• By Dylan F. Tweney | November 19, 2009  | 2:09 pm

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California — Google today unveiled more details of Chrome OS, a lightweight, browser-based operating system for netbooks.

With a strong focus on speed, the Chrome OS promises nearly instant boot times of about 7 seconds for users to login to their computers.

“We want Google Chrome OS to be blazingly fast … to boot up like a TV,” said Sundar Pichai, vice president of product management for Google.

The first Chrome OS netbooks will be available in late 2010, Pichai said. It will not be available as a download to run and install. Instead, Chrome OS is only shipping on specific hardware from manufacturers Google has partnered with. That means if you want Chrome OS, you’ll have to purchase a Chrome OS device.

Google is currently working with unnamed computer manufacturers to define specifications for these computers, which Pichai said will include larger netbook-style computers with full-size keyboards, large trackpads and large displays.

Chrome OS netbooks will not have traditional hard disk drives — they will rely on non-volatile flash memory and internet-based storage for saving all of your data.

All the applications will be web-based, meaning users won’t have to install apps, manage updates or even backup their data. All data will be stored in the cloud, and users won’t even have to bother with anti-virus software: Google claims it will monitor code to prevent malicious activity in Chrome OS web apps.

“Chrome OS is a totally rethought computer that will let you focus on the internet, so you can stop worrying about your computer,” according to a Google promotional video shown at the event, held at the Google campus in Mountain View, California.

As part of its announcement today, Pichai said that Google would be releasing all of the operating system’s code and design documents to the public.

Introduced in July, Chrome OS is a Linux-based, open-source operating system centered on Google’s Chrome browser. Applications will run exclusively inside the browser, Google said Thursday.

“As of today, the code will be fully open, which means Google developers will be working on the same tree as open developers,” said Pichai.

The OS’s focus on design is consistent with the company’s stance that the future is in the web. In July, Vic Gundotra, Google’s engineering vice president and developer evangelist, spoke on a panel about app stores, in which he said native apps (such as those available for the iPhone) would be obsolete in the future, and that the web will “become the platform that matters.”

“Every capability you want today, in the future it will be written as a web application,” Pichai said Thursday.

Netbooks — lightweight, low-powered subnotebooks — were the surprise hit of 2008 and 2009. However, with the growth of netbook sales slowing — and the prices of some full-powered notebooks dropping below $400 — the continued viability of the netbook sector is an open question.

Though netbook shipments are falling below manufacturers’ expectations, the inexpensive, low-powered devices appear to still be selling well. Pichai cited research figures from ABI research indicating that 35 million netbooks shipped in 2009, more than twice the number sold in 2008.

Manufacturers have yet to announce pricing on netbooks shipping with Chrome OS, but Google expects the cost to be about the same as current netbooks. On average, netbooks cost between $300 and $500.

Videos demonstrating Chrome OS’s user interface, security, fast boot and other features are below the jump.

Courtesy http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/11/google-chrome-os-ditch-your-hard-drives-the-future-is-the-web/

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Internet domain names set to appear in non-Latin scripts CNN

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Read eVillage Story that appeared in Groundview in English, Sinhala or Tamil.

Many of you must have already watched the video by now. This is for those who missed with the transcription of the speech.

Hello. It’s a great privilege to join you by video to celebrate the “Year of English and IT Services” in Sri Lanka. I was very excited to learn about plans for the year which have a clear focus on IT, because this initiative demonstrates that His Excellency, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, and his government recognize the extraordinary potential that information technology has to dramatically improve people’s lives in the country.

Some of you may know that I now focus my full time work on the foundation. But I’m still very connected and very excited about the work going on at Microsoft. As I reflect on these thirty-three years of great innovation since Microsoft was started, I am amazed at how far we’ve come and the many ways in which IT is transforming how people live and work all over the world and the pace of progress continues to increase. The personal computer we have today is already over a million times more powerful than the original PC that Microsoft wrote software for back in 1981. I’m confident that even more dramatic changes are yet to come and that the future of technology will be far more exciting than even the past.

At the same time, it’s also clear that large segments of the world’s population have not reaped the full benefits of technology. Only about a billion of the roughly six billion people in the world have regular access to sophisticated forms of Information Technology. IT skills lag far behind where they need to be in an increasingly competitive and globally interconnected economy.

Sri Lanka has an advantage though, with a government that’s committed to investing further in IT, as outlined in President Rajapaksa’s vision statement. Like President Rajapaksa, I am optimistic that the country is poised for greater economic growth and development, and much of that will be fueled by the use of software and the power of IT. Sri Lanka’s high literacy rate, at over 90%, and its high standards of education and healthcare give it a strong economic foundation. The country’s IT literacy rate is nearing 20%, which represents a significant jump from 8% only a few years ago. English language speaking skills are also a crucial part of the foundation for future growth. I am pleased to see that the government has identified the importance of English language skills by declaring 2009 the Year of English and IT Services.

So, let me take this opportunity to congratulate President Rajapaksa for his leadership in declaring 2009 the Year of English and IT Services in Sri Lanka, and to wish those involved in the implementation of this very important initiative every success moving forward.

For its part, Microsoft stands ready to fully support the initiative and Sri Lanka’s broader IT-objectives over the long term. The theme of the work we do in Sri Lanka is “Creating Employability.” Through our Partners in Learning and Community Technology Skills Programs and our other initiatives, Microsoft has partnered with educational and non-governmental organizations in Sri Lanka to bring IT skills and training to over a million people across the country. These efforts have reached students, teachers, academia, rural communities, IT professionals, and migrant workers. To date, Microsoft has invested over 450 million rupees in Sri Lanka towards these programs and plans similar investments over the coming years. We have already made Windows Vista Sinhala enabled, and we are currently localizing our Office Suite for Sri Lanka.

Microsoft’s presence in Sri Lanka continues to grow in many ways, and we are committed to deepening existing partnerships and building new ones. Working together, there is a lot we have already achieved, and much more that we’ll accomplish in the future. Thank you and good luck.

Read my article in DiGIT.lk on THE BEGINNING OF THE EVILLAGE REPLICATION PROJECT at http://digit.lk/09_april_evillage.

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