HBO GO now works with Chromecast

Grab your favorite snack and get cozy on your Iron Throne, because HBO GO has added Chromecast support to their Android, iOS and web app. Now you can easily enjoy “Game of Thrones,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “Girls” and your favorite movies on your TV by casting from the HBO GO app or website.

To start casting from HBO GO, just check that you have the latest version of the app for Android or iOS. You can also cast from hbogo.com using Chrome browser on your laptop or any Chromebook. The mobile and web apps will be rolling out over the next few days.

Winter is Coming!

Posted by Shanna Prevé, Head of Content Partnerships for Chromecast and Mother of Dragons in Training

Bringing hobbits, dwarves and dragons to screens everywhere

You don’t need to be besties with a Wizard to share an adventure in Middle-earth—just point your favorite browser to goo.gl/TheHobbit on your laptop, phone or tablet to check out “Journey through Middle-earth,” the latest Chrome Experiment.

Inspired by the upcoming motion picture "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “Journey through Middle-earth” brings the locations and characters from the movie trilogy to life with a mix of modern web technologies. It was developed by North Kingdom in collaboration with Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.

Your adventure starts on a beautiful, interactive map of Middle-earth. Zoom in to explore Trollshaw Forest, Rivendell and Dol Guldur (with more locations to come in the next few weeks). Click on each one to learn its history and meet the characters who inhabit it, or dive further to test your wits on a unique survival challenge.

The immersive 3D graphics in “Journey through Middle-earth” were built with CSS3 and WebGL, which you might recognize from previous Chrome Experiments. But “Journey through Middle-earth” is the first Chrome Experiment designed to bring this beautiful, 3D experience to mobile, thanks to support for WebGL in Chrome for Android on devices with high-end graphics cards.

The rich audio effects and sound manipulation are delivered through the Web Audio API, which is now supported on both Chrome for Android and Chrome for iPhone and iPad. Although WebGL isn’t supported on iOS, Chrome users can still experience most of “Journey through Middle-earth” on their iPhones and iPads. We can’t wait to see what sort of rich experiences developers will build as modern web technologies become available on more types of devices.

Circle +Google Chrome to stay updated as more Middle-earth locations get released in the coming weeks. You can also check out the Chromium Blog and read the team’s technical case study if you feel like geeking out a bit more.

Adventure is a click away. Just watch out for the trolls!

Posted by Christos Apartoglou, Product Marketing Manager & Part-time Dragon-slayer

Browse faster on mobile with new Autofill updates

Today, we’re starting to roll out new features on Chrome for mobile to help save you time and hassle while you’re on-the-go.

Autofill coming to iOS

For iPhone and iPad users, Chrome for iOS will soon include Autofill to help you quickly fill out forms on-the-go just as you can on desktop and Android. When you sign into Chrome on your iPhone and iPad, you can quickly complete online forms using your synced Autofill info from other devices you’ve signed into.

A faster Autofill experience on Android

On Android, we’re testing some improvements to Autofill to further streamline online forms. Using your saved Chrome Autofill info (or Google Wallet account if you’re in the US), checking out becomes as simple as a few clicks.

This feature is just in the early stages, but we’re excited about the opportunity to make online shopping and form filling even easier for merchants and users alike. You can test this faster checkout flow on Betabrand with this release of Chrome for Android, and we’re hoping to bring more of your favorite retailers onto the platform in the coming months. Interested merchants can learn more about implementing this feature here.

Ready to give your fingers a break? Try out these new Autofill features and more with the latest releases of Chrome for Android and iOS, coming soon to the Play Store and App Store.

Update (Nov. 20): As of today, both the Chrome for Android and for iOS apps have been updated and are available on the Play Store and App Store.

Ruslan Abdikeev and Jim Blackler, Software Engineers and Sprint Form Fillers

Important update on the HP Chromebook 11 [UPDATED]

Updated 12/17/13:
With guidance and approval from the CPSC and other regulatory agencies, Google and HP are recalling the original charger for the HP Chromebook 11. Customers should visit http://chromebook.com/hp11chargerform to request a free replacement charger. We apologize again for the inconvenience this has caused. Your safety is our top priority. With our partner HP, we are resuming sales of the HP Chromebook 11. All new packages will include the replacement charger.

Original post 11/13/13:
Google and HP are pausing sales of the HP Chromebook 11 after receiving a small number of user reports that some chargers included with the device have been damaged due to overheating during use. We are working with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to identify the appropriate corrective action, and will provide additional information and instructions as soon as we can.

In the meantime, customers who have purchased an HP Chromebook 11 should not use the original charger provided with the product. In the interim they may continue using their HP Chromebook 11 with any other certified micro-USB charger, for example one provided with a tablet or smartphone. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Posted by Caesar Sengupta, VP, Product Management

Track down those noisy tabs

Have you ever shuffled through your tabs to figure out where that sound or music is coming from? We hear you! With today’s latest Chrome Beta release, you can now visually scan your tabs for a speaker icon to quickly find the offender. Chrome will also indicate which tabs are currently using your webcam or are being cast to your TV.

Playing audio

Using your webcam

Casting to your TV

And for those who use Windows 8 you’ll notice that Chrome looks different in “Metro” mode. We’ve made it possible to manage multiple Chrome windows and quickly get to your favorite Chrome Apps with an integrated app launcher. If you use a Chromebook the change may look familiar — with a common interface we’ll be able to bring great experiences to both even more quickly!

Finally, while Safe Browsing warns you before you visit malicious websites or download malicious files, Chrome Beta will now automatically block malware files. If you see this message in the download tray at the bottom of your screen, you can click “Dismiss” knowing that Chrome is working to keep you safe. 

Download Chrome Beta to give these latest enhancements a test drive.

Yuri Wiitala, Software Engineer and Tenacious Tab Tracker

Don’t mess with my browser!

In some ways, it's safer than ever to be online — especially if you use Chrome. With continued security research and seamless automatic updates, your browsing experience is always getting better and more secure. But recently you may have noticed something seems amiss. Online criminals have been increasing their use of malicious software that can silently hijack your browser settings. This has become a top issue in the Chrome help forums; we're listening and are here to help.

Bad guys trick you into installing and running this kind of software by bundling it with something you might want, like a free screensaver, a video plugin or—ironically—a supposed security update. These malicious programs disguise themselves so you won’t know they’re there and they may change your homepage or inject ads into the sites you browse. Worse, they block your ability to change your settings back and make themselves hard to uninstall, keeping you trapped in an undesired state.

We're taking steps to help, including adding a "reset browser settings" button in the last Chrome update, which lets you easily return your Chrome to a factory-fresh state. You can find this in the “Advanced Settings” section of Chrome settings.

In the current Canary build of Chrome, we’ll automatically block downloads of malware that we detect. If you see this message in the download tray at the bottom of your screen, you can click “Dismiss” knowing Chrome is working to keep you safe.

This is in addition to the 10,000 new websites we flag per day with Safe Browsing, which also detects and blocks malicious downloads, to keep more than 1 billion web users safe across multiple browsers that use this technology. Keeping you secure is a top priority, which is why we’re working on additional means to stop malicious software installs as well.

Update: 11/1/13: Updated to mention that Safe Browsing already detects and blocks malware.

Linus Upson, Vice President

A beta preview: supervised users

As someone who has helped numerous family members get online for the first time, I know how rewarding it can be. I enjoy sitting down with my daughter, watching her eyes light up at new favorites we find together on the web. Like many of you, I also find it important to keep family members protected from websites that may be inappropriate. To help those who may need some guidance browsing the web, we’re kicking off a beta channel preview of a new feature called supervised users.

Let’s say you’ve recently purchased the new HP Chromebook 11 and want to share it with your son. He’ll be able to use your Chromebook as a supervised user. This means once you’ve created a supervised user for him on your Chromebook, you’ll be able to visit chrome.com/manage to review a history of web pages he has visited, determine sites that you want to allow or block, and manage permissions for any blocked websites he has requested to view.

We hope this new feature helps you share Chromebooks with everyone in your family. Additionally, you can try an early version of supervised users on Chrome beta for Windows, Mac and Linux, too. This is just the beginning — we’d love to get your feedback on features you’d like to see. If you’re on the beta channel, supervised users will begin rolling out this week. Give it a try, and let us know what you think!

Posted by Pam Greene, Software Engineer and surf instructor