Google finalising Chrome cloud synchronisation

 

Gallery

Posted on 5 Aug 2009 at 12:00

New browser features may pave the way for Chrome OS, allowing users to log in to a personalised desktop from any computer.

Google has announced the launch of a project to save users' browser data to their Google accounts. The project, known simply as Sync, will initially allow users to save their Chrome bookmarks to their Google account, but the protocol is being designed to allow other user data to be synchronised, such as cookies, saved passwords and form data.

Unlike similar projects such as Mozilla's Weave, Chrome's Sync will use push notification so that changes made by the user will instantly be available on other computers. Users will be able to connect from multiple clients at one time ??" i.e. from a laptop and a PC ??" and see the changes propagate between them. Changes made while offline will be saved and synchronised when the user next connects. Users will be able to access their saved bookmarks via Google Docs site, with a new bookmark file type added to the list alongside documents and spreadsheets.

The developers hope to have the Sync code integrated within the Chrome development project within the next three weeks, and it probably won't be long after that before we see a test build available to the public.

While synchronising bookmarks is a very useful feature ??" and one that Google has neglected for a long time ??" we can't wait until more user data is added and our entire browsing experience can be replicated no matter which computer we're on. With plugins, cookies and personal information available from any computer, the browser becomes increasingly untied from the PC and available in the cloud.

Moreover, it's likely that Google Chrome OS will use the Sync feature to make the entire desktop available from any PC, and closely integrated with Google services such as Docs, Gmail and Picasa.

Author: Barry de la Rosa