Google touts speed boost in Chrome 3.0

Google claims that Chrome 3.0 is quicker to load pages and web applications

Google has released version 3.0 of its Chrome web browser, which it claims offers faster browsing, user interface improvements and greater stability.

Chrome is just over a year old and Google has made 51 developer, 21 beta and 15 stable updates, and patched some 3,505 bugs.

This latest incarnation is apparently faster, and is reportedly quicker to load pages and web applications. Google said that this release delivers 25 per cent faster JavaScript performance than the previous stable release.

Chrome 3.0 has more customisable tab pages that offer more flexible organisation, and thumbnail images of web pages that users can rearrange with mouse clicks and pin wherever they want. Users can now also hide tabs to reduce clutter while keeping favourite pages quickly available.

The Omnibox, Chrome's search and address bar, has been tweaked as well, and new icons have been added to help users distinguish between suggested sites, existing bookmarks and browsing history.

Increased use of HTML5 makes it easier to play embedded videos automatically without having to use external plug-ins, said Google.