Apparently Google considers Microsoft’s browser to be modern enough now so that there is no longer a need for Chrome Frame.

In a post on Google’s Chromium blog, Chrome engineer Robert Shield writes:

The main goal of the Chromium project has always been to help unlock the potential of the open web. We work closely with the industry to standardize, implement and evangelize web technologies that help enable completely new types of experiences, and push the leading edge of the web platform forward.

But in 2009, many people were using browsers that lagged behind the leading edge. In order to reach the broadest base of users, developers often had to either build multiple versions of their applications or not use the new capabilities at all. We created Chrome Frame — a secure plug-in that brings a modern engine to old versions of Internet Explorer — to allow developers to bring better experiences to more users, even those who were unable to move to a more capable browser.

Google says that today most people are using modern browsers that support the latest web technologies, hence, the need for Chrome Frame has essentially evaporated.

Google will stop supporting and updating the product in January.

Chrome 27 for iPhone and iPad comes with improved voice search, faster page reloading, and some stability/security improvements and bug fixes.

“Say what you want and get results back without typing,” Google says of the voice search feature, adding that it also includes faster voice recognition with text streamed on the fly, and the ability to et answers spoken back to you with web results tailored to your questions.

The Android update included the ability to see search queries in the omnibox (as opposed to the long search URL). This is not mentioned in the feature list for the iOS update.

The update is rolling out in the App Strore.

Google announced that Chrome 28, which is currently available in the beta channel, speeds up the browser with a new threaded HTML parser. What does that mean? Google says that Chrome 28 will load DOM content about 10 percent faster, and reduces the the maximum stop time by 40 percent. In other words, you’re going to see pages load much faster.

For users of Chrome for Android, you’re going to find that WebGL has been added as an experimental feature in the beta alongside Web Audio and WebRTC. WebGL and Web Audio can be combined to create web apps and games that run natively across any browser on any device.

Chrome for Android is also getting the Fullscreen API with this latest beta. When enabled, the browser UI and OS status bar will be hidden in favor of a full screen experience. You can test Chrome for Android’s Fullscreen API with this Chrome Experiment.

Google also details two major deprecated features that users and developers will need to be aware of. First, the Content Security Policy HTTP head is no more. Second, Chrome Extensions have been ditched in favor of the Rich Notifications Chrome API. Many see as a sign that Google Now is about to come to Chrome.

If you want to play around with the above beta features, be sure to download the Chrome Beta here.

“The Google Publisher Toolbar will continue to include the same popular functionality as before in addition to a new feedback mechanism and blocking capabilities,” says AdSense product manager Fiona Herring.

The new toolbar features pop-up account overview, ad details and a feedback box.

The overview shows you your estimated account earnings summary for today, yesterday, this month and last month, in addition to data on your top 5 channels or sites by revenue over a variety of date ranges.

The bar also gives you detailed info about specific impressions including buyer and advertiser details, the creative, and the ability to block the ad buyer.

Google says 234,000 people have installed the Google Publisher Bar since it launched.

Update 2: While we should be able to expect the “hotwording” functionality in the future, a Google spokesperson only offered, “Conversational search has started rolling out on Google.com in the latest version of Chrome. You can just click the mic in the search box, ask your question in a natural way, and get spoken answers.”

At Google I/O last week, Google announced that it was bringing conversational search to the desktop. Voice search features available to mobile users are coming to the desktop via Chrome.

You’re supposed to be able to just talk to Google without clicking any buttons, and ask it questions, and otherwise perform searches. You’ve been able to use Voice Search from the desktop by clicking the microphone icon for some time, but now you shouldn’t have to click.

Unfortunately, that functionality isn’t quite available, but the Chrome update that is supposed to bring it to users has gone live, along with the makings of said functionality.

When you update to version 27.0.1453.93, you can click the microphone icon, and it will ask you if you want Google to start listening, so you shouldn’t have to click any longer. The problem is that Google is not responding to queries after that, unless you click the mic icon as usual. It does at least speak answers back to you now. You can also continue the “conversation” in a natural way (at least on some queries), and Google will understand that you’re still talking about the same subject.

Danny Sullivan uses the example of asking, “How tall is Barack Obama?” then asking, “How tall is he?” Google delivers without missing a step. It understands that “he” is Barack Obama. But you still have to click the mic icon.

In the demo at Google I/O, Google illustrated that you would be able to say, “Okay, Google,” and conduct your search from there (not unlike the famous “Okay, Glass” command).

Right now, Google may be listening to what you’re saying, but it’s not quite up to the Star Trek experience just yet.

In the demo, Google refers to the “Okay, Google” command as “hot wording”. There does not appear to be a setting in Chrome to set a hot word.

The feature is also a bit buggy, as people are seeing “no internet connection” sometimes even when they have internet connections:

This is actually happening a lot.

[via 9to5Google]

In an interview with Wired, Android and Chrome boss Sundar Pichai, who had just recently taken over Android from Andy Rubin, said that this year’s Google I/O is going to focus on developers, and what Google can do for them:

It’s going to be different. It’s not a time when we have much in the way of launches of new products or a new operating system. Both on Android and Chrome, we’re going to focus this I/O on all of the kinds of things we’re doing for developers, so that they can write better things. We will show how Google services are doing amazing things on top of these two platforms.

Pichai’s wording implies that not only are we not going to see any hardware announcements, but we also won’t be seeing any new versions of Android announced at the show either. Both seem at odds with rumors and speculation from the past few months that suggested Google would be showing both a new version of Jelly Bean and a new Nexus 7 at the annual conference.

It would seem strange to not announce at least a new version of Android at I/O, but Google may be holding off on that for a separate event later this year. We also can’t ignore the possibility that Pichai is intentionally misleading us.

Either way, we’ll know for sure on Wednesday when Google I/O kicks off with a three hour keynote beginning at 9 a.m. PST/12 p.m. EST.

[h/t: Engadget]

“The Google Keep Chrome app launches in its own window, so you can create notes, cross out your to-do lists, and attach photos to tasks while you work on other things,” says Google software engineer Eddy Mead in a blog post. “And if you don’t have an internet connection, don’t fret: the Chrome app works offline because we all know that ideas (big and small) can be sparked at any time.”

You can find the app in the Chrome Web Store here.

In semi-related news, rival Yahoo just acquired Astrid, another to-do list app, so don’t be surprised to see Yahoo launch its own Google Keep competitor in the near future.

Google announced that Chrome Beta for desktop can now open Microsoft Office documents directly in the browser. In other words, all of your Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint files can be accessed in the browser without having to open Microsoft Office.

You could interpret this as Google firing a warning shot across Microsoft’s bow, but Google says it’s only watching out for its users:

In addition to saving you time, the Chrome Office Viewer also protects you from malware delivered via Office files. Just like with web pages and PDFs, we’ve added a specialized sandbox to impede attackers who use compromised Office files to try to steal private information or monitor your activities.

If you want to start viewing Microsoft Office files in Chrome, you’re going to first need the Chrome Beta. You can grab that here. Next up, you’re gonna need the Chrome Office Viewer which is also in beta. Google reminds users to help them squash any remaining bugs in the Office Viewer by submitting bug reports whenever things go wrong.

With Legacy Browser Support, businesses that have custom web apps that were built for older browsers will be able to use them with Chrome.

“When companies use browsers that are two or more versions old, employees and developers are unable to benefit from the incredible web innovations of the past four, or even ten years,” writes Chrome for Business & Education Senior Product Manager Cyrus Mistry. “Deploying a modern browser can help IT bolster security, reduce support costs, and improve browser speed and usability for employees.”

“With Legacy Browser Support, employees on Chrome are automatically switched to a legacy browser when they begin using an older app,” he explains. “IT managers simply define which sites should launch from Chrome into an alternate browser, and then set this Chrome policy for all employees. And while Chrome Frame helps developers build apps for older browsers, Legacy Browser Support lets IT admins of organizations embrace the modern web.”

With the cloud-based management feature, employees will be able to access default apps, custom themes, and curated app web stores when they sign into Chrome with their work account, whether they’re on their work computer or their personal computer.

Admins can customize over a hundred Chrome policies and preferences for employees.

That being said, developers are going to have questions, and Google welcomed those questions with open arms during a hangout yesterday with engineering leads Darin Fisher and Eric Seidel. Some of the issues addressed during the hangout include the relationship between WebKit’s and Blink’s codebase, Blink’s support of multiple programming languages, and when we can expect to see Blink hit Chrome.

For more on Blink, check out Google’s exhaustive FAQ.