Web Concepts

Posts Tagged ‘chrome’

While not exactly a competitor to the hot mobile payment startup Square, Google released last week a mobile payment option of its own for merchants and Android phone users. The company has developed the new Android Payment extension, which merchants can use to allow Android users to pay for items with Google Checkout, reports ReadWriteWeb.

Merchants first need to create a Google Checkout merchant account and then use the Gadget Wizard to embed the web store template on their website (they can also create a free Google Sites page just for this purpose). Then, after filling in their products in the Gadget’s spreadsheet, they need to install the Android Payment Extension for the Chrome web browser.

When a customer decides what to buy, the merchant creates a cart on their own computer and selects the green “Checkout with Android” button, at which point a QR code (a two-dimensional bar code) is generated for the purchase. The customer then simply scans the code with their Android phone and is directed to a checkout page where they can complete the purchase on their own.

It certainly doesn’t sound as dead-simple as Square’s checkout method — which entails customers swiping their credit card on a retailer’s iPhone or Android device with Square’s tiny card reader, and then going through a quick signing process. And since it requires an Android phone, the Android Payment Extension has little chance of taking on the more ubiquitous Square, which works on both Android devices and the iPhone. But it avoids the privacy concerns of customers handing their credit cards over to strangers, as well as other potential issues like the credit processing and risk prevention concerns currently delaying Square.

Eventually, Google may figure out a way to make the service accessible to the iPhone and other platforms. Most smartphones have the ability to read QR codes with the addition of apps, but the fact that there’s no standard way to do it on the iPhone and other platforms will forever be a hindrance to services that rely on the codes.

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Tags: Android, chrome, extensions, Google Checkout, mobile payment

Companies: Google, Square

Usability: the winner is Chrome

There are no words to say that Chrome is absolute wiiner with its minimalism. The address panel can be used as search panel, no matter what you are typing: web address or search request and etc.

Additional Plugins: the winner is Firefox

At the present moment Firefox is still on top. I have never see so many plugins for browsers as Firefox has.

Speed: the winner - Chrome

At daily use Chrome quickly copes with processing of pages. Time of loading of an identical set of pages for each browser at the stand with Core 2 Duo have appeared minimal. And here on old laptop Chrome has appeared noticeably faster.

Speed of processing Java was tested by tools of benchmark Sunspider, in addition the volume of borrowed operative memory with one opened tab and with ten was fixed.

Sunspider results:

1. Firefox 3.1 - 1771.4ms
2. IE8 - 6837.6ms
3. Chrome - 1923.0ms

We opened 10 different pages (blog, news feed, YouTube, mail etc.) and measured the volume of memory.

1. Firefox 3.1 – 91 Mb
2. IE8 – 230 Mb
3. Chrome – 141 Mb

Time of start:

1. Firefox - 37s
2. Chrome - 15s
3. IE8 - n/a

Time of loading of page:

1. Firefox - 8s
2. Chrome - 11s
3. IE8 - n/a

Other important point is stability. For Firefox all your open pages are incorporated, and in case of lag of loaded page the application will be closed completely with all windows loaded earlier. Chrome and IE process every tab as separate process that allows to close astable page without harm for other tabs. As in Chrome is convenient tab manager, allowing to supervise use of memory separate tabs and to close astable page in case of its lag.

Security: the winner IE

Internet Explorer is still the most secure browser.

Conclusion: The winner of all tests is Firefox. But who knows how i change my opinion when plugins for Chrome appear.