14 DAY TRIAL // As predicted in our latest coverage on Chrome releases, Google has promoted version 11 of the open-source web browser to Beta status, offering the first Mac, Windows, and Linux builds for download through its Beta distribution channel. The new release comes with GPU-accelerated 3D CSS and the all-new Chrome icon.
Announced officially by Karen Grunberg of the Chrome development team, Chrome 11.0.696.16 Beta is readily available for all supported platforms, including Mac OS X.
“The Chrome team is happy to announce the arrival of Chrome 11.0.696.16 to the Beta channel for Windows, Mac, and Linux,” Grunberg blogs for Google.
“Chrome 11 contains some really great improvements including, HTML5 speech input API; GPU-accelerated 3D CSS; the brand new shiny Chrome icon,” the author notes.
Karen directs fans to the Official Chrome Blog for more details on the changes implemented in Chrome 11 Beta, where Satish Sampath, software engineer takes some time to write about support for the HTML5 speech input API.
Thanks to the new addition, web developers can now give their apps the ability to transcribe the user’s voice into text.
“When a web page uses this feature, you simply click on an icon and then speak into your computer’s microphone,” Sampath explains.
“The recorded audio is sent to speech servers for transcription, after which the text is typed out for you.”
Those who want to demo the feature can do so right here, according to the software engineer.
As for the GPU-accelerated 3D CSS, it will allow developers to apply 3D effects to web page content using CSS, the author adds.
The requirements for running Chrome 11 under Mac OS X include an Intel-based Macintosh computer and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or later (Snow Leopard supported)
Softpedia readers can download all versions of Chrome for Mac OS X (Stable, Beta, Dev) immediately using the link below.