Until now, the only way to get extensions for Chrome on MacOS was available for limited users that were able to manually build Chromium (the latest "test" version of Chrome) on their machines.

Thanks to a simple application provided by TechCrunch, you can have Chromium installed on your Mac in seconds, totally ready to accept your extensions. The application was primarily built to automatically update Chromium, since the browser has been improving almost every day. However, in my case, it proved to be very useful for installing Chromium in the first place.

Get the application here.

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With the introduction of the new N900 (available for pre-order in the US here), Nokia will debut its new linux-based Operating System, called Maemo.

Despite the weird name, the OS seems to be very cool and, as one would expect, the highlight is its built-in new browser. With Flash and Web standards support, easy access to history and copy/paste, a nice resolution for a smartphone (800x600) and innovative new gesture controls, the experience seems to get closer to a "full" web navigation done from a computer.

Compared to the iPhone, the Maemo browser has some inevitable similarities, since Safari was the first mobile browser to unlock us from the WAP horror. However, one interesting difference is the gesture made to zoom-in on a page. Instead of the well-known pinching, Nokia added a swirling gesture, as you can see on the video above. Another difference is the fact that Maemo uses Mozilla as its engine, which is good news for those worried about compatibility.

Since the N900 will start selling for USD $649 in the US, the Maemo will probably take a while to become mainstream. In any case, it is always good to see a giant like Nokia bringing a significant evolution to the mobile web experience.

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Among the differentials it offers, the most noticeable in netbooks are:

• Chrome is very fast. It loads quickly and the pages are visibly rendered faster compared to other browsers. As you know, netbooks don´t sport the most powerful gear, so it is always helpful to have snappy software.
• Its design is optimized for small screens. It is clean, the menu bar is hidden under an icon on the top right and searches are performed straight from the URL box, eliminating the need for 2 distinct boxes.
• Similar to Opera, when you open a new tab, Chrome shows thumbnails of your most visited sites, saving you from typing a few keystrokes.

See the full list of features here.

The stable version of Chrome is available for Windows only, but there are developer versions (as the one on the screenshot above) for Mac and Linux. Download Google Chrome here.

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Mozilla and Adaptive Path released a series of 4 concept videos that show potential ways in which the web browsers could be used in a few years from now. According to the site's description:

Aurora is a concept video presenting one possible future user experience for the Web, created by Adaptive Path as part of the Mozilla Labs concept browser series. Aurora explores new ways people could interact with the Web in the future based on projected technological trends and real-world scenarios.

The videos show different usage in computers and mobile devices. The use cases focus on social interactions and information access, which is the direction the web is evolving more and more.

I don't know if these concepts will become reality, but the organic and intuitive interfaces certainly look appealing for current and future users.

Check the complete video above (compilation of the 4 parts) or access the official Aurora page here.

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Introduction to Choosy from Choosy on Vimeo.

Choosy is an application that allows you to chose the right browser for each site or web application. According to their self-description:

Forget the default browser, Choosy opens links in therightbrowser. When you click on a link Choosy will do the right thing, whether that's something simple (like using whatever browser is already running) or something complex (like prompting you to pick a browser, but only when you hold down the shift key and click on a link to google.com).

Choosy costs USD $12,00 but you can try it before you buy. Download Choosy here.

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We recently reported on Teashark and Skyfire as two important browsers to enhance the mobile web experince of those who are not iPhone or Pre owners. However, one common limitation they have (at least for now) is the fact that both are not available for the BlackBerry. Bitstream's Bolt comes to bridge this gap.

If you are a BlackBerry users, you certaily know how slow the default browser is and how pages don't look good at all. If you watch the video above, you'll probably run to install Bolt right away. Based on WebKit, this browser offers a pretty decent experience (including media streaming) on a much faster loading time (Bitstream says: "[Bolt] Routinely loads pages at least 25%-50% faster than competing mobile browsers").

As for older phones, the announcement on Bolt Beta 3 says:

In this Beta3 release, we have an additional lightweight version also available, BOLT lite that has been optimized to install and run on entry-level mobile devices with limited memory and system resources. This lightweight version retains most of BOLT's feature set. Although some of BOLT's functionality is not included in the lite version, BOLT's blazing fast download speed and PC-style layout are retained – offering fast, full-featured desktop style browsing to an even wider range of devices.

Download Bolt here.

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I'm writing this post using the recently released Firefox 3.5 RC1, and I tell you one can really feel how faster it is. It feels like now its performance is at the same levels of Chrome 2.0 and Safari 4.

There are a lot of improvements on this version, but the most noticeable are:

• Faster navigation
• Embeded video and audio management
• Enhaced privacy controls and history management, including a quick link to recently closed tabs
• Location aware browsing: by allowing Firefox to know where you are, you can do different things like: geo-targeted blog posts, be able to do local searches faster, etc..
• Downloadable fonts: site developers will finally be able to use creative fonts that will work (well, at least for Firefox users, for now)
• + icon to open a new tab (finally!)
• Use the URL box to type your search queries, just like in Chrome

See the complete list of new features here.

Download Firefox 3.5 RC. Please remember that this is a release candidate version, so you may experience some glitches.

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Layar is an application (Android only, for now) that adds a virtual web browser on top of images acquired by your phone's camera in real time. According to the company:

Layar is derived from location based services and works on mobile phones that include a camera, GPS and a compass. Layar is first avaliable for handsets with the Android operating system (the G1 and HTC Magic). It works as follows: Starting up the Layar application automatically activates the camera. The embedded GPS automatically knows the location of the phone and the compass determines in which direction the phone is facing. Each partner provides a set of location coordinates with relevant information which forms a digital layer. By tapping the side of the screen the user easily switches between layers. This makes Layar a new type of browser which combines digital and reality, which offers an augmented view of the world.

With Layar you can find ATMs, bars, hotels, houses for sale (doesn't sound very useful) and more.

The service is available only in Netherlands for now, but it is a great step towards a new way of mixing reality and the web on a 3D visual browser.

Dutch Android users, download Layar for free here.

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