The intial target for the operating system will be notebooks, promising to be smooth and easy to use like their popular Android software, that is already used on their mobile phone. The OS also has the potential to become open-source, allowing for developers from around the world to contribute to its ongoing development and expansion. Taken directly from the official Google blog:

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We’re designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don’t have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

For some technical info, the Chrome OS will be running on x86 and ARM chips to allow for use on multiple notebooks. In terms of software architecture, Chrome OS will be looking to run a windowing system on top of a Linux based kernel.

Although we will be looking at a 2010 launch timeframe, this exciting news from Google will probably have Microsoft shaking in their boots. You can read the full story here.

When people wonder about the internet and all of its possibilities, why is it that we would rather see a cat falling off a table? I dont know.. but bring on more lolcats!

A bit random… but this is amazing!

Because the platform is designed with televisions in mind, the main functionality of the Youtube interface is stripped back making it more simple and quicker to use, with a darker background for easier visibility. Go check out the demo site now!

Check out this wolfram demo video for some amazing examples from Mr. Wolfram himself!

In a recent interview with The Times,  the Microsoft COO Kevin Turner hinted that a partnership with Yahoo may still go ahead. Although Turner was keen to make clear that, if the negotiations did go ahead the deal would be on a much smaller scale than first proposed. It is thought Microsoft are still keen to integrate their search and ad functions to catch up with market leaders Google.

This comes at a time of great interest when beta-testing of the super hush-hush search project Kumo has been reported to have finished. This could suggest that if any merger does occur, then the rebranded search function could be branded through this new search engine project.

This caused a little bit of a stir considered Jobs didnt even make it to the shareholder meeting for Apple. Despite this news, these re-elections have sparked comments suggestiong his “hormonal imbalance” is on the mend.

Jobs who has been battling a series of injuries has had a large involvement with Disney, ever since his days of working with Pixar, the animated film arm of the media giant.

Multiple iGoogle Apps for New Years.

2009 for me will be all about efficiency. No more wasted clicks if i can help it – integrated pages are the way forward. For some momre New years related widgets check out for example the weightloss tracker or for those with less will power maybe the reason to have a drink today app, both found at the iGoogle apps directory.

Continuing Skype’s commitment to rolling out new features on both Windows and Mac, the new update will include the following features:

* Skype Access
* Screen Sharing
* Improved chat management: ability to sort chats in the drawer and set priorities to chats
* Quick Add: much easier to add people to chats than previous versions
* Mood message chat: mood message updates from your friends as chat messages
* Large avatars: 256×256 pixels
* Hidden avatars in incoming contact requests
* Ability to add your own notes to contacts (if you need notes on business contacts etc)

Skype Access

One of the most impressive “new” features is “Skype Access”, a service that lets you go to any of the 100,000 Boingo WiFi hotspots and – using Skype – connect to the Boingo hotspot. When you connect, you pay on a minute by minute basis and the charge (which varies from country to country) is deducted from your Skype credit. There is no hourly or monthly fee for using the Boingo network, It is merely a way in which Skype try and increase their usability across the globe.

Considering that these hotspots will probably be only limited to certain busy areas in major cities, i cant quite see how this will take off – but will be useful to some heavy Skype users.

Screen Sharing

Another cool feature of the 2.8 beta is “screensharing” where you can share your entire screen with another

Skype will soon be releasing their 2.8 beta for Mac OSX

Skype user, this may be useful to demonstrate something, or even to simply show off your latest desktop wallpaper – i will update the benefits of this screen sharing concept in a later post.
System requirements
* Mac computer with G4 800 Mhz processor or faster.
* Mac OS X v10.3.9 Panther or later.
* For higher-resolution video a faster processor (Core 2 Duo) and a broadband connection with at least    384kbps upload speeds.
* 512 MB RAM.
* 40 MB free disk space on your hard drive.
* Microphone and speakers or headset.
* Download drivers for your webcam.
* Internet connection (broadband is best, GPRS is not supported for voice calls, and results may vary on a satellite connection).

The Wordle for Techblast is still a little bit confused - Although Apple and Twitter seem popular!

Although my Wordle is a little bit here and there, I will try and post another in 6 months or so and see how things have changed. Give it a go yourself…. Here is the BBC News Technology feed in a wordle:

You can customise colours and fonts within Wordle