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MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.–One of Firefox’s initial claims to fame is the fact that the browser can be extended with a multitude of plug-ins, and even though Microsoft caught up with Internet Explorer, Firefox still has an extension edge over Google’s new Chrome Web browser.

For now.

"We don’t have that in the beta today, but we definitely plan an extension API," or application programming interface, Sundar Pichai, a Google vice president of product management, said at the Chrome launch event here Tuesday. "It is one of the things we will get to next."

Read more @ cnet.com

On a July day in Chicago, Google employees swarmed a conference room at the advertising agency Leo Burnett, carrying in couches and beanbag chairs to create a lounge. They gave away candy and showed off Google’s advertising technology. Throughout the day, they emphasized a single message: Google is a friend to ad agencies.

No, really.

Advertisers are grappling with the idea of Google, which spent many of its early years avoiding — and infuriating — advertising agencies, now shifting to embrace them.

During the last year, Google has built a 40-person group that is charged with courting agencies, trying to persuade them that their clients should buy ads on Google sites and use the search engine’s tools. The Google team — like any ad team — is visiting agencies to show off the company’s products, like video ads on YouTube and display ads from DoubleClick. Its representatives are even making regular visits to ad agencies, soliciting suggestions and fielding questions.

Read more @ nytimes.com

Advanced Micro Devices plans to return its premium class FX-series processors to the market sometime in the middle of next year. The question is whether the new central processing units (CPUs) will truly be capable of successfully competing against rivals. AMD Athlon 64 FX processors were first release back in 2003 to address the market of computer enthusiasts and gamers, however, when Advanced Micro Devices lost its performance crown on the x86 chip market in 2006, the firm had to cease production of “FX” parts since they were not competitive against Intel Corp.’s products. There were no new “FX” chips in 2007 and in 2008, but AMD hopes that in mid-2009 the “FX” will return.

The code-named Deneb FX microprocessors that are projected to be launched sometime in the middle of next year will feature four processing engines, shared level-three cache, dual-channel DDR2 (up to PC2-8500, 1066MHz) and DDR3 (up to PC3-10666, 1333MHz) memory controller, according to sources with knowledge of AMD’s plans. The new chips are projected to utilize AM3 form-factor, which means better system flexibility.

View: The full story @ Xbit-Labs

Google has released the very first beta of their new web browser, Google Chrome. Chrome is a browser that, for now at least, is focused on offering a full browsing experience within a minimalistic user interface. To skip past the P.R. phrasing, Google Chrome is designed to be simple to use without sacrificing any of the features required for daily web browsing.
To get a little more in depth, Google Chrome uses the same rendering engine as Apple’s Safari browser, named Webkit. In recent history, the developers of Webkit have made great strides in creating what is, as of today, the fastest browser engine in terms of rendering speed. Google Chrome, currently version 0.2.149.27, seems to use a slightly older build of Webkit (version 525.13, to be precise), however, so some of the recent Webkit development gains will not have made it into the first release of the browser.
Other features of Chrome include a dynamic tab system which allows you to drag and drop tabs inside and outside of the browser window, an "incognito mode" in which the sites you visit are not added to your browsing history, and a feature similar to Opera’s Speed Dial, in which you are presented with your nine most visited websites, in thumbnail form, when opening a new tab.
If you wish to give Google Chrome a try, click the download link below. It’s an early beta, though, so don’t expect it to be perfect.

Link: Google Chrome
Download: Google Chrome 0.2.149.27 if installer fails, then use this.
Screenshot: View