Google enhances Chrome OS with R12 update

Google has updated its Chome OS Beta channel to the R12 release, adding version 12 of the Chrome browser plus several security and stability enhancements.

Key improvements to Chrome OS include a new Flash player, trackpad and sensitivity adjustments, along with improvements to GSM support, according to a blog post by Google Chrome programme manager Orit Mazor.

Additional features include power and GTalk/video chat optimisation, a new file browser and a "shiny new look".

The Chrome team has also improved debugging, the auto-update engine and on-screen indicators such as brightness, network status and update icon.

Finally, there are fixes for Wi-Fi connectivity and the 3G connection to the carrier, according to Mazor.

The release includes version 12 of the Chrome browser, also in beta, which features hardware-accelerated 3D CSS, the ability to launch Apps by name from the Omnibox and to delete Flash cookies from inside the browser, and improved screen reader support.

Google announced last week that the first laptops featuring Chrome OS will go on sale from May, as the company takes on a market dominated for decades by Microsoft and its near-ubiquitous Windows operating system.

The Chromebook laptops, which are based on the CR-48 reference design, use the browser as the desktop for the operating system and rely almost entirely on cloud storage.

The first models will be on sale from Samsung and Acer, powered by Intel dual-core Atom processors.