Another neat feature of this Beta release is that if you share a computer with family or friends you can now each have a personalized Chrome experience, by letting each user sign into Chrome sync.

If you wish to obtain the new Beta release, the official Google Chrome blog states:

“To try it out, go to Options (Preferences on Mac), click Personal Stuff, and click “Add new user.” A fresh instance of Chrome will open, ready to be customized with its own set of apps, bookmarks, extensions, and other settings. A badge in the upper corner lets you know at a glance that this new Chrome browser belongs to you, and you can customize the name and badge as you like. Clicking this badge drops down a menu of all the users on that computer, so you can easily switch between them. In addition, each user can sign in to Chrome to access their own personalized Chrome across all their computers.

One thing to keep in mind is that this feature isn’t intended to secure your data against other people using your computer, since all it takes is a couple of clicks to switch between users. We want to provide this functionality as a quick and simple user interface convenience for people who are already sharing Chrome on the same computer today. To truly protect your data from being seen by others, please use the built-in user accounts in your operating system of choice.”

Personally, this is a pretty great update for anyone who shares a computer with someone else. Well done Chrome team.

All an owner of a SYNC-ready car would have to do is plug in a compatible USB mobile broadband modem (or air card), and they will create a secure wireless connection that will be broadcast throughout the vehicle.

"While you’re driving to grandma’s house, your spouse can be finishing the holiday shopping and the kids can be chatting with friends and updating their Facebook profiles," said Mark Fields, Ford president of The Americas. "And you’re not paying for yet another mobile subscription or piece of hardware because Ford will let you use technology you already have."

"The speeds with which technology is evolving, particularly on the wireless front, makes obsolescence a real problem," said Doug VanDagens, director of Ford’s Connected Services Solutions Organization. "We’ve solved that problem by making SYNC work with just about any technology you plug into it. By leveraging a user’s existing hardware, which can be upgraded independent of SYNC, we’ve helped ensure ‘forward compatibility’ with whatever connectivity technology comes next."

"Using SYNC with existing mobile devices helps Ford provide the most value, the most flexibility and the most convenience for owners," said Fields. "Constant connectivity is becoming a routine part of our customers’ lives, and we’re making existing technology more accessible without adding costs: That’s the kind of value Ford drivers have learned to expect."

Ford has proven in the past to be a particularly Internet-savvy company. This was evident from an interview WebProNews did with Scott Monty, who runs the company’s social media efforts:

Ford says studies by the Consumer Electronics Association show that as many as 77 million adults make up the so-called technology enthusiast drivers population, more than half of whom express the desire for a connected communications and information system in their vehicles. They say over a third of Americans would be interested in the ability to check email and access Web sites in their vehicles.

Related Articles:

> Google Earth Makes Leap To Automobiles

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> How Ford Does Social Media

The system was created using open authentication technology OAuth which allows limited data to be shared between sites while protecting account credentials.

Syncing functionality includes:

• Status updates synced from MySpace to Twitter and vice versa
• Updates originating from MySpace will be noted as such on Twitter and vice versa
• Status syndication can be enabled for one-way or two-way
• When updates post to Twitter, readers have a link back to MySpace to make commenting easy
• Enables on-the-go status syncing (for Twitter and MySpace Mobile – WAP and apps)
• Open authentication technology (OAuth) protects account credentials and data shared between sites

Comments

Why does a Facebook update affect you if you’re on Twitter, or writing on your blog? Think of your Status Update box. Many users of both Facebook and Twitter have their accounts synced, so when you post on Twitter it goes to your status box (or main feed). The same for blog posts – a lot of bloggers auto-update their Facebook status with their latest post.

Now, however, if that tweet or post includes an advertisement from the likes of Sponsored Tweets, or a paid review from a company like  IZEA and other paid blogging services, Facebook would be in their rights to see that as part of their “unauthorized commercial communications”. This could, in return, see your Facebook account closed or deleted.

Of course, the easy thing to do would be for IZEA and other companies to talk to Facebook. Or, for people to stop syncing accounts and blogs (Twitter updates is something a lot of “just Facebook users” have already complained about). The question is, will people want to change their current set-up?

What’s your take? Do you sync accounts? Will this make you change or will you keep posting regardless? Or should advertising companies be the ones taking the proactive approach to work to a solution?

Comments

Oh, and the new release has loads of new features.

Manage multiple Twitter with TweetDeck.
Manage all your Twitter accounts from TweetDeck without switching between them.

View all of the information you need from all of your account at once. And cross-post tweets to different accounts at the touch of a button.

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Avoid Twitter spam with TweetDeck’s spam button.

Just one click will delete the message from view, block the user and report them to Twitter.

Sync TweetDeck with your iPhone & more!
Take all your TweetDeck favorites, including columns, groups and saved searches, everywhere you go. Sync your TweetDeck columns across multiple computers and your iPhone.

Back-up and safely store all your TweetDeck information, and never worry about accidentally deleting a group again.

Below is a list of other features integrated into the new TweetDeck release.

• Conversation window – View an entire dialogue all at once.
• Video playback – Watch Qik or 12seconds video clips from the comfort of TweetDeck.
• TweetDeck Recommends column – Find new and interesting people to follow whether you’re a Twitter newbie or a veteran of the Twitterverse.
• ‘Reply All’ – Tweet everyone mentioned in a tweet in just a couple of clicks.
• YFrog – Share and preview YFrog photos inside TweetDeck.
• Smart filter – Start typing a username to find a person and add them to a group quickly and easily.
• # RE (In reference to) tweets – Easily comment on a discussion.

Will you be updating your TweetDeck desktop app? If so, let us know whta you think.

Google Calendar Sync, as it’s named, is supposed to sync calendars at intervals of your choice, and in either direction you please.  On the Official Google Enterprise Blog, Matt Kulick adds, "You can set the default privacy level in Google Calendar to ‘private’ so events synced from Microsoft Outlook calendar are marked private, and only you (or others who you’ve granted permission to view event details) will see them on Google Calendar."

 Google Calendar Help Page

The tool is available right now, and like most of Google’s offerings, is available for free.  We feel obligated you warn you, though, that it may not work too well.

On Google Operating System, 20 comments follow an article on the matter.  They’re not all negative, but several mention problems, and a few more suggest alternatives like Plaxo.  On Google Blogoscoped, there are 14 comments, and some issues are also raised there.

Nothing appears to be catastrophically wrong with Google Calendar Sync, and no calendar events have been reported lost.  Give it a try if you want; just don’t get too set on giving up the old copy/paste routine.