’s very cool and I do use the cloud for much of my work (I write all of my posts in Google Docs), but there are many instances where I am working and do not have access to the web or WiFi. For a second machine or something to use while puttering in front of the Television, the Chrome OS is ideal.

If you’d like to try the Google Chrome experience yourself, you can apply for a CR-48 online. You can also have a similar experience right now by downloading the Google Chrome Browser and looking through the Google Web Store for applications you can use instead of your desktop applications.

Previous entries and thoughts on the Google Chrome OS:

A View of the Google Chrome Store, Dec-2010
Impressions of the Google Chrome Operating System, Nov-2009

2 new browsers have entered the market this week with Microsoft’s launch of Internet Explorer 9 and Firefox 4 from Mozilla. Both of these browsers offer wider support for web standards and are the first for each software company to support HTML5. Among the many features that HTML5 offers adopters is a new set of browser parameters to allow for <speech> properties supporting text input.

The future is here: It used to be that issuing commands to computers verbally was science fiction. Now, today, it’s a reality. If you are a Google Chrome user, there are several extensions available that will allow you to speak visit Bing or Google and simply “click and speak” your search commands. It’s real, it works and there is support for it in the new HTML5 specification.

What impact does this have on search? For the future, quite a bit. When I first used this new feature, it seemed quite brilliant. Click, speak and my results where loaded. very cool, very easy. I think the novelty will wear off after this begins to see widespread adoption, but it will likely stick around. This isn’t a new technology. There have been several applications at an operating system level to accommodate disabled persons and earlier last year, both Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS platforms supported voice search for their respective mobile browsers. What makes this new (and exciting), is that this is implemented via HTML5 for websites. Unlike previous iterations, all that will be required is a microphone (a safe assumption given that laptops have dominated PC sales in the last few years) and a browser supporting this new solution. Voice search usage will rise with the adoption of new browsers for most users.

Let the SEO reboot begin. The introduction of phonetic search to the already frenzied waters of search will have marketers spinning. In my limited experiment with voice search, I was not able to see any change in results between search engine results (SERP). I did notice that annunciation had a tremendous impact on the software’s ability to parse my speaking patterns. The trend of dropping vowels, using numbers and foreign top-level domains (IE: bit.ly) creates a number of top result issues. Will voice-over or phonetic [fi-net-ik] call-to-actions be the new web-design trend?

For a more academic look at how speech-to-search technology this will affect search Standford University Natural Language Processing Group has created a massive collection of data focused on natural language parsing that is spoken or typed. Their library includes information on word, phrase and word-tone as well as research in to trans-language patterns. Resources like this are likely to fuel the needs a speech-to-search system will need to be widely adopted.

To learn how you can try this out for yourself, visit the Google Chrome Blog or take a look at the demonstration.

I write about Google quite a bit. They tend to make some very big waves in the industry and effect not only the anthropological group that I belong to, but the public as a whole. The announcement of the Google Chrome Web Store is no exception. The new store, designed to support a pending roll-out of the new Google Chrome OS, makes a lot of sense. The operating system, based entirely on connection to the internet for utility, will need it’s equivalent to the AppStore. In its current form I wasn’t sure on whether it was without use or without a home.

At first, the store seems a bit out of place. Why would anyone want to “install” a bookmark? Or root themselves to one location for their webapps? Sync.

Google’s Chrome browser supports a synchronization feature that, when logged into from any computer, duplicates your browser’s apps and all of the accounts and web applications that you are using. And, with a web-based application, all of your settings and files are identical as well. The real offering is a move towards a “thin-client” that has Google at the hub of your online experience. A move away from the desktop OS, away from platforms and away from boxed software packages.

For the enterprise, this model offers a flexibility that is completely unprecedented. Imagine a sales force that was without reliance on IT support. Or a work-force that could operate virus-free and with continuous and real-time software updates. Templates, pricing schedules, policies could all be updated immediately with no latency or mistaken files.

A brilliant idea. And, like the iPad, Google is starting with the consumer market as both a testing ground and a path to gain confidence with users.