Google has come up with a layered development cycle for its web browser, Chrome. This way, new features can be implemented at a fast pace, while also making sure that users also have more stable but less cutting-edge versions available. Halfway between the experimental dev channel release and the stable version, the Chrome beta version has been bumped to 4.0 with the latest release. The new beta comes with the usual set of fixes, but the most touted new feature is the bookmark sync, first revealed last summer.

“For those of you who use several computers -- for example, a laptop at work and a desktop at home -- you've asked for a way to keep your Google Chrome bookmarks in sync across multiple computers. Today's new beta release allows you to do just that! You can keep your Google Chrome bookmarks synchronized and up-to-date across the multiple computers you use, without needing to manually recreate your bookmarks every time you use a different computer,” Google Software Engineers Idan Avraham and Anton Muhin explain the new feature.

Enabling the feature is easy enough, the option is now available under the “wrench” menu and it's dubbed “Synchronize my bookmarks.” You will need a Google account in order to store the bookmarks in the cloud and then update them on other Chrome installs, but, other than that, you're all set. Once everything is configured, any changes you make to the bookmarks on any of your computers will be available on the others you want to sync with in a matter of seconds. You can find out more about the feature in the video below.

Apart from the bookmark sync, Google Chrome 4.0 Beta also comes with a significant speed boost, something that happens with every beta or stable channel release. Google claims that the latest beta is four times faster than the initial Chrome 1.0 release and 30 percent faster than the current 3.0 stable release when using Mozilla's Dromeao DOM Core Tests. A great number of bugs has also been fixed since the last beta, but, unfortunately, the extension support is disabled until Google settles on a final API specification.

Google Chrome 4.0 Beta is available for download here.