client

Google has built its Native Client technology into its newest version of Chrome, endowing the browser with new processing power for running Web applications.

Native Client, or NaCl for short, is an ambitious Google project that, if successful, will help close one gap that separates Web applications from those that run natively on a computer's operating system. That would improve the competitive position of Web applications such as Google Docs compared to Microsoft Office--and thereby boost Google's Chrome OS project in comparison with Windows.

Most Web browsers run programs written in JavaScript or perhaps Flash, both of them … Read more

MSD Tasks is a multifeatured program that allows users to keep track of a wide variety of things they need to do. Although the program could be better organized, we like the number of options and customizations it offers.

The program's interface is somewhat cluttered, with lots of buttons and drop-down menus. A few minutes of exploration allows users to start to make sense of the layout. While the bulk of the interface contains a calendar with scheduled tasks in it, much of the rest is composed of options for customizing how tasks are displayed in the calendar. We … Read more

Departing significantly from what other browsers offer, Google has begun building its O3D plug-in for hardware-accelerated 3D graphics into its Chrome browser.

"The O3D team is working on getting O3D integrated into the Chromium build, and we're close to being able to complete our first step towards integration," said programmer Greg Spencer in a mailing list announcement Wednesday about Chromium, the open-source project that underlies Chrome itself. "I'll be making the Windows build of Chromium be dependent upon building O3D as part of the build process."

By helping to pave the way for high-powered Web-based games, the move furthers Google's ambition to speed the transformation of the Web from a static medium into a foundation for applications. Another piece of the work is Google Native Client, which is designed to let Web applications take advantage of a computer's native processing power. … Read more

iMagic Restaurant Reservation aims to save trees by letting you manage reservations on a computer and, in the process, lets you keep track of regular customers. For such a high price tag, we weren't that impressed by its design and brief trial period; however, it gets the job done.

The user interface is pretty plain, but it's intuitive and easy to navigate even without the Help feature. Should you need it, it also contains helpful tutorials and tips for getting started and pinpointing any issues you might have. Command buttons for viewing and making reservations line the top … Read more

Two security researchers are splitting a cash prize from Google after winning a bug hunt contest designed to improve the security of Google Native Client technology, Google announced on Tuesday.

Despite the dozen or so bugs they found in the code, which lets Web-based applications run native code and take advantage of a computer's processing power, one of the winners predicted the technology will be secure when it is deployed.

"The quality of the implementation was pretty good," said Mark Dowd, X-Force researcher engineer at IBM Internet Security Systems. "Everyone makes a few mistakes here and … Read more

Setting up my main email accounts on the Palm Pre was a breeze. Gmail automatically signed in and pulled my settings. All I had to enter was my email address and my password. Next I tried a business email associated with a self hosted domain name. I couldn't believe it when that too pulled everything in automatically! I'm used to having to set up emails manually, entering SMTP, POP/IMAP settings, SSL, etc.

The email application on the Palm Pre feels like a real desktop email client. My Samsung Instinct's email client worked more like text messaging. Seriously, it didn't feel professional. The only thing the Instinct has that I miss with the Pre is the ability to select multiple emails to delete without ever opening them. … Read more

Real Estate Assistant can help agents track listings and clients. It throws in a few related tools, but we would've liked to see more integration between the list of properties for sale and the list of clients who want to buy.

This program looks like the database-driven application it is. Very little has been done to dress up Real Estate Assistant's interface, but the plain window is fairly easy to navigate. Tiny command icons run along the top of a large pane for major functions. Basic command icons running along the left hand side are for printing, saving … Read more

Satisfied that its security underpinnings are solid, Google has promoted its open-source Native Client technology to accelerate Web applications out of its research phase and is taking steps to build it into the Chrome Web browser.

"Based on our experience to date, we believe that the basic architecture of our system is sound and the implementation is supportable. So now we are undertaking a number of tasks to transition Native Client from a research technology to a development platform," said Brad Chen, Google's Native Client engineering manager, in a mailing list announcement Wednesday.

Native Client, called NaCl … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--Google wants its Native Client technology to be a little more native.

Google Native Client, still highly experimental, lets browsers run program modules natively on an x86 processor for higher performance than with Web programming technologies such as JavaScript or Flash that involve more software layers to process and execute the code. But to use it, there's a significant barrier: people must install a browser plug-in.

However, Google wants to make the technology more broadly accessible in browsers through new technology coming to HTML, the standard used to build Web pages, and at the Google I/O developer conference … Read more