14 DAY TRIAL // Google has been hit by quite a number of delays lately, but at least one product announced for this fall is finally getting close to launch, the Chrome Web Store. With the stable version of Google Chrome 8 slated to land this week or next week at the latest and several signs pointing at a Chrome Web Store release, it looks like the most recent rumors were accurate.
The Chrome Web Store, which will enable users to find and 'install' web applications was initially planned for an October launch. Of course, that didn't happen, but, after the delay, it looks like Google is now putting the finishing touches, based on the dwindling number of "blocker" bugs.
Other sings point in that direction as well. A new Chrome Web Store logo has now landed in Chromium and should be making its way into the Chrome 9 dev channel shortly.
Also new in Chromium is the possibility to create desktop shortcuts to web apps from the Chrome Web Store. You can already create shortcuts to your favorite websites, but support for web apps was just added.
Of course, both these features will be available in Chrome 9, but Google doesn't usually implement new features in beta and definitely not in stable releases.
So the only question at this point is whether the Web Store will be available through the Google Chrome 8 stable release coming very soon, as there are indications, or in the Google Chrome 9.0 beta, which should be landing in the next couple of weeks.
Of course, Google Chrome OS is still expected to be available this year, in some form, and it's unlikely that Google would launch its web-based operating system without the Web Store. Whatever the case, you can expect the web app store to launch very soon.