Chrome 9 Supports WebGL And Chrome Web Store

Google brought its Chrome 9 Web browser build into the stable channel on February 3, adding support for WebGL, Chrome Web Store, and Chrome Instant.

WebGL provides hardware-accelerated 3D graphics to the browser so that Chrome’s users don’t have to download additional software plugins to load and access 3D Websites and applications. One shining example of this is Google’s Body Browser, which the company launched last December as part of its Chrome Experiments Web page.

Experiments With Web Store

Body Browser is a detailed 3D model of the human body, allowing users to peel back anatomical layers, zoom in, and navigate to different parts to identify anatomy, or search for muscles, organs and bones.

Other experiments users will be able to check out with Chrome 9 include, WebGL Aquarium, Jellyfish and WebGL Music Visualizer.

Chrome 9 also signals the arrival of the Chrome Web Store app market for the browser’s tens of millions of users in the US. The store is expected to be opened for European users later this year though free apps seem to download without problem in the UK.

Specifically, Google has added a link to the Chrome Web Store on the “New Tab” page, along with two sample apps. The Chrome Web Store also includes Autodesk, Sesame Street and Marvel Comics.

Finally, Google leveraged its Google Instant predictive search technology to create Chrome Instant, which loads Web pages users frequently visit as they start typing the URL. Search results appear instantly as you type queries in the omnibox (address bar), which means users will not have to hit the enter button to call up Websites. Users must enable Chrome Instant in the Basics tab of Chrome’s options.

The Google Operating System news and tips site offers nine things users should try in Chrome 9, including Google Cloud Print, that lets you print from devices that cannot communicate directly with printers, and WebP files, Google’s image storage format that promises better data compression.

Chrome 9 arrives days after researchers at Net Applications said Chrome had reached 10.7 percent market share, up from 10 percent in 2010.